Because it covers Manhattan, the Southern District of New York has long been one of the most active and influential federal trial courts in the United States. It often has jurisdiction over America's largest financial institutions and prosecution of white-collar crime and other federal crimes.[1] Because of its age, being the oldest federal court in the history of the United States,[2][3] great influence, described as "the preeminent trial court in the nation",[4] and its strong independence,[5] it is colloquially called the "Mother Court",[6] or the "Sovereign District of New York."[7]
The subdivision of the district was reportedly instigated by Matthias B. Tallmadge, out of antipathy for fellow district judge William P. Van Ness. These Districts were later further subdivided with the creation of the Eastern District on February 25, 1865 by 13 Stat. 438,[14] and the Western District on May 12, 1900, by 31 Stat. 175.[14] Public Law 95-408 (enacted October 2, 1978) transferred Columbia, Greene, and Ulster counties from the Southern to the Northern district.[15]
For the first hundred years of its existence, the case load of the district was dominated first by admiralty cases, and then by a mix of admiralty and bankruptcy cases. The primary responsibility for hearing bankruptcy cases has since been transferred to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, with the District Court only reviewing cases already decided by a bankruptcy judge.
The injury and loss of life claims from the 1912 sinking of the Titanic,[16] the 1915 torpedo attack on the Lusitania[17] and the 1904 fire aboard the General Slocum[18] were heard in the S.D.N.Y.
Judge John M. Woolsey of the S.D.N.Y. rejected government efforts to censor on obscenity grounds the distribution of James Joyce's Ulysses in 1933.[21]
In 2017, Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, concerning the practice of fair use in online video content, was heard in the S.D.N.Y.[26]
On December 12, 2018, Judge William H. Pauley III sentenced Michael Cohen – who had served as personal legal counsel to U.S. president Donald Trump for more than a decade – to "three years in prison and millions in forfeitures, restitution and fines",[27] after pleading guilty to charges including campaign finance violations, tax evasion and committing perjury while under oath before Congress.[28]
In July 2022, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jennifer Shah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the S.D.N.Y. In January 2023, Shah was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.[31]
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on October 12, 1881, confirmed by the Senate on October 14, 1881, and received commission the same day.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 5, 1901, confirmed by the Senate on December 17, 1901, and received commission the same day.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 6, 1927, confirmed by the Senate on December 19, 1927, and received commission the same day.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on November 24, 1947, confirmed by the Senate on December 18, 1947, and received commission on December 20, 1947.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 13, 1949, confirmed by the Senate on January 31, 1949, and received commission on February 2, 1949.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1950, confirmed by the Senate on April 4, 1950, and received commission on April 7, 1950.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1950, confirmed by the Senate on March 8, 1950, and received commission on March 9, 1950.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1950, confirmed by the Senate on April 25, 1950, and received commission on April 26, 1950.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1950, confirmed by the Senate on April 28, 1950, and received commission on May 1, 1950.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 30, 1952, confirmed by the Senate on April 7, 1952, and received commission on April 8, 1952.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 12, 1956, confirmed by the Senate on June 26, 1956, and received commission on June 27, 1956.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 12, 1956, confirmed by the Senate on March 1, 1956, and received commission on March 2, 1956.
^ abRecess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the Senate on March 16, 1962, and received commission on March 17, 1962.
^Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the Senate on September 20, 1962, and received commission on September 28, 1962.
^Judge Tenney was nominated by President Kennedy but was appointed to the Court by (i.e., received his commission from) President Johnson.
Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.
A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.
When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.
Succession of seats
edit
Seat 1
Seat reassigned from the District of New York on April 9, 1814[35]
^"Southern District of New York". United States Department of Justice. November 13, 2014.
^Burak, H. Paul (May 1, 1962). History of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (PDF) (Report). Federal Bar Association of New York, New Jersey & Connecticut. p. 1. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
^The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York: A Retrospective (1990-2000) (Report). The New York County Lawyers’ Association. December 2002. p. 11. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
^Zirin, James D. (2014). The Mother Court: Tales of Cases that Mattered in America's Greatest Trial Court. Chicago, Illinois: American Bar Association. pp. x. ISBN 978-1-62722-322-5.
^Smith, Allan (March 25, 2019). "'We know how to do this better than anybody': Southern District of NY on the job after Mueller probe ends". NBC News. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
^Zirin, James D. (2014). The Mother Court: Tales of Cases that Mattered in America's Greatest Trial Court. Chicago, Illinois: American Bar Association. pp. ix, xiii. ISBN 978-1-62722-322-5.
^Weiser, Benjamin; Rashbaum, William K. (March 10, 2017). "With Preet Bharara's Dismissal, Storied Office Loses Its Top Fighter". New York Times. In past presidential transitions, the storied office, long known to be so independent of Washington that some people referred to it as the Sovereign District of New York, has in large measure moved forward unaffected by politics.
^Weiser, Benjamin (January 29, 2009). "A Steppingstone for Law's Best and Brightest". The New York Times. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
^Taylor, Susan (April 15, 2022). "110 Years Later: Titanic Lawsuits Follow Tragedy | In Custodia Legis". The Library of Congress. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
^District), United States District Court (New York : Southern (1918). The "Lusitania." Opinion of Court, United States District Court, Southern District of New York. American Association for International Conciliation.
^"Slocum Disaster, June 15, 1904". National Archives. August 15, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
^"United States v. Rosenberg, 109 F. Supp. 108 (S.D.N.Y. 1953)". Justia Law. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
^"United States v. Hiss, 107 F. Supp. 128 (S.D.N.Y. 1952)". Justia Law. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
^Birmingham, Kevin (2013). "The Prestige of the Law: Revisiting Obscenity Law and Judge Woolsey's "Ulysses" Decision". James Joyce Quarterly. 50 (4): 991–1009. ISSN 0021-4183. JSTOR 24598724.
^Dunlap, David W. (June 30, 2016). "1971 | Supreme Court Allows Publication of Pentagon Papers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
^The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York: A Retrospective (1990-2000) (Report). The New York County Lawyers’ Association. December 2002. p. 11. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
^"United States v. Yousef, 927 F. Supp. 673 (S.D.N.Y. 1996)". Justia Law. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
^Forrest, Katherine B. (August 23, 2017). "Matt Hosseinzadeh, Plaintiff, v. Ethan Klein and Hila Klein, Defendants". United States District Court, S.D. New York (cv-3081). Retrieved December 12, 2017.
^Hamilton, Colby. "Cohen's 'Blind Loyalty' Leads to 3-Year Prison Term", New York Law Journal via Law.com, December 12, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
^"Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen jailed for 36 months". BBC News. December 12, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
^"Patrick Ho, Former Head Of Organization Backed By Chinese Energy Conglomerate, Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison For International Bribery And Money Laundering Offenses". March 25, 2019.
^"Feibleman v. Trs. of Columbia Univ. in N.Y., 19-CV-4327 (VEC) | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
^"Reality Show Cast Member Jennifer Shah Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Running Nationwide Telemarketing Fraud Scheme". January 6, 2023.
^"Sean Combs Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Sex Trafficking And Other Federal Offenses". www.justice.gov. September 17, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
^"Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Conspiring With Jeffrey Epstein To Sexually Abuse Minors". www.justice.gov. June 28, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2024.