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 Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of the State of New York. Two of these are in New York Ci ...
.
Early life, education and personal life
Katherine Bolan Forrest was born in New York in 1964 and grew up in Connecticut, one of six children. Her father, Richard S. Forrest, wrote mystery novels. Her mother, Mary Bolan Brumby, was a nurse. The family received food stamps for four years, beginning when Katherine was 12. They were homeless for six months. "I came from nothing," Forrest said. "I came from a father who made no money. He was a playwright and then a writer, and even though he published many books, I was a complete scholarship student all the way through."
Forrest attended
Choate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall ( ) is a Independent school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1890, it took its present na ...
, a private school in
Wallingford, Connecticut
Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The town is part ...
, on a scholarship, graduating in 1982. She earned 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 ...
with honors in 1986 from
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...
. She received her
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 ...
in 1990 from
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City.
Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...
. She pursued a joint program at New York University that would have led to a J.D. and a Ph.D. in history, with an eye toward an academic career. Her focus shifted when she took a summer job at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP after her second year of law school. "I realized that commercial litigation was far more interesting than I thought it would be," Forrest said. She is the mother of two children.
Career
Forrest joined the New York law firm
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath; ) is an American white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm has additional offices in London and Washington, D.C.
History
In 1854, former college classmates William H. Seward (la ...
right out of law school in 1990, becoming a partner in 1998 and handling an array of commercial litigation with a particular focus on antitrust, copyright and digital media. She was cited as one of the country's leading practitioners in the antitrust and intellectual property arenas in Chambers USA 2007: America's Leading Lawyers for Business. ''
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
Continen ...
. In October 2010, Forrest left Cravath when Assistant Attorney General Christine A. Varney recruited her to join the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
nominated Forrest to fill a judicial seat on the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of the State of New York. Two of these are in New York Ci ...
that had been vacated by Judge
Jed S. Rakoff
Jed Saul Rakoff (born August 1, 1943) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was appointed in 1996 by President Bill Clinton.
Early ...
, who took senior status at the end of 2010. Obama nominated Forrest to the bench in May 2011 on the recommendation of U.S. Senator
Charles Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from New York, a seat he has held since 1999. A member of the Democratic Party, he has led the Senate Democratic Caucus si ...
of New York. The U.S. Senate confirmed Forrest in a
voice vote
In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...
on October 13, 2011. She received her judicial commission on October 17, 2011. Forrest presided over several thousand cases, including more than 100 trials, and, in 2016, became chair of the Grievance Committee for the Southern District. On July 18, 2018, Forrest announced her resignation from the bench, effective September 11, 2018. After resigning from the federal bench, she returned to work as a firm’s litigation department partner at Cravath.
Significant cases
In 2012, in ''
Hedges v. Obama
''Hedges v. Obama''Hedges et v. Obama, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 12-cv-331 and Hedges et v. Obama, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 12-3176 was a lawsuit filed in January 2012 against the Obama administr ...
'', Forrest issued a
permanent 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 remed ...
that blocked enforcement of Section 1021 of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorized the president to order the military to indefinitely detain any person deemed to be a member of, or to have provided substantially support to, "al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces."''Hedges v. Obama'', 724 F.3d 170 (2d Cir. 2013), ''rev'g'' 890 F. Supp. 2d 424 (S.D.N.Y. 2012). The plaintiffs in the suit challenged the 2012 NDAA provision as a violation of the
First Amendment
First most commonly refers to:
* First, the ordinal form of the number 1
First or 1st may also refer to:
Acronyms
* Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array
* Far Infrared a ...
's
right to free speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...
Due Process Clause
A Due Process Clause is found in both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, which prohibit the deprivation of "life, liberty, or property" by the federal and state governments, respectively, without due proces ...
. In 2013, a
Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, and it has appellate jurisdic ...
panel unanimously reversed Forrest's ruling, holding that the plaintiffs lacked
standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an upright (orthostatic) position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the ...
.
In July 2013, Forrest ordered the release of $1.75 billion in Iranian frozen assets held by Bank Markazi (Iran's central bank) in a New York
Citibank
Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) is a United States law, codified at Title 28, §§ 1330, 1332, 1391(f), 1441(d), and 1602–1611 of the United States Code, that established criteria as to whether a foreign sovereign state (o ...
, holding that Iran's conduct fell under an exception to FSIA. Forrest's ruling in ''Peterson v. Iran'' was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in '' Bank Markazi v. Peterson'' (2016), in which the Court held, in a 6-2 ruling, that the families should be allowed to collect the Iranian funds.
In ''In re Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litigation'' (2014), Forrest dismissed an
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
(price-fixing) suit against
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
,
JP Morgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by mark ...
, and
Glencore
Glencore plc is an Anglo-Swiss Multinational corporation, multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, Baar, Switzerland. Glencore's oil and gas headquarters are in London, London, England as well a ...
. She held that, although the defendants' actions did affect the aluminum marketplace, the plaintiffs failed to show the defendants had intended to manipulate prices.
In 2015, Forrest presided over a jury trial in ''United States v. Ulbricht'', where Ross William Ulbricht was accused of running the
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
online drug marketplace. During the trial, Forrest was doxed on
8chan
8kun, previously called 8chan, Infinitechan or Infinitychan (stylized as ∞chan), is an imageboard website composed of user-created message boards. An owner moderates each board, with minimal interaction from site administration. The site ...
, where her full mailing address, phone number, and
Social Security number
In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to United States nationality law, U.S. citizens, Permanent residence (United States), permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2 ...
were posted on the ''baphomet'' subboard. In regard to the defense team's argument that Silk Road enhanced safety by moving illegal drug activity away from real life drug dealing scenarios, Forrest stated, "No drug dealer from the Bronx has ever made this argument to the court. It's a privileged argument, and it's an argument made by one of the privileged." Forrest sentenced Ulbricht to two life terms, plus an additional 40 years, without the possibility of
parole
Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
. The Department of Justice then subpoenaed ''
Reason Magazine
''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation, with the tagline "Free Minds and Free Markets". The magazine aims to produce independent journalism that is "outside of the left/right echo chamber." A ...
'' regarding reactions in the comments section of its article on the sentencing.
From April 2016 to August 2017, Forrest presided over the civil lawsuit ''Hosseinzadeh v. Klein,'' in a case where notable
YouTubers
A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...
Ethan and Hila Klein, known on YouTube as
h3h3Productions
h3h3Productions is a YouTube channel created and hosted by American-Israeli YouTuber Ethan Klein. His content consists of reaction videos and sketch comedy in which he satirizes internet culture. The '' H3 Podcast'' is his current podcast ch ...
, were accused of copyright infringement by fellow YouTuber Matt Hosseinzadeh. In her decision, Forrest ruled in favor of Ethan and Hila Klein, stating that the video in question, accused of copyright infringement, was "quintessential criticism and comment" of Hosseinzadeh's video and falls under the protection of "
fair use
Fair use is a Legal doctrine, doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to bal ...
." Hosseinzadeh's additional claims of
DMCA
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
misrepresentation and defamation were also dismissed. In her ruling, Forrest also noted that while the Klein video may be classified as a "
reaction video
A reaction video, or a react video, is a video in which one or more persons react to something. Videos showing the emotional reactions, criticism or commentary of people viewing movies, television series episodes, film trailers, music videos, news, ...
," not all reaction videos would fall under the fair use doctrine.
In ''Ragbir v. Sessions'' (2018), Forrest ordered
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the Un ...
to halt the deportation of Ravidath (Ravi) Ragbir, an immigrant from
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
who had become an activist in the United States.''Ragbir v. Sessions'' (S.D.N.Y. January 29, 2018). Ragbir became a
legal permanent resident
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such l ...
in 1994 but had been convicted of
wire fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...
in 2001; it was uncontested that, since being released, Ragbir had been rehabilitated and had "lived a life of a redeemed man." Ragbir spent nine years in the U.S. under a "stay of removal," regularly reporting to immigration authorities as required, until he was abruptly arrested in January 2018, upending his career and separating him from his wife and daughter, both U.S. citizens. In her opinion ordering Ragbir's release, Forrest wrote, "Constitutional principles of due process and the avoidance of unnecessary cruelty here allow and provide for an orderly departure. Petitioner is entitled to the freedom to say goodbye." Forrest wrote that this was "the freedom to hug one's spouse and children, the freedom to organize the myriad of human affairs that collect over time," she criticized practices associated "with regimes we revile as unjust, regimes where those who have long lived in a country may be taken without notice from streets, home, and work and sent away. We are not that country, and woe be the day we become that country under a fiction that laws allow it." The Second Circuit later continued to stay Ragbir's deportation pending further hearings.
In February 2018, Forrest ruled that
Breitbart News
''Breitbart News Network'' (; known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an Radical right (United States), American far-rightMultiple sources:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* syndicated news, opinion, and commentar ...
TIME
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
,
Yahoo
Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, an ...
,
Vox.com
''Vox'' () is an American news and opinion website owned by Vox Media. The website was founded in April 2014 by Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, and Melissa Bell, and is noted for its concept of explanatory journalism. Vox's media presence also i ...
,
Gannett Company
Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation.
It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as severa ...
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
, and
New England Sports Network
New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of the Boston ...
had violated the rights of Justin Goldman by embedding a link to a tweet of an image taken by Goldman of
Tom Brady
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...
on their respective websites. Goldman claimed he had the exclusive right to display the image and had not been contacted for a license or publicly released the photo. The photo was first posted to Goldman's
Snapchat
Snapchat is an American multimedia social media and instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of the app are that pictures and messages, known as "snaps", are usually availa ...
account.
In April 2018, Forrest sentenced former Mobile Messenger CEO Darcy Wedd to 10 years in prison for his involvement in a fraudulent mobile phone “auto-subscribing” scheme, after a jury convicted him in December 2017. The scheme charged mobile phone users millions of dollars in monthly fees for unsolicited and recurring text messages, without their knowledge or consent.
Return to private practice
Following her resignation from the federal bench, Forrest returned to practice in the litigation department at
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath; ) is an American white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm has additional offices in London and Washington, D.C.
History
In 1854, former college classmates William H. Seward (la ...
. In 2019, she was named a “Notable Woman in Law” by ''
Crain’s New York Business
Crain Communications Inc. is an American publishing conglomerate based in Detroit, Michigan, United States, with 13 foreign subsidiaries.
History
Gustavus Dedman "G.D." Crain Jr. ( Gustavus Demetrious Crain Jr.; 1885–1973), previously the ci ...
'' and profiled as one of ''Benchmark Litigation''’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation”. Forrest is also an adjunct professor at
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City.
Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...
, where she co-teaches a course on Quantitative Methods and the Law.
Forrest represented the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
in a proposed
class action
A class action is a form of lawsuit.
Class Action may also refer to:
* ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
* Class Action (band), a garage house band
* "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...
alleging that the
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
team had undermined
fantasy sports
A fantasy sport (also known less commonly as rotisserie or roto) is a game, often played using the internet, where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams composed of proxies of real players of a professional sport. These teams compete ba ...
contests by covering up
sign stealing
In baseball, sign stealing is the act of observing the signs being signaled by the opposing catcher to the pitcher or a coach, and the subsequent relaying of those signals to members of one's own team. Signs are stolen with the intent of gainin ...
schemes in a case
dismissed with prejudice
''Prejudice'' is a legal term with different meanings, which depend on whether it is used in criminal, civil, or common law. In legal context, ''prejudice'' differs from the more common use of the word and so the term has specific technical mea ...