Judith E. Retchin

Judith Ellen Retchin (born May 24, 1952) is a senior judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Judith E. Retchin
Senior Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
Assumed office
December 2010
Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
In office
July 1992 – December 2010
Nominated byGeorge H.W. Bush
Preceded byBruce S. Mencher[1]
Succeeded byJennifer A. Di Toro
Personal details
Born
Judith Ellen Retchin[2]

(1952-05-24) May 24, 1952[2]
Amityville, New York, U.S.[2]
EducationGeorge Washington University (B.A.)
Catholic University of America (J.D.)

Early life and career

Retchin grew up in West Babylon, New York. In 1970, she graduated from West Babylon Senior High School. In 1974, she received her B.A. from George Washington University. In 1978, she received her J.D. from Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law. She worked as a trial attorney for the Civil Aeronautics Board and joined the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in 1980.[3] She was in private practice from 1974 to 1977.[2] From 1976 to 1978 she was a legal assistant for the Airports Operators' Council International.[2]

Prosecutor

In 1983, she was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.[3] Retchin was the prosecutor in the drug trial of D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.[4]

Judge

President George H. W. Bush appointed Retchin to the bench of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She served as an associate judge from July 1992 to December 2010, when she became a senior judge.[3] She presided over a case challenging the District's handgun ban in 2002.[5]

Jonathan Magbie case

In 2004, Retchin presided over the trial of Jonathan Magbie, a quadriplegic man who had been arrested for possession of marijuana. Retchin sentenced Magbie, a first-time offender, to ten days in jail despite the prosecution, as part of a plea bargain with the defense, agreeing not to oppose probation. Magbie, who required a ventilator to breathe at night (something the jail did not have), subsequently died four days into his sentence after being transferred to a hospital.[6] The case provoked a series of op-ed pieces in the Washington Post by columnist Colbert I. King.[7] A report by the Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure concluded that Retchin had erred but cleared her of judicial misconduct.[8] Magbie's mother called Retchin a killer and demanded her removal from the bench.

References
  1. Report of District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission
  2. Nominations of William McKinley Jackson, Ann O'Regan Keary, Judith Ellen Retchin, and Stephanie Duncan-Peters: hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, second session, on nominations of William McKinley Jackson, Ann O'Regan Keary, Judith Ellen Retchin, and Stephanie Duncan-Peters to be associate judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, May 14, 1992, page 35
  3. "The Honorable Judith E. Retchin, Senior Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2012-02-16.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. Michael York and Tracy Thompson, "Barry Used Drugs, Defense Concedes", Washington Post, 2 August 1990
  5. Greenhouse, Linda (June 11, 2002). "Justices Reject Cases on Right to Bear Arms". New York Times.
  6. Del Quentin Wilbur, "City Settles in Death Of Paralyzed Inmate", Washington Post, 2 December 2008
  7. Colbert I. King, "For Jonathan Magbie, a Catalogue of Injustice", Washington Post, 5 December 2008
  8. Cauvin, Henri E. (March 18, 2005). "Report Clears D.C. Judge of Misconduct in Inmate Death". Washington Post. p. B05.
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