Pamela L. Reeves
{{Short description|American judge (1954–2020)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Pamela L. Reeves
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Pamela Lynn Reeves, U.S. District Court Judge.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| office = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
| term_start = April 1, 2019
| term_end = September 10, 2020
| predecessor = Thomas A. Varlan
| successor = Travis Randall McDonough
| office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
| term_start1 = March 7, 2014
| term_end1 = September 10, 2020
| appointer1 = Barack Obama
| predecessor1 = Thomas W. Phillips
| successor1 = Katherine A. Crytzer
| pronunciation =
| birth_name = Pamela Lynn Reeves
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1954|07|21}}
| birth_place = Marion, Virginia, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|9|10|1954|7|21}}
| death_place = Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
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| children = 2
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| education = University of Tennessee (BA, JD)
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Pamela Lynn Reeves (July 21, 1954 – September 10, 2020) was the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. She was the first female judge to serve in the Eastern District.[http://www.afj.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/President-Obama-Female-Firsts.pdf Making History: President Obama’s Female Judicial Nominees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928205158/https://www.afj.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/President-Obama-Female-Firsts.pdf |date=September 28, 2018 }}, Alliance for Justice (June 11, 2013).
Early life and education
Reeves was born on July 21, 1954, in Marion, Virginia.{{cite web|url=http://www.martindale.com/Pamela-L-Reeves/1604847-lawyer.htm|title=Hon. Pamela L. Reeves Lawyer Profile on Martindale.com|website=www.martindale.com}} She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.{{cite web |last1=McDermott |first1=Brenna |title=A pioneer in sexual harassment suits is East Tennessee's first female chief judge |url=https://www.knoxnews.com/story/money/business/2019/04/01/pam-reeves-eastern-district-tennessee-first-female-chief-judge-knoxville/3288804002/ |website=Knoxville News Sentinel |access-date=14 September 2020}} She received a Juris Doctor in 1979 from the George C. Taylor College of Law at the University of Tennessee.
Career
From 1979 to 1985 she worked as an associate at the law firm of Griffin, Burkhalter, Cooper & Reeves{{cite web |title=Knoxville lawyer Pamela Reeves nominated for federal judgeship |url=http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/knoxville-lawyer-pamela-reeves-nominated-for-federal-judgeship-ep-358254814-355842981.html/ |website=www.knoxnews.com |access-date=September 11, 2020 |language=en}} and from 1985 to 1987 as an associate at Morrison, Morrison, Tyree & Dickenson. From 1987 to 2002, she worked at the law firm of Watson, Hollow & Reeves. She formed the law firm of Reeves, Herbert & Anderson, P.A. in Knoxville, in 2002, where she practiced mediation and litigation concentrated in the area of employment and contract matters. From 1998 to 1999, she served as the first woman President of the Tennessee Bar Association.{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/16/president-obama-nominates-three-serve-united-states-district-court|work=whitehouse.gov|title=President Obama Nominates Three to Serve on the United States District Court|via=National Archives|date=May 16, 2013}}{{FJC Bio|nid=1394371|inline=yes}} In 2019, the Tennessee Bar Association awarded Reeves the Judicial Excellence Award and the first-ever Professionalism Award.{{cite web |title=Pamela L. Reeves, Chief U.S. District Judge for East TN, dies after cancer battle |url=https://www.wate.com/news/pamela-l-reeves-chief-u-s-district-judge-for-east-tn-dies-after-cancer-battle/ |website=WATE 6 |access-date=September 11, 2020 |date=September 10, 2020}} A few days before her death, the University of Tennessee bestowed her with the University's Distinguished Alumna Award.
Reeves's legal work centered largely on discrimination suits. She was involved in a sexual harassment-related case involving the TVA just months after receiving her law license, and would go on to represent both plaintiffs and defendants in discrimination-related cases throughout her career. She also worked as a mediator in sexual harassment cases; during her time at Watson, Hollow & Reeves, she represented government agencies and government officials who, in her words, "had gotten into trouble." In an interview, she named Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, which recognized sexual harassment as a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as her favorite Supreme Court decision.
= Federal judicial service =
On May 16, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Reeves to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, to the seat being vacated by Judge Thomas W. Phillips, who eventually took senior status on August 1, 2013. Her nomination was reported out of committee on January 16, 2014. The motion to invoke cloture was agreed to on March 5, 2014 by a 62–37 vote. Her nomination was confirmed later that day by a 99–0 vote. She received her judicial commission on March 7, 2014, and she became chief judge on April 1, 2019.[https://www.tned.uscourts.gov/sites/tned/files/reeves_chief_judge.pdf "PRESS RELEASE: JUDGE REEVES TO BECOME CHIEF JUDGE OF THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE", March 26, 2019, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee]
Death
Reeves died on September 10, 2020, from cancer.{{cite web |last1=Crocker |first1=Brittany |title=East Tennessee's first female chief judge, Pamela Reeves, has died |url=https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2020/09/10/trailblazing-chief-district-judge-pamela-reeves-dies/3459056001/ |website=Knoxville News Sentinel |access-date=September 10, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.tned.uscourts.gov/sites/tned/files/09102020press.pdf|title=Passing of Chief U.S. District Judge Pamela L. Reeves|publisher=United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee|date=September 10, 2020|access-date=September 11, 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{FJC Bio|nid=1394371}}
- {{Ballotpedia|Pamela_L._Reeves}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=Thomas W. Phillips}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee}}|years=2014–2020}}
{{s-aft|after=Katherine A. Crytzer}}
{{s-bef|before=Thomas A. Varlan}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee}}|years=2019–2020}}
{{s-aft|after=Travis Randall McDonough}}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Pamela Lynn}}
Category:21st-century American women judges
Category:American women lawyers
Category:Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
Category:People from Marion, Virginia
Category:United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama