Wendy Beetlestone (born 1961) 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
.
Biography
Beetlestone was born in
Ibadan, Nigeria
Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and nearly 4 million within its metr ...
to a British father, John Beetlestone, who was a chemistry professor at the
University of Ibadan
The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...
, and an American mother, Clare Watson. She attended the
International School Ibadan
The International School Ibadan (ISI) is located on the Campus of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria's oldest university.
History
The school was founded by German-British educator Kurt Hahn on 13 October 1963 with funding received from the USAID ...
and later
Rishworth School
Rishworth School is a co-educational independent school in the village of Rishworth, near Halifax, in West Yorkshire, England. With Heathfield, its junior school from the ages of 3 to 11, it provides education for pupils aged between 3 and 18 ...
in Yorkshire. In 1984, Beetlestone graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, ''cum laude'', from the
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
. In 1993, she earned 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
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...
.
She 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
Robert S. Gawthrop III, of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, from 1993 to 1994. From 1994 to 2002, she worked at the law firm of
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP was a U.S. law firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and founded in Philadelphia in 1935 by former Pennsylvania Attorney General William A. Schnader, Bernard G. Segal, a former Deputy Attorney General servi ...
, LLP, becoming a partner in 2001. From 2002 to 2005, she served as general counsel of the
School District of Philadelphia
The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated State schools, public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the largest school district in Pennsylvania and the eighth-lar ...
. From 2005 to 2014, she had been a shareholder at the law firm of Hangley, Aronchick, Segal, Pudlin & Schiller, where she litigated a variety of commercial matters before both Federal and State courts.
In 2023, she was announced as the next chancellor of the University of Liverpool. She is the University’s eleventh chancellor and the institution’s first female and first black chancellor.
Federal judicial service
On June 16, 2014, 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 Beetlestone to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to the seat vacated by Judge
Michael Baylson, who assumed
senior status on July 13, 2012. On July 24, 2014, a hearing on her nomination was held before the
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
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 September 18, 2014, her nomination was reported out of committee by 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 November 19, 2014, 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
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 ...
on her nomination by a 58–38 vote. On November 20, 2014, her nomination was confirmed by 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 ...
. She received her judicial commission on November 21, 2014.
On December 15, 2017, Beetlestone issued a
nationwide injunction
In United States law, a nationwide injunction (also called a universal injunctionDep't of Homeland Sec. v. New York140 S. Ct. 599 600 (2020) ( Gorsuch, J., concurring) or national injunction) is injunctive relief in which a court binds the federa ...
prohibiting the enforcement of regulations that allowed employers to refuse to cover contraception in their employees' insurance plans if they have either religious objections to birth control or “sincerely held moral convictions” against it. “It is difficult,” Judge Beetlestone wrote, “to comprehend a rule that does more to undermine the contraceptive mandate or that intrudes more into the lives of women.” Judge Beetlestone issued a second
nationwide injunction
In United States law, a nationwide injunction (also called a universal injunctionDep't of Homeland Sec. v. New York140 S. Ct. 599 600 (2020) ( Gorsuch, J., concurring) or national injunction) is injunctive relief in which a court binds the federa ...
after President Trump issued revised rules.
On July 8, 2020, these decisions were overturned by the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
.
See also
*
List of African-American federal judges
This is a list of African Americans who have served as United States federal judge
In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III ju ...
*
List of African-American jurists
This list includes individuals self-identified as African Americans who have made prominent contributions to the field of law in the United States, especially as eminent judges or legal scholars. Individuals who may have obtained law degrees o ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beetlestone, Wendy
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century American women lawyers
21st-century American lawyers
21st-century American women judges
21st-century American women lawyers
African-American judges
Alumni of the University of Liverpool
Chancellors of the University of Liverpool
International School, Ibadan alumni
Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania lawyers
United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama
University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni