Barbara Kloka Hackett (March 17, 1928 – December 23, 2018) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (in case citations, E.D. Mich.) is the United States district court, federal district court with jurisdiction over the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of the State of M ...

Early life and education

Hackett was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, the oldest of two daughters, and attended St. Gregory School in northwest Detroit. She completed a

Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; or or ) is the title of an academic degree in philosophy that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's degrees, the ...

from the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catho ...

in 1948 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the University of Detroit School of Law in 1950.

Career

Hackett was a staff lawyer for the Michigan-Wisconsin Pipeline Company from 1950 to 1951. She was a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

to Judge

Frank Picard Frank Albert Picard (October 19, 1889 – February 28, 1963) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Education and career Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Picard received a Bachel ...

of the

from 1951 to 1952. She was in private practice in Detroit from 1952 to 1967. She was a lawyer for the New York Central Railroad Company from 1963 to 1965. She was chief law clerk to the

Michigan Court of Appeals The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reporter (law), reported both in an officia ...

from 1965 to 1966, and was an assistant prosecuting attorney of

Wayne County, Michigan Wayne County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the United States census placed its population at 1,793,561, making it the List of the most populous counties in the United States, 19th ...

from 1967 to 1972. She then returned to private practice until 1973. After briefly serving as a magistrate judge, she later continued in private practice until 1986, when she was briefly acting chief of the Appellate Division of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

Federal judicial service

Hackett served as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

for the Eastern District of Michigan from 1973 to 1984, and was the first woman to serve in such a position. On February 11, 1986, Hackett was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Charles Wycliffe Joiner Charles Wycliffe Joiner (February 14, 1916 – March 10, 2017) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Education and career Born on February 14, ...

. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on March 27, 1986, and received her commission on April 7, 1986. She assumed senior status on April 8, 1997. Hackett served in that capacity until her retirement on March 1, 2000. During her career, Hackett presided over a number of high-profile cases. In 1987, she stripped former Nazi concentration camp guard Johann Leprich of his American citizenship; she also sentenced former New Jersey Mayor John McCann to life in prison without parole for operating an international cocaine smuggling scheme. In 1999 Hackett ruled that rap duo

OutKast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

was not required to pay

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American civil rights activist. She is best known for her refusal to move from her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, in defiance of Jim Crow laws, which sparke ...

for using her name in the title of their Grammy-winning song.

Later life and death

After her retirement from the bench, Hackett practiced law in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. She was licensed and in good standing with the State Bar of Michigan, having been a licensed attorney since 1951. Hackett died on December 23, 2018, from declining health at her home in

Brighton, Michigan Brighton is a city in Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,446. Brighton forms part of the South Lyon-Howell-Brighton Urban Area. It is one of two incorporated cities in Livingston County ...

. She was 90.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Barbara Kloka 1928 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American women judges Florida lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Lawyers from Detroit United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan University of Detroit Mercy alumni United States magistrate judges