Michael Andre Shipp (born October 1965) is 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 District of New Jersey The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. gover ...

. He is a former

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 ...

of the same court.

Biography

Shipp was born in October 1965 in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in 1987. He received his

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

Seton Hall University School of Law Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey. The school confers three law degrees: Juris Doctor, Ma ...

in 1994. He served as a law clerk for Justice James H. Coleman of the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

from 1994 to 1995. From 1995 to 2003, he worked as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. From 2003 to 2007, he worked in the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, first as an Assistant Attorney General in charge of Consumer Protection and later as Counsel to the Attorney General. In 2007, he was appointed as a

of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

U.S. magistrate judge in that district)Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9, enate Pages 11847-11854, from the U.S. Government Publishing Office, available online at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-2012-pt9/html/CRECB-2012-pt9-Pg11847.htm holding that position until his elevation to District Judge on that court. He is the brother of former NFL player, Marcel Shipp. Justice Shipp is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

fraternity. Shipp received his LLM in judicial studies from

Duke Law School The Duke University School of Law is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit that began in 1868 as the ...

in 2020.

Federal judicial service

On January 23, 2012, President

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 Shipp to be a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey to the seat vacated by Judge

Mary Little Cooper Mary Little Cooper (born August 13, 1946) is an inactive senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Education and career Cooper was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She received an Art ...

, who assumed senior status in 2011. He received a hearing 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 March 14, 2012 and his nomination was reported to the floor on April 19, 2012, by a voice vote, with Senator Lee recorded as voting no based on unrelated general principles. Despite the relatively uncontroversial nature of Shipp's nomination, Senator

Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

in July 2012 held up allowing an up-or-down, Senate floor vote on Shipp's nomination over an unrelated issue, involving Paul's desire to cut off all U.S. aid to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

unless authorities there release Dr. Shakil Afridi. In a Senate floor speech on July 19, 2012, Paul announced his intention to hold up all Senate business until receiving a satisfactory answer to his question about why a Pakistani judicial panel has delayed Afridi's appeal of his conviction on charges related to assistance he provided to the CIA in the capture of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

. Paul also said he intended to seek a vote to terminate all aid to Pakistan. On July 19, 2012, Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2 ...

moved to invoke

cloture Cloture (, ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. is ...

in order to confirm Shipp's nomination. The cloture vote was vitiated on July 23, 2012 when Paul consented to a confirmation vote on the nomination. Shipp's nomination was confirmed that same day by a 91–1 vote, with Senator

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019, whe ...

again casting the sole no vote. He received his commission on July 26, 2012.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shipp, Michael Andre 1965 births African-American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey Living people Rutgers University alumni Seton Hall University School of Law alumni United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama United States magistrate judges

Biography

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links