Richard Franklin Boulware II (born October 12, 1968) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada and former assistant Federal Public Defender.
Richard Franklin Boulware II | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada | |
| Assumed office June 10, 2014 | |
| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Philip Martin Pro |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Franklin Boulware II October 12, 1968 Rochester, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) Columbia University (JD) |
Biography
editBoulware received an Artium Baccalaureus degree, cum laude, in 1993 from Harvard College and studied toward a Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology from 1995 to 1998. He received a Juris Doctor in 2002 from Columbia Law School.[1]
From 2002 to 2003, he served as a law clerk to Judge Denise Cote of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. From 2003 to 2007, he was a trial attorney in the Federal Public Defender's Office in New York City. He served in the Federal Public Defender's Office in Las Vegas from 2007 to 2014, serving as the lead attorney for complex white-collar cases from 2010 to 2014.[2][3]
Federal judicial service
editOn January 16, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Boulware to serve as a district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada to the seat vacated by Judge Philip Martin Pro, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2011.[4] He received a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on March 12, 2014.[5] On April 3, 2014, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 11–7 vote.[6]
On June 5, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on the nomination. On June 9, 2014, the United States Senate invoked cloture by a 53–34 vote.[7] On June 10, 2014, his nomination was confirmed by a 58–35 vote.[8] He received his judicial commission the same day.[3] He was sworn in on June 12, 2014.[9]
In 2015, Boulware began hearing a high-profile anti-trust lawsuit against the Ultimate Fighting Championship filed by several of its former fighters. The fighters allege that the UFC "unlawfully monopolized the market for mixed martial arts promotion by, among other things, locking up fighters with exclusive contracts and acquiring its rivals, leading to suppressed compensation for the fighters".[10] The UFC is fighting the suit, alleging that it is "meritless."[11] In September 2020, Boulware indicated he was "likely" to grant class-action status to the suit.[12]
In May 2022, he vacated Margaret Rudin’s murder conviction after she had spent 20 years in prison. Boulware ruled that Rudin received ineffective legal representation from her late defense attorney.[13]
Nomination to United States Sentencing Commission
editOn September 9, 2015, President Obama nominated Boulware to a position on the United States Sentencing Commission. He would have replaced former Commissioner Ketanji Brown Jackson and his term would have expired October 31, 2019.[14] His nomination expired at the end of the 114th Congress.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Judge Richard F. Boulware – District of Nevada". Retrieved 2023-04-27.
- ^ "President Obama Nominates Four to Serve on the United States District Courts". whitehouse.gov. 16 January 2014 – via National Archives.
- ^ a b Richard F. Boulware at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. 16 January 2014 – via National Archives.
- ^ "Nominations". United States Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
- ^ "Executive Business Meeting" (PDF). United States Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of Richard Franklin Boulware II, of Nevada, to be U.S. District Judge)". United States Senate. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation of Richard Franklin Boulware II, of Nevada, to be United States District Judge for the District of Nevada)". United States Senate. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ^ "Judges List: Judge Richard F. Boulware". United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ "Cohen-Milstein: Mixed Martial Arts Antitrust Litigation". Retrieved 15 Nov 2020.
- ^ "UFC Releases Statement After Motion To Dismiss Antitrust Lawsuit Is Denied". 26 September 2015. Retrieved 15 Nov 2020.
- ^ "UFC Antitrust Lawsuit Likely to be Granted Class Certification". 17 September 2020. Retrieved 15 Nov 2020.
- ^ "Murder conviction vacated for Vegas real estate mogul's wife". May 17, 2022.
- ^ "President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the United States Sentencing Commission". whitehouse.gov. 9 September 2015 – via National Archives.
External links
edit- Richard F. Boulware at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Richard F. Boulware at Ballotpedia