Lee Rudofsky

Lee Philip Rudofsky (born 1979) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Lee Rudofsky
Rudofsky in 2019
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
Assumed office
November 8, 2019
Appointed byDonald Trump
Preceded byJames Leon Holmes
Solicitor General of Arkansas
In office
July 1, 2015 – July 20, 2018
GovernorAsa Hutchinson
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byNicholas Bronni
Personal details
Born1979 (age 43–44)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationCornell University (BS, MPA)
Harvard University (JD)

Biography

Rudofsky received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. After law school, Rudofsky served as a law clerk to Justice Robert J. Cordy of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and to Judge Andrew Kleinfeld of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He then became an associate at Kirkland & Ellis, before serving as Deputy General Counsel to the Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign. In 2015, Rudofsky became Solicitor General of Arkansas, and he left that post in 2018 to become senior director for global anti-corruption compliance at Walmart.[1][2][3] Rudofsky is Jewish.[4]

Federal judicial service

On July 1, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Rudofsky to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Rudofsky was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge James Leon Holmes, who assumed senior status on March 31, 2018. On July 8, 2019, his nomination was sent to the United States Senate.[5] Senator Tom Cotton recommended his nomination.[6] On July 31, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[7] On October 17, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[8] On November 6, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–41 vote.[9] On November 7, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 51–41 vote.[10] He received his judicial commission on November 8, 2019.[11]

Notable cases

In 2022, Rudofsky held that American citizens could not bring suit under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, instead concluding that provision could only be enforced by lawsuits filed directly by the Attorney General of the United States.[12] His decision was widely criticized by legal commentators as standing in opposition to decades of Supreme Court precedent which had permitted private enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, effectively "gutting" the VRA and rendering it "largely unenforceable".[13][14][15]

Memberships

He has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2002.[16]

See also

References
  1. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees and United States Marshal Nominee". whitehouse.gov. July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019 – via National Archives. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. "Lee Rudofsky as Solicitor General | Arkansas Attorney General". arkansasag.gov.
  3. "Rutledge Names Nicholas Bronni as Solicitor General | Arkansas Attorney General". arkansasag.gov.
  4. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). judiciary.senate.gov. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  5. "Four Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, July 8, 2019
  6. "Cotton Applauds Nomination of Lee Rudofsky for District Court Judge for Eastern District of Arkansas" (Press release). July 1, 2019. Lee Rudofsky is an outstanding choice to serve as district court judge. Lee is an exceptionally qualified attorney and has served honorably as the Solicitor General of Arkansas as well as a Senior Director of Walmart's Global Anti-Corruption Compliance program. Lee understands that the proper role for a judge is to interpret the Constitution and the laws as written, and I look forward to his confirmation.
  7. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for July 31, 2019
  8. Results of Executive Business Meeting – October 17, 2019, Senate Judiciary Committee
  9. "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture Lee Philip Rudofsky to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas)". United States Senate. November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  10. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Lee Philip Rudofsky, of Arkansas, to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas)". United States Senate. November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  11. Lee Rudofsky at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  12. "Judge to toss Arkansas redistricting case unless DOJ joins". Politico. February 17, 2022.
  13. Stern, Mark Joseph (February 18, 2022). "Thursday Was One of the Most Radical Days for the Federal Courts in Years". Slate.
  14. Millhiser, Ian (February 18, 2022). "A Trump judge's new decision would undo more than 50 years of voting rights law". Vox.
  15. Marcus, Ruth (February 18, 2022). "We now see stark evidence of Trump's toxic judicial legacy". Washington Post.
  16. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Lee Rudofsky
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