Richard F. Boulware facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Richard Franklin Boulware II
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| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada | |
| Assumed office June 10, 2014 |
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| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Philip Martin Pro |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Richard Franklin Boulware II
October 12, 1968 Rochester, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) Columbia University (JD) |
Richard Franklin Boulware II (born October 12, 1968) is a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. He used to work as a lawyer who helped people who couldn't afford one.
Contents
About Judge Boulware
Early Life and Education
Richard Boulware went to Harvard College and earned a degree in 1993. He also studied sociology for a few years. Later, he earned his law degree from Columbia Law School in 2002.
Legal Career
After law school, he worked for a judge named Denise Cote from 2002 to 2003. This job is called a law clerk, where you help a judge with their cases.
From 2003 to 2007, he was a lawyer in the Federal Public Defender's Office in New York City. This office helps people who are accused of crimes but cannot afford a lawyer. He then moved to the Federal Public Defender's Office in Las Vegas. He worked there from 2007 to 2014. From 2010 to 2014, he was the main lawyer for complicated cases involving financial crimes.
Becoming a Federal Judge
On January 16, 2014, President Barack Obama chose Richard Boulware to become a federal judge. He was nominated for a position in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. This position became open when Judge Philip Martin Pro retired.
The Confirmation Process
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a meeting about his nomination on March 12, 2014. On April 3, 2014, the committee voted to approve his nomination.
On June 5, 2014, the Senate leader started the process to bring his nomination to a final vote. On June 9, 2014, the United States Senate voted to end the debate and move to a final vote. The next day, June 10, 2014, the Senate confirmed his nomination with a vote of 58 to 35. He officially became a judge that same day and was sworn in on June 12, 2014.
Important Cases
In 2015, Judge Boulware began hearing a major lawsuit against the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Several former fighters claimed that the UFC unfairly controlled the market for mixed martial arts events. They said the UFC used special contracts and bought out rivals. The fighters believed this led to them being paid less than they should have been. The UFC has stated that the lawsuit has no merit. In September 2020, Judge Boulware suggested he would likely allow the case to become a "class-action" lawsuit. This means many fighters could join the same lawsuit.
In May 2022, Judge Boulware overturned Margaret Rudin’s murder conviction. She had been in prison for 20 years. Judge Boulware decided that Rudin did not get good legal help from her defense lawyer during her original trial.
Other Nominations
On September 9, 2015, President Obama also nominated Judge Boulware for a position on the United States Sentencing Commission. This group helps set guidelines for how federal judges sentence people. He would have replaced former Commissioner Ketanji Brown Jackson. His nomination ended when that session of Congress finished.
See also
