Stephen A. Higginson
Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
Assumed office
August 16, 2023
Appointed byJohn Roberts
Preceded byDavid B. Sentelle
Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
Assumed office
February 25, 2021
Preceded byRichard C. Tallman
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Assumed office
November 2, 2011
Appointed byBarack Obama
Preceded byJacques L. Wiener Jr.
Personal details
Born (1961-04-12) April 12, 1961
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (BA)
University of Cambridge (MPhil)
Yale University (JD)

Stephen Andrew Higginson (born April 12, 1961) is a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review.

Early life and education

Born in Boston, Higginson graduated from the Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts in 1979.[1] He then attended Harvard University and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College with an BA in Government and English in 1983. After earning a MPhil from the University of Cambridge the following year, he enrolled in Yale Law School, where he graduated with a JD in 1987. During his time at Yale, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal.[2][3][4]

From 1987 to 1988, Higginson served as a law clerk for Judge Patricia Wald of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He then served as a law clerk for Justice Byron White on the United States Supreme Court from 1988 to 1989.[5][4]

Career

Higginson became an Assistant United States Attorney in 1989, working in the criminal division for the District of Massachusetts. In 1993, he moved to the Eastern District of Louisiana, and became chief of appeals in 1995. From 2004 to 2011, he worked part-time as a prosecutor, continuing to supervise the appellate section.[5] In 2004, he became a full-time faculty member at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.[5] He taught criminal procedure, constitutional law and evidence. Higginson is an elected member of the American Law Institute.[4]

Federal judicial service

On May 5, 2011, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Higginson to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and submitted the nomination to the Senate on May 9.[5] Senator Mary Landrieu had recommended Higginson to Obama in November 2010.[6] The Senate confirmed Higginson's nomination by an 88–0 vote on October 31, 2011.[7] Higginson received his commission on November 2, 2011[4] and filled the seat vacated by Judge Jacques L. Wiener Jr., who assumed senior status in 2010. On February 25, 2021, Higginson was appointed to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review by Chief Justice John Roberts.[8]

In June 2017, Higginson authored the majority opinion in Plummer v. University of Houston, in which the Fifth Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that a university did not violate the Due Process Clause or Title IX when it expelled a student for committing a campus sexual assault, as well as his girlfriend, who had recorded the assault and shared the video on social media.[9][10] On April 26, 2022, Higginson dissented when the 5th Circuit officially rejected challenges to Texas SB 8, a law banning abortion within the state after six weeks gestational age and allows private individuals, or "bounty hunters", to sue anyone who performed or helped a woman get an abortion after six weeks.[11][12] Judge Higginson agreed with the majority opinion, but, in light of a Supreme Court determination, would remand the case.[13]

Personal

Higginson is married to Collette Creppell, the Vice President of Campus Planning and Design at Chapman University.[14][15] The couple has three children and lives in New Orleans.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Stephen Higginson '79". Groton School. 2 March 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Biography: Stephen A. Higginson". Archived from the original on January 17, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ Higginson's resume as of November 2010 (PDF), from the office of Senator Mary Landrieu.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Higginson, Stephen Andrew - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  5. 1 2 3 4 The White House: Office of the Press Secretary (May 5, 2011). "President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Stephen Higginson to Serve on United States Court of Appeals". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved May 7, 2011 – via National Archives.
  6. ↑ Maginnis, John (November 12, 2010). "Landrieu Recommends Names for 5th Circuit Vacancy". LaPolitics. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  7. ↑ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Stephen A. Higginson, of Louisiana, to be U.S. Circuit Judge)". U.S. Senate. October 31, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Current Membership - Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review". United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
  9. ↑ {{{first}}} Note, Fifth Circuit Holds that Due Process Standards May Be Lowered in the Presence of “Overwhelming” Video and Photographic Evidence of Guilt, 131 Harv. L. Rev. 634 (2017).
  10. ↑ Plummer v. University of Houston, 860 F.3d 767 (5th Cir. 2017).
  11. ↑ "Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson (5th Cir. No. 21-50792)" (PDF). ca5.uscourts.gov. April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Federal appeals court ends legal challenge to Texas abortion law". AZ Central. April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson (5th Cir. No. 21-50792)" (PDF). ca5.uscourts.gov. April 26, 2022.
  14. ↑ Tilove, Jonathon (May 5, 2011). "Stephen Higginson nominated to New Orleans-based federal appeals court". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  15. ↑ "VP of Campus Planning and Design". www.chapman.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
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