Karen Henderson

Karen LeCraft Henderson is a federal appeals judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She joined the court in 1990 after being nominated by President George H.W. Bush to a seat vacated by Kenneth Starr. Prior to her appointment to the D.C. Circuit, she served on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.^[1]

Education

Henderson graduated from Duke University with her B.A. in 1966, and later earned her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1969.^[1]

Professional career

1983-1986: Attorney in private practice, South Carolina
1973-1983: Office of the Attorney General, South Carolina

1982-1983: Deputy attorney general
1978-1982: Senior assistant attorney general
1973-1978: Assistant attorney general

1969-1970: Attorney in private practice, North Carolina^[1]

Judicial career

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

On the recommendation of the at-large Congressional delegation for the District of Columbia, Henderson was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by George H.W. Bush on May 8, 1990, to a seat vacated by Kenneth Starr. Starr joined the Office of Independent Counsel at that time. Henderson was confirmed by the unanimous consent of the Senate on June 28, 1990, and received her commission on July 5, 1990.^[2]

District Court of South Carolina

On the recommendation of longtime U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, Henderson was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina by Ronald Reagan on June 3, 1986, to a seat vacated by William Wilkins, Jr. Henderson was confirmed by the Senate on June 13, 1986, on a Senate vote and received her commission on June 16, 1986.^[1]

Noteworthy cases

In re: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (2020)

See also: Lawsuits about state actions and policies in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021

In re: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations: On June 11, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied an emergency petition filed by the AFL-CIO. The labor union had sought a court order (a writ of mandamus) to compel the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard for Infectious Diseases (ETS) to protect working people from occupational exposure to COVID-19. The AFL-CIO had first petitioned Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia on March 6, 2020, to issue the ETS, but Scalia did not act on the petition, prompting the AFL-CIO to take the matter before the D.C. Circuit. The labor union cited a federal law requiring issuance of an ETS when "employees are exposed to grave danger from exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or from new hazards." The D.C. Circuit refused to compel action, saying that OSHA is "entitled to considerable deference" and the agency had "reasonably determined that an ETS is not necessary at this time." The per curiam decision was made by Judges Karen Henderson, an appointee of George H.W. Bush (R), Robert Leon Wilkins, an appointee of Barack Obama (D), and Neomi Rao, an appointee of Donald J. Trump (R). AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued a statement the day of the decision, saying, "the court’s action today fell woefully short of fulfilling its duty to ensure that the Occupational Safety and Health Act is enforced.”^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

D.C. Circuit panel orders judge in Flynn investigation to elaborate on refusal to dismiss the case

On May 7, 2020, the Department of Justice filed a motion to drop charges against Michael Flynn in his case involving investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.^[7] U.S. District Court judge Emmet Sullivan did not dismiss the case and instead issued an order on May 12, 2020, indicating that he would accept amicus curiae briefs regarding the case.^[8]

In response to Sullivan's May 7 order, lawyers representing Flynn filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on May 19, 2020. The appeal requested that the appellate court order the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case and reverse Sullivan's order allowing amicus curiae briefs. The appeal also requested that the district court reassign the case to another judge for any future legal proceedings. Flynn's attorney Sidney Powell wrote, "A district court cannot deny the Government’s motion to dismiss because the judge has 'a disagreement with the prosecution’s exercise of charging authority.' Nor should a court second-guess the Government’s 'conclusion that additional prosecution or punishment would not serve the public interest.'"^[9]

On May 21, a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit consisting of Henderson, along with Robert Leon Wilkins and Neomi Rao, ordered Sullivan to respond by June 1 to Flynn's challenge to Sullivan's refusal to dismiss the case.^[10]

Articles:

D.C. Circuit rules on USPS treatment of Netflix (2014)

The District of Columbia Circuit ended the U.S. Postal Service's policy towards Netflix. In 2014, the D.C. Circuit ordered the Postal Service (USPS) to stop discriminating against GameFly, a company that also mails DVDs to customers via the USPS. GameFly had to use more expensive mailers because its DVDs were sorted through machine processing. Netflix DVD mailers, however, received hand sorting. To equalize how the USPS dealt with both companies, the D.C. Circuit ruled that the USPS must either lower what it charges GameFly to mail its DVDs in the heavier mailers or enact operational procedures to prevent GameFly mailers from being damaged, such as sorting their DVD mailers by hand, as well.

In the end, the USPS chose to reduce postage rates and allow GameFly to pay shipping rates comparable to Netflix. A three-judge panel approved the remedy in April 2014. Henderson wrote for the court. She said that the rate decrease was “unequivocally effective in equalizing the playing field, thereby eliminating the discrimination—or at least its injurious effects.”^[11]

Articles:

External links

Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Karen LeCraft Henderson"

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 1990-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	United States District Court for the District of South Carolina 1986-1990	Succeeded by Dennis Shedd