Patty Shwartz
2013 - Present
11
Patty Shwartz is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. She joined the court in 2013 after being nominated by Barack Obama.[1]
Early life and education
A native of Paterson, New Jersey, Shaw earned her bachelor's degree from Rutgers College in 1983 and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986.[1]
Professional career
- 2013-present: Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
- 2003-2013: Magistrate judge, District of New Jersey
- 2009-2010: Adjunct professor, Fordham University School of Law
- 1989-2003: U.S. Attorney's office, District of New Jersey
- 2002-2003: Chief, criminal division
- 2001-2002: Executive assistant U.S. attorney
- 1999-2001: Chief, criminal division
- 1995-1999: Deputy chief, criminal civision
- 1989-2003: Assistant U.S. attorney
- 1987-1989: Law clerk, Hon. Harold Ackerman, United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
- 1986-1987: Private practice, Philadelphia, Pa.[1]
Judicial career
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Patty Shwartz |
| Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 562 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: October 5, 2011
|
| ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
|
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: February 15, 2012
|
| QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Renom. QFRs: Renom. QFRs |
| Reported: February 14, 2013 March 8, 2012
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| Confirmed: April 19, 2013
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| Vote: 64-34
|
Shwartz was nominated on October 5, 2011, by President Barack Obama to a post on the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit vacated by Judge Maryanne Trump Barry. The American Bar Association rated Shwartz Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination.[2][3] Hearings on Shwartz's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on February 15, 2012, and her nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on March 8, 2012. Under provisions of Rule XXXI, paragraph six of the standing rules of the Senate, Shwartz's nomination was returned to the president on January 3, 2013.[4] President Obama resubmitted Shwartz's nomination on January 4, 2013, and her nomination was reported by Sen. Leahy, without hearing, on February 14, 2013. Shwartz was confirmed on a recorded 64-34 vote of the U.S. Senate on April 9, 2013, and she received her commission the next day.[1][5]
District of New Jersey, magistrate
Shwartz was a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey from 2003 until her confirmation to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in April 2013.[1]
Noteworthy cases
Third Circuit upholds U.S. Tax Court ruling despite IRS error (2017)
On March 16, 2017, a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit affirmed a judgment of the United States Tax Court in Nancy Rubel v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Judge Patty Shwartz delivered the opinion of the circuit panel.
The plaintiff in this case, Nancy Rubel, filed for relief in the United States Tax Court from a final determination of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that the plaintiff was liable for back taxes. Prior to submitting her court filing, the IRS sent Rubel a letter stating,[6]
| “ |
Please be advised this correspondence doesn’t extend the time to file a petition with the U.S. Tax Court. Your time to petition the U.S. Tax Court began to run when we issued you our final determination on Jan. 04, 2016 and will end on Apr. 19, 2016. However, you may continue to work with us to resolve your tax matter.[7] |
” |
This information was sent to the plaintiff in error, as "the deadlines for Rubel to petition the Tax Court regarding the final determinations were April 4 and 12, 2016, not April 19, 2016."[6] Rubel filed a petition with the Tax Court on April 19, 2016, and the IRS moved to dismiss the case. The IRS claimed that because Rubel failed to file the petition within 90 days of the date of the notices of the IRS' final determination, the Tax Court lacked jurisdiction to review the petition. Rubel argued that the letter sent by the IRS with the incorrect information permitted the Tax Court to take jurisdiction in the case. The U.S. Tax Court held for the IRS and dismissed the lawsuit. A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Patty Shwartz, affirmed the Tax Court's decision.
Pennsylvania congressional map upheld
On January 10, 2018, a panel of federal judges in Pennsylvania dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's congressional map. The case concerns the congressional map passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly in 2011. The plaintiffs alleged that the congressional map violated the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution. They claimed that the map was gerrymandered to ensure Republican control in many districts. By a 2-1 vote, the panel upheld the 2011 map. However, each judge on the panel wrote a separate opinion--the two judges in the majority did not agree on the reason for upholding the map. Judge Brooks Smith and Judge Patty Shwartz made up the majority. Judge Michael Baylson dissented.
Judge Smith would have ruled that the plaintiffs' claims were not within the court's power to resolve. He wrote, "The structural change Plaintiffs seek must come from the political branches or from the political process itself, not the courts. For these reasons, I would hold that the Elections Clause claim raises a non-justiciable political question."[8]
Judge Patty Shwartz agreed that the map should be upheld, but she would have ruled that the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring the case: "Plaintiffs lack standing to bring a statewide challenge to the map because they have not presented a plaintiff from each congressional district who has articulated a concrete and particularized injury in fact." However, she continued, even if the plaintiffs did have standing, "Their claim would still fail because the legal test they propose for an Elections Clause claim is inconsistent with established law."[9]
Finally, Judge Michael Baylson dissented. Baylson would have ruled that the map constituted unconstitutional gerrymandering. He wrote that while the United States Supreme Court had not previously ruled on a gerrymandering claim under the Elections Clause, he believed Supreme Court precedent had established standards for fair congressional maps. Under those standards, he wrote, he believed the plaintiffs had proved their case.[10]
See also
- United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
- United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Federal Judicial Center, "Biographical directory of federal judges," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 112th Congress," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 113th Congress," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 1006 — Patty Shwartz — The Judiciary," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 5 — Patty Shwartz — The Judiciary," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Rubel v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, March 16, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Brennan Center, "Agre v. Wolf" Memorandum, Smith, Chief Circuit Judge, January 10, 2018
- ↑ Brennan Center, "Agre v. Wolf" Memorandum, Shwartz, Circuit Judge, concurring in judgment, January 10, 2018
- ↑ Brennan Center, "Agre v. Wolf Memorandum, Baylson, District Judge, dissenting, January 10, 2018
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit 2013-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Active judges |
Chief Judge: Renee Bumb • Susan Wigenton • Madeline Arleo • Claire Cecchi • Esther Salas • Michael Shipp • Karen Williams (New Jersey) • Robert Kirsch • Brian R. Martinotti • Julien Xavier Neals • Zahid Quraishi • Christine O'Hearn • Evelyn Padin • Georgette Castner • Michael Farbiarz • Jamel Semper • Edward Kiel | ||
| Senior judges |
Mary Cooper • Anne Thompson • Stanley Chesler • Katharine Hayden • William Martini • Peter Sheridan • Noel Hillman • Robert Kugler • Joseph Rodriguez • Kevin McNulty • | ||
| Magistrate judges | Tonianne Bongiovanni • Mark Falk • Ann Donio • Douglas Arpert • Lois Goodman • Michael A. Hammer • Cathy L. Waldor • James B. Clark, III • Leda Dunn Wettre • Sharon King • Jessica Allen • Matthew Skahill • André Espinosa • | ||
| Former Article III judges |
Garrett Brown • Joel Pisano • Freda Wolfson • Harold Ackerman • Dennis Cavanaugh • Dickinson Debevoise • Joseph Greenaway • Faith Hochberg • Jose Linares • Stanley Brotman • Joseph Irenas • Jerome Simandle • David Brearley • Robert Morris (New Jersey) • William Sanford Pennington • William Rossell • Mahlon Dickerson • Philemon Dickerson • Richard Stockton Field • John Thompson Nixon • Andrew Kirkpatrick • Leonard Garth • Robert Cowen • Maryanne Trump Barry • Lee Sarokin • Edward Green (New Jersey) • Joseph Cross • William Mershon Lanning • John Rellstab • Joseph Lamb Bodine • John Warren Davis (Third Circuit) • Thomas Griffith Haight • Charles Francis Lynch • William Nelson Runyon • William Clark (New Jersey) • Guy Laverne Fake • James William McCarthy • John Boyd Avis • Phillip Forman • Anthony Augelli • George Barlow • William Bassler • John Bissell • Vincent Biunno • Mitchell Cohen • James Coolahan • John Gerry • Richard Hartshorne • John Kitchen • Frederick Lacey • Arthur Lane • Alfred Lechner • John Lifland • Thomas Madden • Thomas Meaney • Henry Meanor • Alfred Modarelli • Mendon Morrill • Stephen Orlofsky • Nicholas Politan • Robert Shaw (New Jersey) • William Francis Smith • Herbert Stern • Thomas Walker (New Jersey) • Lawrence Whipple • Alfred Wolin • Reynier Wortendyke • Clarkson Sherman Fisher • John Michael Vazquez • William Walls (New Jersey) • | ||
| Former Chief judges |
Garrett Brown • Anne Thompson • Freda Wolfson • Jerome Simandle • Guy Laverne Fake • Phillip Forman • Anthony Augelli • George Barlow • John Bissell • Mitchell Cohen • James Coolahan • John Gerry • Thomas Madden • William Francis Smith • Lawrence Whipple • Clarkson Sherman Fisher • | ||
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| Nominated | |||
Federal courts:
Third Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of New Jersey • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of New Jersey
State courts:
New Jersey Supreme Court • New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division • New Jersey Superior Courts • New Jersey Municipal Courts • New Jersey Tax Court
State resources:
Courts in New Jersey • New Jersey judicial elections • Judicial selection in New Jersey
