Deborah Lynn Boardman (born 1974)United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Deborah Lynn Boardman
/ref> is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2021 as 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 U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. She was 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 District of Maryland from 2019 to 2021.

Early life and education

Boardman was born in 1974 in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

, and grew up in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...

. She has been described as being of Palestinian descent on her mother's side. She graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

in 1996 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

. From 1996 to 1997, Boardman was a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. She then attended the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...

, where she was an editor of the ''

Virginia Law Review The ''Virginia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at University of Virginia School of Law. It was established on March 15, 1913, and permanently organized later that year. The stated objective of the ''Virginia Law Revi ...

''. She graduated in 2000 with 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 ...

."President Biden Announces Intent to Nominate 11 Judicial Candidates", White House, March 30, 2021

Legal career

From 2000 to 2001, Boardman 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 U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. From 2001 to 2008, she worked as an associate at Hogan & Hartson (now

Hogan Lovells Hogan Lovells ( ) is an American-British law firm co-headquartered in London and Washington, DC. The firm was formed in 2010 by the merger of the American law firm Hogan & Hartson and the British law firm Lovells. As of 2024, the firm employed a ...

) in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where she was selected to serve as the senior associate in the

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

department. From 2008 to 2019, she served at the Federal Public Defender's Office for the District of Maryland, including four years as the first assistant

federal public defender In the United States, federal Public defender (United States), public defender organizations are entities in the Federal government of the United States, United States Federal Government, and their staffs are federal employees. Federal public defe ...

Federal judicial service

United States magistrate judge service

On September 23, 2019, Boardman was selected to be a United States magistrate judge of the District of Maryland. She was sworn into office on September 25. Her service as a magistrate judge was terminated when she was sworn in as a district court judge.

District court service

On March 30, 2021, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

announced his intent to nominate Boardman to serve as a

of the

United States District Court for the District of Maryland The United States District Court for the District of Maryland (in case citations, D. Md.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Maryland. Appeals from the District of Maryland are taken ...

, to the seat vacated by Judge Richard D. Bennett, who had announced his intent to assume senior status upon the confirmation of his successor. On April 19, her nomination was sent to the Senate. On May 12, a hearing on her nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

. On June 10, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote, with Senator

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

voting "present". On June 23, 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 ...

invoked cloture on her nomination by a 52–48 vote. Her nomination was confirmed later that day by a 52–48 vote. She received her judicial commission on June 25 and was sworn in on July 1, 2021.

Notable rulings

On August 24, 2023, Boardman denied a request for a

preliminary injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...

seeking to reinstate a

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Montg ...

School Board policy that allowed parents to remove their children from lessons involving books featuring

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

characters. Plaintiffs claimed exposure to these books contradicted "their sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage, human sexuality, and gender" and that the lack of an opt-out policy violated their children’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. Boardman reasoned that "mere exposure in public school to ideas that contradict religious beliefs does not burden the religious exercise of students or parents". The

Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...

affirmed her decision by a 2–1 vote on May 14, 2024. The case is pending before the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

after the Court granted ''

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of a prerogative writ in England, issued by a superior court to direct that the recor ...

'' on January 17, 2025. On August 19, 2024, Boardman ruled in favor of environmental groups, including the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

, which challenged a biological opinion issued by

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...

in 2020 under the Trump administration. She found the agency violated the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...

and the

Administrative Procedures Act The Administrative Procedure Act (APA), , is the United States federal statute that governs the way in which administrative agencies of the federal government of the United States may propose and establish regulations, and it grants U.S. fede ...

by underestimating risks and failing to implement adequate mitigation measures for the effects of oil spills in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

on protected species, including the Rice's whale. Various oil and gas companies denounced the decision, as they would have to halt all operations in the Gulf of Mexico. On February 5, 2025, Boardman became the first district judge in the nation to grant a

, blocking President Trump's

Executive Order 14160 Executive Order 14160, titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship", is an executive order signed by Donald Trump, the 47th president of the United States, on January 20, 2025. The executive order aims to challenge the preva ...

—which aimed to end

birthright citizenship in the United States United States citizenship can be acquired by birthright in two situations: by virtue of the person's birth within United States territory (''jus soli'') or because at least one of their parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of the person's b ...

—from taking effect on February 19. The case was brought by five pregnant undocumented women and two

immigrant rights Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short-t ...

organizations. The next day, Judge

John C. Coughenour John Clare Coughenour (born July 27, 1941) is a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. He has taught trial and appellate practice ...

issued a similar preliminary injunction in a case filed by the

State of Washington Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

challenging the same executive order.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boardman, Deborah Lynn 1974 births Living people 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women judges American people of Palestinian descent Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland Lawyers from Silver Spring, Maryland People associated with Hogan Lovells Public defenders United States magistrate judges United States district court judges appointed by Joe Biden University of Virginia School of Law alumni Villanova University alumni