Judge Alison Nathan
Southern New York U.S. District Court
Alison Julie Nathan was born in June 1972 In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She earned an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and received her Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School. She clerked at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and later at the Supreme Court for Justice Paul Stevens. After her clerkships, she entered private practice in New York.
She was a visiting associate professor of law at Fordham University School of Law and also served as the Fritz Alexander Fellow at the New York University School of Law. She spent 18 months as a special assistant to President Barack Obama and also as Associate White House Counsel, after which she worked as a special counsel to New York State’s Solicitor General.
President Barack Obama nominated Nathan to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was confirmed by the Senate in a 48-44 vote, and received her judicial commission in October 2011.
Judge Nathan is openly gay and married to Margaret (Meg) Satterthwaite. They are parents to twin sons.
In the News…
Civil rights groups have alleged in a class action lawsuit that immigrant petitioners (class members) for lawful entry into the U.S. have lived in the country as much as 16 years before becoming lawful permanent residents. Many of them were held in detainment for months before being released.
Judge Alison Nathan of the Southern New York U.S. District Court said a law authorizing the detention of immigrants while removal proceedings are pending “does not negate class members’ interests—of the utmost importance—in freedom from imprisonment.”
“Class members may not have a ‘fundamental right to be released during removal proceedings,’ but nor does the Government have an unfettered right to detain them,” she added.
She has ordered that newly detained immigrants must appear before a judge within 10 days of their detention.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Nathan today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Alison J. Nathan
Southern New York U.S. District Court
Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse
40 Foley Square
New York, NY 10007
