Nancy Gertner facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nancy Gertner
Gertner in 2012
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
In office May 22, 2011 – September 1, 2011
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
In office February 14, 1994 – May 22, 2011
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	A. David Mazzone
Succeeded by	Timothy S. Hillman
Personal details
Born	(1946-05-22) May 22, 1946 (age 79) New York City, U.S.
Education	Barnard College (BA) Yale University (MA, JD)

Nancy Gertner (born May 22, 1946) is a smart and important person who used to be a federal judge in Massachusetts. A federal judge helps decide legal cases for the whole country. She stopped being a full-time judge on May 22, 2011, and then fully retired on September 1, 2011. Now, she teaches law at Harvard Law School, which is a very famous university.

Early Life and School Days

Nancy Gertner was born in New York City. Her grandparents came to the U.S. from Poland and Hungary. Her dad, Moishe Gertner, owned a business that sold linoleum, which is a type of floor covering. Her mom, Sadie Gertner, was a homemaker.

When Nancy was little, her family lived in a tenement, which is an old apartment building that can be crowded. When she was seven, they moved to a different part of New York called Flushing. At Flushing High School, she was a cheerleader and helped with the school's writing magazine. She was also the best student in her class!

Nancy went to Barnard College of Columbia University and earned her first degree in 1967. Then, she went to Yale University and Yale Law School, where she got two more degrees in 1971. While she was at Yale, she became friends with Hillary Rodham (who later became Hillary Clinton) and met Bill Clinton, who would become a U.S. President.

Starting Her Law Career

Nancy Gertner began her legal journey in 1971. She worked as a law clerk for Judge Luther Swygert. A law clerk helps a judge by doing research and writing.

From 1972 to 1994, she worked as a lawyer in the Greater Boston area. She worked with other lawyers, Harvey Silverglate and Thomas Shapiro. During this time, she also taught law at Boston University School of Law and was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School.

Nancy Gertner was known for supporting ideas about fairness and equal rights for all people, especially women. She had a unique style in court, sometimes wearing bright red clothes and carrying her legal papers in shopping bags!

Becoming a Federal Judge

On October 27, 1993, President Bill Clinton chose Nancy Gertner to become a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. This was suggested by two important senators, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

The Senate, which is part of the U.S. government, agreed to her appointment on February 10, 1994. She officially became a judge on February 14, 1994.

On May 22, 2011, she took on "senior status," which means she worked a lighter schedule. Then, she fully retired from being a judge on September 1, 2011.

What She Did After the Court

After retiring from being a judge, Nancy Gertner became a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School. This means she teaches law based on her real-world experience.

On April 9, 2021, President Joe Biden asked her to be a part of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. This group studied the Supreme Court and gave advice.

Important Court Cases

Nancy Gertner was involved in many important cases during her time as a judge. Here are a few examples:

• Expert Testimony Rules: In a case called U.S. v. Hines in 1999, Judge Gertner made an important decision about how "expert testimony" could be used in court. Expert testimony is when someone with special knowledge, like a scientist or a handwriting expert, shares their opinion to help the court. She decided that a handwriting expert could talk about how similar handwriting samples looked, but couldn't say for sure if the same person wrote both. She also said that experts could talk about how reliable eyewitnesses are, especially when people from different backgrounds identify someone. This helped set new rules for how expert evidence is used in trials.

• Wrongful Convictions: On July 26, 2007, Judge Gertner ordered the government to pay a lot of money, over $101 million, to four men. These men had been wrongly put in prison for murder because important evidence that could have proven their innocence was hidden. The government tried to appeal this decision, but a higher court agreed with Judge Gertner in 2009.

• Music Sharing Lawsuit: Judge Gertner also oversaw a case called Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum. This was a lawsuit where music companies said a college student named Joel Tenenbaum illegally downloaded and shared music files. This broke U.S. copyright law, which protects who can copy and share creative works. A jury decided the student should pay $675,000. However, Judge Gertner later lowered the amount to $67,500. She thought the original fine was too high and unfair. Later, higher courts disagreed with her decision to lower the fine, and the original amount was put back in place.

• Defending a Student Activist: Before she became a judge, Nancy Gertner worked as a defense attorney. One of her first big cases was defending Susan Saxe, a student from Brandeis University. Susan was involved in protests during the Vietnam War era and was accused of stealing money to help fund student strikes.

• Supporting Robert Mueller: Judge Gertner also wrote an article defending Robert Mueller, who is a well-known lawyer and former FBI Director. Some people had said that Mueller was responsible for four men being wrongly imprisoned in the 1980s. Judge Gertner, who knew about the case, wrote that the facts did not support these claims.

Her Life Outside of Work

Nancy Gertner is the only judge in Massachusetts who has written a personal blog. A blog is like an online diary or journal. Some people criticized her for this, but she believes that judges should speak up more about important issues.

In 2011, she wrote a book about her life called In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate. The book talks about her time as a lawyer who defended people and fought for civil rights before she became a judge in 1994.

Nancy Gertner is married to John Reinstein, who used to be a legal director for the Massachusetts ACLU. The ACLU is an organization that works to protect people's rights.

In 2015, a funny thing happened at her home in Brookline. An escaped cockatoo (a type of bird) caused a lot of damage to her historic Victorian house! Her house is also famous because it was the birthplace of Robert F. Kennedy. After several months, the bird was finally caught on October 22.

Awards and Recognition

Nancy Gertner has received several important awards for her work:

• 2008 Thurgood Marshall Award: She received this award from the American Bar Association. It recognized her efforts in helping to advance human rights and civil liberties, which are basic rights and freedoms for all people.
• 2014 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award: This award, also from the American Bar Association, honored her for being a strong advocate, for mentoring other lawyers, and for her achievements in the legal field.

See also

• List of Jewish American jurists