Donetta Wypiski Ambrose (born November 5, 1945) is a
senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
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
.
Early life and education
Ambrose was born in
New Kensington
New Kensington (known locally as New Ken) is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 12,170 at the 2020 census. It is situated along the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh and is part of the Pittsb ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
.
Her father, Chester Wypiski, worked at the
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...
mill.
[Jennifer Reeger]
Trailblazing marked senior federal judge's career
''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'' (January 1, 2011).
She received 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 ...
degree from
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...
in 1967 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
Duquesne University School of Law
The Thomas R. Kline School of Law is the law school of Duquesne University, a private Catholic university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is approved by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Sch ...
in 1970.
[Paula Reed Ward]
Donetta Ambrose, legal trailblazer, retires from U.S. District Court after 28 years
(February 13, 2022).
Career as lawyer and state judge
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 Louis Manderino of Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania is one of Pennsylvania's two intermediate appellate courts. The Commonwealth Court's headquarters is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with jurisdiction over administrative and civil public law. The Superior ...
from 1970 to 1971.[ She was an assistant attorney general of Pennsylvania Department of Justice from 1972 to 1974, thereafter entering private practice in New Kensington until 1981.][ For a time in the mid-1970s, Ambrose was the only woman practicing law in Westmoreland County.][
She was an assistant district attorney in the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office from 1977 to 1981,][ a part-time role.][ As a prosecutor, she was part of the team handling the "Kill for Thrill" case against John Lesko and Michael Travaglia, who were convicted of slaying four people in Western Pennsylvania in 1979 and 1980.][
She was a judge of the Westmoreland County ]Court of Common Pleas
A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...
from 1982 to 1993.[ As a state judge, she worked on hundreds of asbestos cases, fashioning a formula that helped settle most of the county's asbestos litigation.][ She left the state court to accept an appointment to the federal bench.][
]
Federal judicial service
On October 25, 1993, Ambrose was nominated by President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, W.D. Pa.) is a United States district court, federal trial court that sits in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Erie, Pennsylvania, Erie, and John ...
vacated by Gerald Joseph Weber
Gerald Joseph Weber (February 1, 1914 – August 28, 1989) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Education and career
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Weber received an Art ...
. 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 November 20, 1993, and received her commission on November 24, 1993.[ Upon the elevation of D. Brooks Smith to the ]Third Circuit Court of Appeals
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts:
* District of Delaware
* District of New Jersey
* Eas ...
, Judge Ambrose became Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and served in that capacity until 2009.[
While on the federal bench, Ambrose presided over the civil trial against ]Atlantic Richfield
Arco may refer to:
Places
* Arco, Trentino, a town in Trentino, Italy
* Arco, Idaho, in the United States
* Arco, Minnesota, a city in the United States
* ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California, home of the Sacramento Kings
Companies
* ARCO (b ...
and Babcock & Wilcox
Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. is an American energy technology and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio. Historically, the company is best known for their stea ...
, and others, alleging that radioactive emissions from its nuclear-fuel facility in Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
caused a cancer cluster
A cancer cluster is a disease cluster in which a high number of cancer cases occurs in a group of people in a particular geographic area over a limited period of time.
Historical examples of work-related cancer clusters are well documented in th ...
in the surrounding area.[Donna J. Domin]
Judgment call: Ambrose credits hometown for success
''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'' (February 16, 2003). The case was one of the longest-running cases in the history of the U.S. District Court of Western Pennsylvania, running for 14 years and ultimately settling for $52.5 million.
In 2022, Ambrose presided over pretrial hearings in the federal death penalty case against Robert Bowers, who was indicted on charges of murdering 11 congregants in a gun massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
Ambrose assumed senior status (semi-retirement) on November 5, 2010.[ Ambrose retired (assumed inactive senior status) on February 1, 2022, after 28 years on the federal bench.][ The Bowers case was randomly reassigned to a different judge upon her retirement.][Torsten Ove]
New U.S. judge to preside over alleged Tree of Life shooter's death penalty case
''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'' (February 3, 2022).
Personal life
In her early years on the federal bench, Ambrose lived in Lower Burrell;[ Ambrose later moved to ]Oakmont
Oakmont is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Allegheny River. The population was 6,758 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The borough is best known for the nearby Oakmont ...
.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrose, Donetta
1945 births
Living people
Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas
Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton
Duquesne University alumni
Duquesne University School of Law alumni
People from New Kensington, Pennsylvania
20th-century Pennsylvania state court judges
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American judges
20th-century American women judges
20th-century American women lawyers
21st-century American women judges
Pennsylvania lawyers