New Wrinkle in Ghislaine Maxwell Trial as Judge May Be Promoted
The president has nominated Judge Alison J. Nathan for a seat on a federal appeals court, but the fraught case could put her in an unusual predicament.
Judge Alison J. Nathan was on the bench as jury selection began in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday.Credit...Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times
By Benjamin Weiser
Published Nov. 16, 2021Updated Nov. 17, 2021
The Manhattan judge presiding in the high-profile trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, has been nominated for a prestigious federal appeals court post, the White House announced on Wednesday.
The judge, Alison J. Nathan, 49, has spent a decade on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. This week, she was overseeing jury selection in the trial of Ms. Maxwell, who has been charged with sex trafficking and with helping Mr. Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse girls. Ms. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty.
The trial, in which opening arguments are scheduled for Nov. 29, could last six weeks, defense lawyers and prosecutors have said in court filings.
If Judge Nathan is confirmed by the Senate during the trial, she could still continue to preside in the case, two legal ethics experts said. Judges are frequently elevated to appeals courts from lower courts where they are actively involved in trials and other cases.
Still, the Maxwell trial, with its connection to Mr. Epstein and the worldwide attention it has attracted, is anything but a routine matter.
The judge addressed the issue from the bench on Wednesday morning before her nomination was announced, saying that if she was nominated, she would continue handling her many civil and criminal cases, including presiding over the Maxwell trial until its completion.
Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader and the party’s senior lawmaker in New York State, recommended Judge Nathan for the seat on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which is one level below the Supreme Court.
Presidents, in choosing judges and U.S. attorneys, traditionally defer to their party’s senior lawmaker in each state.
Mr. Schumer, in a statement on Tuesday, said Judge Nathan’s “experience, legal brilliance, love of the rule of law and perspective would be invaluable in ensuring the federal judiciary fulfills its obligation to ensure equal justice for all.”
The White House announcement also noted that Judge Nathan would be the second openly gay woman to serve on any federal circuit court.
Judge Nathan was appointed to the District Court by President Barack Obama in 2011. She earlier served as a special counsel to the solicitor general of New York State, in the state attorney general’s office. Before that, she was an associate White House counsel and special assistant to Mr. Obama.
Judge Nathan is a graduate of Cornell Law School and served as a law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens in the Supreme Court’s 2001-2 term.
It is not unprecedented for a federal appellate judge, even after confirmation, to continue to hear cases in the trial court, the legal experts said.
At least two former judges on the District Court in Manhattan — Denny Chin and Richard J. Sullivan — continued to handle cases in the lower court after they were appointed to the Second Circuit.
Rebecca Roiphe, a professor at New York Law School, said the only theoretical issue she could foresee would be if Judge Nathan were confirmed quickly and her new duties pulled her away “from a very time-consuming trial.”
“But I think that’s unlikely given the timeline here,” Professor Roiphe said.
Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University School of Law, said one hypothetical question was whether Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers might seek to have the judge recuse herself because the Biden administration would be in a position to derail her promotion if she did not favor the government in the trial.
But he said in his view, based on hundreds of cases involving judicial recusal, a promotion like Judge Nathan’s would not provide a basis for such a request.
“This does not even come close to the sort of interest that leads to recusal,” he said.
Judge Nathan is known for her independence, and in at least two cases she issued blistering criticism of the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan after it was accused of failing to turn over potentially favorable evidence to the defense before trial.
The president has nominated Judge Alison J. Nathan for a seat on a federal appeals court, but the fraught case could put her in an unusual predicament.
Judge Alison J. Nathan was on the bench as jury selection began in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday.Credit...Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times
By Benjamin Weiser
Published Nov. 16, 2021Updated Nov. 17, 2021
The Manhattan judge presiding in the high-profile trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, has been nominated for a prestigious federal appeals court post, the White House announced on Wednesday.
The judge, Alison J. Nathan, 49, has spent a decade on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. This week, she was overseeing jury selection in the trial of Ms. Maxwell, who has been charged with sex trafficking and with helping Mr. Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse girls. Ms. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty.
The trial, in which opening arguments are scheduled for Nov. 29, could last six weeks, defense lawyers and prosecutors have said in court filings.
If Judge Nathan is confirmed by the Senate during the trial, she could still continue to preside in the case, two legal ethics experts said. Judges are frequently elevated to appeals courts from lower courts where they are actively involved in trials and other cases.
Still, the Maxwell trial, with its connection to Mr. Epstein and the worldwide attention it has attracted, is anything but a routine matter.
The judge addressed the issue from the bench on Wednesday morning before her nomination was announced, saying that if she was nominated, she would continue handling her many civil and criminal cases, including presiding over the Maxwell trial until its completion.
Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader and the party’s senior lawmaker in New York State, recommended Judge Nathan for the seat on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which is one level below the Supreme Court.
Presidents, in choosing judges and U.S. attorneys, traditionally defer to their party’s senior lawmaker in each state.
Mr. Schumer, in a statement on Tuesday, said Judge Nathan’s “experience, legal brilliance, love of the rule of law and perspective would be invaluable in ensuring the federal judiciary fulfills its obligation to ensure equal justice for all.”
The White House announcement also noted that Judge Nathan would be the second openly gay woman to serve on any federal circuit court.
Judge Nathan was appointed to the District Court by President Barack Obama in 2011. She earlier served as a special counsel to the solicitor general of New York State, in the state attorney general’s office. Before that, she was an associate White House counsel and special assistant to Mr. Obama.
Judge Nathan is a graduate of Cornell Law School and served as a law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens in the Supreme Court’s 2001-2 term.
It is not unprecedented for a federal appellate judge, even after confirmation, to continue to hear cases in the trial court, the legal experts said.
At least two former judges on the District Court in Manhattan — Denny Chin and Richard J. Sullivan — continued to handle cases in the lower court after they were appointed to the Second Circuit.
Rebecca Roiphe, a professor at New York Law School, said the only theoretical issue she could foresee would be if Judge Nathan were confirmed quickly and her new duties pulled her away “from a very time-consuming trial.”
“But I think that’s unlikely given the timeline here,” Professor Roiphe said.
Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University School of Law, said one hypothetical question was whether Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers might seek to have the judge recuse herself because the Biden administration would be in a position to derail her promotion if she did not favor the government in the trial.
But he said in his view, based on hundreds of cases involving judicial recusal, a promotion like Judge Nathan’s would not provide a basis for such a request.
“This does not even come close to the sort of interest that leads to recusal,” he said.
Judge Nathan is known for her independence, and in at least two cases she issued blistering criticism of the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan after it was accused of failing to turn over potentially favorable evidence to the defense before trial.
