Sri Srinivasan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sri Srinivasan
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Official portrait, 2013
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| Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | |
| Assumed office February 11, 2020 |
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| Preceded by | Merrick Garland |
| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | |
| Assumed office May 24, 2013 |
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| Nominated by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | A. Raymond Randolph |
| Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States | |
| In office August 26, 2011 – May 24, 2013 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Neal Katyal |
| Succeeded by | Ian Heath Gershengorn |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Padmanabhan Srikanth Srinivasan
February 23, 1967 Chandigarh, India |
| Education | Stanford University (BA, JD–MBA) |
Sri Srinivasan was born in India on February 23, 1967. He is a well-known American lawyer and judge. Since 2020, he has been the chief judge of an important court called the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Before becoming a federal judge, Sri Srinivasan worked as a top lawyer for the U.S. government. He argued 25 cases in front of the Supreme Court of the United States, which is the highest court in the country. He also taught law at Harvard Law School. In 2016, President Barack Obama thought about nominating him to the Supreme Court.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Growing Up in America
Sri Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh, India, on February 23, 1967. His family moved to the United States when he was very young. They first came in the late 1960s when his father was a Fulbright scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.
After a short time back in India, his family moved permanently to the U.S. in 1971. Sri was four years old then. They settled in Lawrence, Kansas. His father became a math professor at the University of Kansas. His mother taught at an art institute and later worked in the computer science department at the University of Kansas.
High School and College Years
Sri Srinivasan went to Lawrence High School. He graduated in 1985. While there, he played on the school's basketball team. One of his teammates was Danny Manning, who later became a famous NBA star.
After high school, he attended Stanford University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989 with high honors. From 1989 to 1991, he worked as an analyst for San Mateo County. He then went back to Stanford to study law and business at the same time. He earned both a law degree (JD) and a business degree (MBA) in 1995. He was also an editor for the Stanford Law Review.
Legal Career
Starting as a Law Clerk
After finishing law school, Sri Srinivasan worked as a law clerk. This means he helped judges with their research and writing. From 1995 to 1996, he clerked for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III. This judge was on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
He then had a special fellowship at the Department of Justice from 1996 to 1997. After that, he clerked for a very important judge: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He worked for her from 1997 to 1998.
Working as a Government Lawyer
From 2002 to 2007, Sri Srinivasan worked for the U.S. government again. He was part of the Office of the Solicitor General. This office represents the U.S. government in cases before the Supreme Court.
On August 26, 2011, he became the Principal Deputy Solicitor General. This was a very high position. By May 2013, he had argued 25 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. He also helped with legal work for presidential candidate Al Gore after the 2000 presidential election.
In 2013, he was part of the legal team that argued against the Defense of Marriage Act in the case of United States v. Windsor. He left the Solicitor General's office on May 24, 2013, when he became a federal judge.
Private Practice and Teaching
Between his government jobs, Sri Srinivasan worked at a private law firm called O'Melveny & Myers. He was an associate from 1998 to 2002. He rejoined the firm in 2007 as a partner.
He also taught a course at Harvard Law School. The course was about arguing cases in the Supreme Court. In 2005, he received an award from the United States Department of Defense for his excellent work.
Becoming a Federal Judge
Nomination and Confirmation
In June 2012, President Obama nominated Sri Srinivasan to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This court is very important because it often handles cases involving the U.S. government.
His nomination was sent to the Senate for approval. On January 2, 2013, his nomination was sent back to the President. But the very next day, he was nominated again for the same job.
His hearing in the Senate on April 10, 2013, went smoothly. The Senate committee voted 18–0 to approve his nomination on May 16, 2013. The full Senate then voted on May 23, 2013. He was confirmed by a vote of 97–0, which means almost everyone agreed he should be a judge.
He officially became a judge on May 24, 2013. He took his oath of office in June. At his formal swearing-in ceremony in September, he took the oath on the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita. He became the first federal appeals judge of South Asian descent. On February 11, 2020, he became the Chief Judge of the court.
Important Decisions as a Judge
As a judge, Sri Srinivasan has written opinions on many important cases. Here are a few examples:
- In Sierra Club v. Jewell (2014), he wrote the main opinion. The court decided that environmental groups could challenge the removal of a historic site from the National Register of Historic Places.
- He also wrote the decision in Pom Wonderful v. FTC (2015). This case upheld rules that require health claims in ads to be supported by studies.
- In Home Care Association of America v. Weil (2015), he wrote the decision that brought back rules guaranteeing overtime and minimum wage for home health care workers.
- He wrote the decision in Hodge v. Talkin (2015). This decision upheld a law that stops protests in the U.S. Supreme Court Building's plaza.
- In Jarkesy v. SEC (2015), he wrote the decision that said people must follow specific legal paths to challenge certain financial laws.
- He wrote the decision in Simon v. Republic of Hungary (2016). This case was about compensation for Holocaust survivors.
Considered for the Supreme Court
In April 2013, some news outlets suggested that Sri Srinivasan might be nominated for the Supreme Court of the United States by President Obama. If he had been nominated and confirmed, he would have been the first Indian American, first Asian American, and first Hindu person on the Supreme Court.
After Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away on February 13, 2016, many people thought Sri Srinivasan was a top choice to fill the empty seat. However, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland instead. Some believed Srinivasan would have been a strong choice because he was confirmed as a judge with a 97–0 vote in 2013, making him a less controversial pick.
See also
- Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates
- List of Asian American jurists
- List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
