Dolores Sloviter

Dolores Sloviter

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit

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Education

Bachelor's

Temple University, 1953

Law

University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1956

Personal

Birthplace

Philadelphia, Pa.

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Dolores Korman Sloviter was a federal judge serving on senior status with the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. She joined the court in 1979 after being nominated by President Jimmy Carter. At the time of her nomination, she was a professor of law at Temple University School of Law. She assumed senior status on June 21, 2013. Judge Sloviter announced in April 2016 that she would not longer be hearing cases due to a "serious eye condition" involving her eyes. She left office on October 12, 2022, when she died.

Early life and education

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sloviter earned her bachelor's degree from Temple University in 1953 and her LL.B. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1956.

Professional career

• 1979-2022: United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit

• 2013-2016: Senior judge
• 1979-2013: Judge

• 1972-1979: Temple University School of Law

• 1974-1979: Professor
• 1972-1974: Associate professor

• 1956-1972: Private practice, Philadelphia, Pa.
• 1955: Law clerk, City of Philadelphia, Pa.

Judicial career

Third Circuit Court of Appeals

Sloviter was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit by President Jimmy Carter on April 4, 1979, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. Sloviter was confirmed on a voice vote of the U.S. Senate on June 19, 1979, and she received her commission on June 21, 1979. Sloviter served as the chief judge of the Third Circuit from 1991 to 1998. On June 21, 2013, Sloviter assumed senior status. Judge Sloviter announced in April 2016 that she would not longer be hearing cases due to a "serious eye condition" involving her eyes. She was succeeded in this position by Judge Cheryl Ann Krause.

Noteworthy cases

FBI's racial profiling records kept under wraps (2013)

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit (ACLU of New Jersey v. FBI, DOJ, 12-4345)

On October 23, 2013, in a precedential opinion, a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit, composed of Judge D. Brooks Smith and Senior Judges Dolores Sloviter and Jane Roth, found that documents requested by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU) from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request were properly withheld. In the underlying case, the ACLU filed a FOIA request seeking access to records concerning the "FBI's use of ethnic and racial data" in its "limited racial and ethnic profiling" as authorized by the 9/11 Commission's final report. The FBI identified 782 pages of documents related to the ACLU's request, but released only 312 pages, citing 186 pages as duplicative and 284 pages as exempt from disclosure. The ALCU filed suit in May 2011, seeking access to all of the documents identified by the FBI. Citing several exemptions to FOIA rules, the FBI filed a motion for summary judgment. This prompted the ACLU to file a cross-motion for summary judgment, requesting that presiding Judge Esther Salas of the District of New Jersey review the documents privately. The ACLU further requested that Salas use a "Glomar-like" procedure in chambers. Judge Salas refused, and granted the FBI's motion for summary judgment. The ACLU filed an appeal. Writing for three-judge panel of the Third Circuit, Judge Smith rejected the ACLU's "novel [Glomarization] proposal," and stated that "ample evidence" was available in support of Judge Salas' decision. Smith further noted that it would be "hard to imagine how the FBI could provide a more detailed justification for withholding information under this exemption without compromising the very information it sought to protect."

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit

External links

• Judge Sloviter's biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: NA - New Seat 92 Stat. 1629	Third Circuit Court of Appeals 1979–2013	Succeeded by: Cheryl Ann Krause