Linda Rae Reade (born February 1, 1948) 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

United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa The United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (in case citations, N.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over fifty-two of Iowa's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (except for patent claims and ...

Early life and education

Born in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

, Reade graduated from

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

with her

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 in 1970,

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

with a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in 1973, and

Drake University Law School Drake University Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school affiliated with Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa. Over 330 full-time students attend the institution. Roscoe Jones, Jr. serves as the dean of the Law Sch ...

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 ...

with honors and

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in 1980. During law school, Reade worked at two firms in

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, Rosenberg & Marguiles and Brown, Winick, Graves, Donnelly, & Baskerville, and campaigned for Lawrence Pope. She also published a case note in the

Drake Law Review Drake University Law School is the law school affiliated with Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa. Over 330 full-time students attend the institution. Roscoe Jones, Jr. serves as the dean of the Law School. Founded in 1865, Drake Law ...

Career

After graduation, Reade was in private practice as an attorney in Des Moines at Brown, Winick from 1980 to 1981, at Rosenberg & Marguiles from 1981 to 1984, and at Rosenberg, Rosenberg, & Reade from 1984 to 1986. She also served as president of the Des Moines

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

from 1985 to 1987. Reade was an

assistant United States attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa from 1986 to 1993, serving as chief of the General Criminal Prosecutions Division from 1990 to 1993. Reade was appointed to serve on the Iowa District Court in Des Moines in 1993 and continued until her appointment to the federal bench in 2002. During that time, she served on many committees for the

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 ...

, the Iowa Judges' Association, and the Iowa State Bar Association. While she served on the District Court, 18 of her cases were reversed.

Federal judicial career

On Senator

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2025, a role he also held from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Re ...

's recommendation, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

nominated Reade to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on June 26, 2002, to a seat vacated by Michael Joseph Melloy. The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

confirmed her on November 14, 2002, and she received her commission on November 26. She became Chief Judge on January 1, 2007. Her term as chief judge ended on February 11, 2017. She assumed senior status on October 1, 2017.

Notable cases

Rubashkin case

Reade presided over the trial and sentencing of kosher

slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

operator

Sholom Rubashkin Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin (born October 30, 1959) is an American businessman and convicted fraudster who was the CEO of Agriprocessors, a now-bankrupt kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, formerly owned by his fath ...

. The case and Reade's 27-year sentence garnered the attention of many prominent politicians and received widespread media coverage. Rubashkin alleged on appeal that Reade improperly met with prosecutors before the Postville raid without disclosing her involvement, but the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western ...

unanimously affirmed. On December 20, 2017, after having served eight years of his 27-year sentence,

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commuted Rubashkin's sentence to time served, and he was released from prison that day.

Aossey case

Reade presided over the case of William Aossey, the founder of Midamar Corporation and Islamic Services of America, who was convicted of fraud for falsifying labels on beef exported to Malaysia and Indonesia. Aossey was found guilty and Reade departed from federal guidelines, sentencing Aossey to two years.

Dierks case

On June 13, 2018, Reade sentenced Joseph Dierks to six years in prison for threatening to kill Senator

Joni Ernst Joni Kay Ernst (née Culver; born July 1, 1970) is an American politician and retired military officer serving since 2015 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Iowa. A member of the ...

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. The sentence, which exceeded federal sentencing guidelines, was imposed on Dierks for disparaging comments he made regarding Reade, the prosecutor, the prosecutor's children, and black corrections officers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reade, Linda Rae 1948 births Living people 20th-century Iowa state court judges 20th-century American women judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women judges Assistant United States attorneys Drake University alumni Drake University Law School alumni Iowa state court judges Iowa State University alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa Lawyers from Des Moines, Iowa Politicians from Sioux Falls, South Dakota United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush