Judge James Boasberg
D.C. Circuit U.S. District Court
James Emanuel Boasberg was born in February 1963 in San Francisco, California. He earned an undergraduate degree from Yale University, a Master of Studies from Oxford University, and received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. He clerked at the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals before entering into private practice, first in San Francisco and then in the District of Columbia.
He joined the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and spent four years as a prosecutor specializing in homicides. He became an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, serving in both the civil and criminal divisions and the domestic violence branch. He was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by President Barack Obama, confirmed 95-0 by a voice vote of the Senate, and received his commission in March 2011.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Boasberg to also serve on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a term that began in May 2014.
He is married to Elizabeth Leslie Manson.
In the News…
The Dakota Access oil pipeline can remain in operation while the federal government conducts a new environmental review, District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled. His temporary ruling is in favor of the pipeline operator. Environmental activists are expected to continue the challenges to halt the project due to environmental impact concerns.
In his ruling, Judge Boasberg also said the tribal groups had not met the legal burden to warrant a shutdown of the pipeline, and he said the tribal groups must look to the Biden administration for relief.
“The Court acknowledges the Tribes’ plight, as well as their understandable frustration with a political process in which they all too often seem to come up just short,” Judge Boasberg wrote. “If they are to win their desired relief, however, it must come from that process, as judges may travel only as far as the law takes them and no further.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Boasberg today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable James Boasberg
U.S. District Court
E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse
333 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001
