Patti B. Saris

Patti Saris
Chairperson of the United States Sentencing Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office December 22, 2010
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	William Sessions
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2013
Preceded by	Mark Wolf
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Incumbent
Assumed office November 24, 1993
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Walter Skinner
Personal details
Born	July 20, 1951 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater	Harvard University

Patti B. Saris (born July 20, 1951) is the Chief United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She joined the court in 1993 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton. She is also Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission.^[1]

Early life and education

Saris was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Radcliffe College in 1973 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1976.

Legal career

Saris was a law clerk for the Honorable Robert Braucher, of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1976-77. She was in private practice with the law firm of Foley, Hoag & Eliot in Boston from 1977–79, served as Staff counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 1979–81, and then returned to private practice with the firm of Berman, Dittmar & Engel, P.C. during 1981 to 1982.

Saris then served as Assistant U.S. Attorney of the District of Massachusetts from 1982 to 1986. She was Chief of the Civil Division from 1984 to 1986. From 1986-89 she was a U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She was an Associate Justice in the Trial Court of Massachusetts, Superior Court Department from 1989 to 1993.

Federal Judicial Career

On the recommendation of Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, Saris was nominated as a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts by President Bill Clinton on October 27, 1993, to a seat vacated by Walter Jay Skinner. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 20, 1993, and received her commission on November 24, 1993. She became Chief Judge on January 1, 2013.

United States Sentencing Commission

In April 2010, President Obama nominated Saris as Commissioner and Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission. She was confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 2010 and sworn in by Justice Elena Kagan on February 16, 2011. ^[2]

References

1. "Saris to Chair United States Sentencing Commission" (PDF). United States Sentencing Commission. December 23, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
2. "President Obama Nominates Two United States Sentencing Commission". The White House. April 28, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2010.

• Patti B. Saris at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.