Nina Rauh Morrison (born 1970) is an American lawyer who serves 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

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...

. As part of her work for the

Innocence Project Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and other forms of post-conviction relief, as well as advocates for criminal justice reform to prevent futur ...

, she had been lead or co-counsel in cases that have freed more than 30 wrongly convicted people from prison and

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

Education

Morrison was born in 1970 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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 ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1992 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 the

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 ...

in 1998.

Career

From 1992 to 1995, Morrison was an investigator with the

California appellate projects The California appellate projects are 501(c)(3) non-profit legal corporations under a contract with the California Court of Appeal to provide legal services to indigent parties on appeal from criminal, delinquency, dependency and mental health ju ...

, which represents California's

inmates in post-conviction proceedings. Morrison began her legal career as 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 ...

for Judge

Pierre N. Leval Pierre Nelson Leval (born September 4, 1936) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. At the time of his appointment by President Bill Clinton in 1993, he was a United States distric ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the 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 (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

from 1998 to 1999. She was then an associate at Emery, Celli, Brinckerhoff & Abady from 1999 to 2001 focusing on

civil rights law Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

. She joined the

in 2002, where she served as executive director until 2004, leading the organization's transition from a law school clinic to an independent nonprofit organization. As senior litigation counsel at the Innocence Project, Morrison served as lead or co-counsel in cases that freed more than 30 wrongly convicted people from prison and

. From 2002 to 2016, she was an adjunct professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

. In 2017, Morrison served as an advisor to the transition committees for

District Attorney of Philadelphia The office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia is the largest prosecutor's office in the state of Pennsylvania and oversees a jurisdiction that includes more than 1.5 million citizens of both the city and county of Philadelphia. The curre ...

Larry Krasner Lawrence Samuel Krasner (born March 30, 1961) is an American lawyer who is the 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia. Elected to the position in 2017, Krasner was one of the first U.S. district attorney candidates to run as a self-described " ...

and

Los Angeles County District Attorney The District Attorney of Los Angeles County is in charge of the office that prosecutor, prosecutes felony and misdemeanor crimes that occur within Los Angeles County, California, United States. The current district attorney (DA) is Nathan Hochma ...

George Gascón George Gascón (born March 12, 1954) is an American attorney and former police officer who served as the District Attorney of Los Angeles County from December 7, 2020 to December 3, 2024. A member of the Democratic Party and a former member of ...

in 2020.

Federal judicial service

On December 15, 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 ...

nominated Morrison to serve as a

of the

. President Biden nominated Morrison to the seat vacated by Judge Dora Irizarry, who assumed senior status on January 26, 2020. On February 16, 2022, 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 ...

. During her hearing, Morrison was questioned by several Republican senators over her understanding of criminal statutes and her past support for progressive prosecutors. On March 10, 2022, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On May 24, 2022, 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 50–41 vote. On June 8, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by a 53–46 vote. She received her judicial commission on August 11, 2022.

Personal life

Morrison's father, Alan Morrison, is a lawyer and academic has been the Public Interest Dean of the

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest law school in Washington, D. ...

since 2009. Morrison is the second openly

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, ...

judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Nina Rauh 1970 births Living people 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women judges Cardozo School of Law faculty Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York Lawyers from New York City LGBTQ appointed officials in the United States LGBTQ judges American LGBTQ lawyers New York University School of Law alumni United States district court judges appointed by Joe Biden Yale University alumni

Education

Career

Federal judicial service

Personal life

See also

References

External links