Royce Lamberth

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Royce Lamberth
Image of Royce Lamberth

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the District of Columbia (senior status)
Tenure

2013 - Present

Years in position

11

Prior offices
United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Education

Bachelor's

University of Texas, Austin, 1965

Law

University of Texas School of Law, 1967

Personal
Birthplace
San Antonio, Texas
Contact

Official website 

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Royce C. Lamberth is a federal judge on senior status with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He joined the court in 1987 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan. Lamberth was the chief judge of the court from 2008 until 2013. He elected to take senior status in July of 2013.[1]

Early life and education

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Lamberth graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with his bachelor's degree in 1965 and from the University of Texas School of Law with his LL.B. in 1967.[1]

Military service

Lamberth served in the judge advocate general corps of the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1974, attaining the rank of captain.[1]

Professional career

  • 2013 - Present: Senior judge
  • 1987-2013: Judge

Judicial career

District of Columbia

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: Royce C. Lamberth
Court: United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Progress
Confirmed 239 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: March 19, 1987
DefeatedAABA Rating:
Questionnaire:
ApprovedAHearing: May 13, 1987
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: June 23, 1987 
ApprovedAConfirmed: November 13, 1987
ApprovedAVote: Unanimous consent

Lamberth was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by President Ronald Reagan on March 19, 1987, to a seat vacated by Barrington Parker. Hearings on Lamberth's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 13, 1987, and his nomination was reported by then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) on June 23, 1987. Lamberth was confirmed by the unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on November 13, 1987, and he received his commission on November 16, 1987. Lamberth elected to take senior status on the court beginning on July 15, 2013. He was succeeded in this position by Judge Christopher Reid Cooper.[1][2]

Noteworthy cases

Clinton email case (2018)
See also: United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State, 14-1242)

Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the State Department and Judicial Watch to create a plan to uncover whether Hillary Clinton used a private email server as secretary of state to prevent groups from accessing her emails through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The parties were directed to report back to the judge in 10 days.[3]

Lamberth said that Judicial Watch should be allowed access to documents and testimony about Clinton’s use of a private email server and how the federal government handled the release of her emails. He added that Clinton’s email practices were “one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency.”[3]

Lamberth also questioned whether “lawyers at the Justice Department and the State Department misled the court when they tried at the end of 2014 to wrap up Judicial Watch’s FOIA suit about Benghazi talking points even though some officials were aware months earlier that Clinton had tens of thousands of emails on a private system and had agreed to turn many of them over to State at its request,” according to Politico.[3]

Lambert wrote, “State played this card close to its chest. At best, State’s attempts to pass-off its deficient search as legally adequate during settlement negotiations was negligence born out of incompetence. At worst, career employees in the State and Justice Departments colluded to scuttle public scrutiny of Clinton, skirt FOIA and hoodwink this court.”[3]

Dismissal of Hillary Clinton from 'Filegate' suit (2009)
See also: United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Cara Alexander, et al., v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, et al., 1:96-cv-02123-RCL)

On July 16, 2009, Judge Lamberth dismissed a lawsuit filed in 1996 against former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.[4] The case involved the Clinton White House’s handling of FBI background records when the Clinton Administration was under investigation for firing White House travel office employees.[4] White House staffers under Clinton acknowledged in an affidavit that they sought and received the FBI files of hundreds of prominent Republicans.

The complaint surfaced after President George H.W. Bush took the personnel files after leaving office in 1993.[5] It is a custom for outgoing presidents to take personnel files with them. When Bill Clinton became president, former Chief of Staff Mack McLarty demanded FBI background checks on everyone working in the White House to reconstruct the personnel files. However, Clinton White House staffers who handled the request failed to purge the names of Republican political appointees of past administrations from the lists sent to the FBI. The Clinton Administration's handling of the FBI records received harsh criticism from Republicans.[5]

Attorneys who continued to pursue the case argued that the case should not be dismissed until Mrs. Clinton was called to testify. Judge Lamberth disagreed, stating: "There was no legal reason that he should require a person who is a busy cabinet secretary at this point to submit to an oral deposition.”[4] The case was dismissed by Judge Lamberth on March 9, 2010.[6]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 '"Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Judge Royce C. Lamberth," accessed May 12, 2017
  2. ↑ United States Congress, "PN 191 — Royce C. Lamberth — The Judiciary," May 12, 2017
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Politico, "Judge orders more fact-finding in Clinton email case," December 6, 2018
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The New York Times, "Suit against Clinton is thrown out," July 16, 2009
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Seattle Times, "Judge dismisses lawsuit against Hillary Clinton," July 16, 2009
  6. ↑ Judicial Watch, "Cara Alexander, et al., v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, et al.," accessed August 27, 2013
Political offices
Preceded by:
Barrington Parker 		U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
1987-2013 		Succeeded by:
Christopher Reid Cooper



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