Colleen McMahon

Colleen McMahon (born July 18, 1951) is the Chief United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Colleen McMahon
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Incumbent
Assumed office June 1, 2016
Preceded by	Loretta A. Preska
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Incumbent
Assumed office October 22, 1998
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	John F. Keenan
Personal details
Born	July 18, 1951[1] Columbus, Ohio
Education	Ohio State University (B.A.) Harvard Law School (J.D.)

Education and career

Born in Columbus, Ohio, McMahon received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio State University in 1973 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1976.[2] She was in private practice in New York City from 1976 to 1995, except for a period from 1979 to 1980 when she was a speechwriter and special assistant to Donald McHenry, the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She was a Judge of the New York Court of Claims, New York Supreme Court, from 1995 to 1998.

Federal judicial service

On May 21, 1998, McMahon was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by John F. Keenan. McMahon was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 21, 1998, and received her commission the next day. She became Chief Judge on June 1, 2016.

Notable cases

Among the cases over which she has presided is a defamation case brought by Drug Enforcement Administration agents against the makers of the film American Gangster, which was alleged to have portrayed such agents as being corrupt.[3][4]

She was also the Judge in the case of the so-called Newburgh four involving FBI agent Robert Fuller who was the handler of the informant in the case, Shahed Hussain.[5] In that case, at sentencing she pointed out that the FBI played a key role. She said: "It created acts of terrorism out of his fantasies of bravado and bigotry, and then made those fantasies come true." And she added: "Only the government could have made a terrorist out of Mr. Cromitie, whose buffoonery is positively Shakespearean in scope."[6]

References

1. Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, First Session, on Confirmation of Appointees to the Federal Judiciary, Part 4
2. "Where Are They Now?". The Ohio State University. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
3. "DEA agents sue over 'American Gangster'". WPRI. Archived from the original on February 8, 2008.
4. "American Gangster lawsuit dismissed". ABC News/Reuters. February 18, 2008.
5. Aaronson, Trevor (2013). Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism. Ig Publishing. pp. 150. ISBN 9781935439615.
6. Aaronson, Trevor (2013). Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism. Ig Publishing. pp. 142. ISBN 9781935439615.

External links

• Colleen McMahon at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.