Southern District of New York
Career Highlights: Appointed to the Southern District of New York by President Clinton, 1995; private practice, 1980-1995; chief, business and securities fraud section, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, 1978-80; assistant U.S. attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, 1973-78; private practice, 1970-72; clerk, 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Abraham L. Freedman; 1969-70.
Career Highlights: Appointed to the Southern District of New York by President Clinton, 1995; private practice, 1980-1995; chief, business and securities fraud section, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, 1978-80; assistant U.S. attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, 1973-78; private practice, 1970-72; clerk, 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Abraham L. Freedman; 1969-70.
As soon as Southern District of New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff signed an order finding the federal death penalty unconstitutional, he told his wife he'd also signed away any chance of being appointed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Rakoff based his 2002 ruling not on the Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment -- the focus of most death penalty litigation -- but its guarantees of due process.
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