margin-bottom: 0; Shes written for dozens of newspapers and magazines across the country, with projects that have taken her from a zero gravity flight over Queens to a fishing village in Ghana. One victim chose another suspect in the lineup. Gardner is several inches taller than the attacker, at 6 foot 3 inches, and points to his dark complexion. Two sources close to the Congressional Black Caucus said that Jackson is viewed as a favorite. Jimmie Gardner was wrongfully convicted of assault and rape nearly three decades after an investigator produced falsified evidence by the way of fingerprint and DNA sample results that were not Jimmie's. The former minor league baseball player spent the better part of 23 years fruitlessly . She also has an influential backer in Representative Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat whose endorsement of Biden in the 2020 presidential primary helped rescue his flailing campaign. Here are some of the people whose names have been discussed as prime candidates for an open Supreme Court seat. A man who spent nearly three decades in prison after being wrongly convicted of rape and assault is marrying a federal judge who is the sister of Stacey Abrams, the first-ever black female nominee for governor in the United States. Although the White House has been tight-lipped about its short list, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger are the consensus front-runners among Bidens progressive allies. I had a lot of hatred, but knew I had to channel that out of me,' Gardner said. --With assistance from Jordan Rubin and Ellen Gilmer. Ballot measures, Who represents me? Some other possible front-runners include 45-year-old California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and Georgia U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, who is 47 and the sister of Stacey Abrams, who is running for governor in Georgia. Public policy. display: block; Instead of getting offended, Gardner said Leslie Abrams told him, Wow, you could actually be an attorney. She hesitated to tell him her job, he said, fearing his experience with the justice system would put him off. A guide to ALL of the characters in Daisy Jones & The Six - from Joan Jett-esque rock icon to the Steve Nicks-inspired leading lady played by Elvis' granddaughter Riley Keough - who based her portrayal on late mom Lisa Marie, PICTURED: Radio host who took down Subway spokesman Jared Fogle with flirty, long-distance relationship to record him describing sick pedo fantasies - only for it to ruin her life, Florida Wheel of Fortune contestant sparks hilarity after getting answer wrong to food puzzle with letters: 'WARM TOASTED BA_ELS WITH LO_ AND CREAM CHEESE', Not very reserved! Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner; Judge Clay D. Land; Judge Tilman E. (Tripp) Self; Sr. Judge Hugh Lawson; Sr. Judge W. Louis Sands; Sr. Judge C. Ashley Royal; Mag Judge M. Stephen Hyles; Mag Judge Thomas Q. Langstaff; Mag Judge Charles H. Weigle; For Attorneys. U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner is the sister of Stacey Abrams, and ruled on a voter-registration case that was very similar to another case before a different district court in. It's traumatic for the parents. Stacey Abrams' sister floated as possible Supreme Court pick | wltx.com Growing up in Tampa Bay, Florida, he was a natural at sports, from football to basketball, but it was baseball that was destined to be his future. Cochran was in prison for gang-related offenses and was part of the Aryan Brotherhood, a neo-Nazi white supremacist group. In 2012, he filed his own petition for relief in federal court, knowing full well that it would likely be denied since he technically hadnt exhausted his options in state court. padding-left: 10px; Both are supportive of Stacey Abrams candidacy and were right by her side when she won the Georgia Democratic nomination for governor after Tuesdays primary. But while the federal judge had vacated his convictions, West Virginia opted to retry Gardner on all charges. She is a former professor who spent 20 years at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore. In a footnote to her Dec. 28 ruling, Abrams Gardner noted the request for her to recuse herself, but stated simply, "The Court has reviewed the motion and finds no basis for recusal." Gardner, 47, is another judge who would be making an unlikely leap from serving on a federal district court. It can happen at any time. Later this year, Gardner is opening Gardner's House, a converted newspaper building that will house up to 48 recently released convicts, giving them shelter, food and opportunities to find jobs. Gardner claimed he has seen a dozen murders and hundreds other die from inhuman conditions during his time in correctional facilities. Before being appointed to the bench, Jackson worked as an attorney at the firm Morrison & Foerster with an emphasis on appellate litigation. He beat her, raped her 60-year-old daughter, then stole $90 and a cassette player. The case involving Abrams and Fair Fight was overseen by a different judge in a different court. There are comparatively few Black women in the highest reaches of the federal judiciary, though Biden has been active in bolstering those numbers as part of a broader emphasis on diversifying the courts, both in terms of demographics and professional background. I knew he was lying because I knew I hadnt committed the crime, Gardner told the Washington Post. From October 2016 to October 2017, with support from family and advocates, he volunteered to share his story and to advocate for social justice reform everywhere he could. Leslie J. Abrams was a U.S. attorney until she was nominated by President Barack Obama for a federal judgeship in Georgia's Middle District. A federal judge in Georgia on Monday ordered two counties to reverse a decision removing more than 4,000 voters from the rolls ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. In 2014, she was appointed to . An additional 150 were from Ben Hill County, which Trump won by a wide margin. Before becoming a federal judge, Childs was a South Carolina state judge, a commissioner on the state workers compensation commission, and an official in the South Carolina labor department. 'I was the only male there, I went with a friend who asked me to mingle,' Gardner said. | 'I'm very familiar with laws, and I got talking with Leslie, we were discussing for hours about judicial laws and different processes. Postal Service's National Change of Address database, Roberts contended that those voters had moved out of the state and were therefore no longer eligible to vote in Ben Hill County. Even though Gardners defense team was not allowed to view the lab results showing that the person who committed the rapes had a different blood type from Gardners, and even though the states stance was that the same person had committed both rapes, he was acquitted of the charges related to Ruckman (pdf) but convicted of rape (of Galati), assault (of Ferrell), battery, robbery and burglary because Zain said that Gardner was one of the few people on the planet who matched the DNA. During her tenure she argued a dozen cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the government, according to her state supreme court bio. He was 49 years old when he returned home and started getting to know his daughter, who was then 31 years old. Leslie Abrams Gardner - Celebrity Age Wiki } A federal judge in Georgia on Monday ordered two counties to reverse a decision removing more than 4,000 voters from the rolls The judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner the sister of former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. On Dec. 23, Majority Forward challenged the actions of Muscogee and Ben Hill counties, and filed for a temporary restraining order on Dec. 27. Supreme Court contenders include Black women from the South background-color: #f9f9f9; According to Abrams Gardner's Dec. 28 ruling, the basic facts of the case were as follows. .widget-img { color: white; Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), After 27 years in prison for a crime he didnt commit, college graduation is in sight, Snowed-in Crestline residents make the best of it with volunteers, booze, San Bernardino mountain residents grow worried as they cant access medicine, supplies, Marianne Williamson begins longshot 2024 challenge to Biden, AlienCon is spotted in Pasadena, and it brings out the believers, struggles to attract and support Black students, Disneyland quietly removes controversial lyric from new parade soundtrack, Fannie Mae halts financing for 6,102 condos in Laguna Woods, Tax filing deadline moves to mid-October for most Californians, 2 arrested in Anaheim on suspicion of possessing $463,000 in stolen merchandise, Baram and Tioumentsev win World Junior title hours after their coach, Todd Sand, suffers heart attack, Lake Forest woman filed restraining order against daughter 8 years before being killed in their home, Taco Mesita opens flagship location in Old Town Tustin, California weighs $360,000 in reparations to eligible Black residents, OC Restaurant Week kicks off Sunday, March 5, Lake Forest man convicted of killing stepmom with pickaxe, As Adderall shortage continues, DEA plans to limit some telemedicine prescriptions, House where JonBenet Ramsey was found dead listed for sale for almost $7M, Columbia University permanently drops SAT, ACT admissions requirement, The Waterbed Doctor: California retailer lays claim to retro bed with nearly 40 years of service, sales, Felonious Florida podcast: Missing teenage girl leads to several cases of child sex trafficking, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. On Feb. 1, 1990, Jimmie Gardner was sentenced to serve between 33 and 110 years in prison. Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner blocked two counties from purging over 4,000 voters from the rolls for Georgia's upcoming runoff elections. Biden's Supreme Court shortlist - Yahoo! News 'I watched hundreds of guys dying from eating the bad food, dirty water, disease, succumbing to the environment - killing themselves, or getting killed. The legal wranglings were complex but the gist was simple: While he didnt actually look like the suspect, he fit the vague description of a tall black male. They also argued that Abrams Gardner's ruling in the Majority Forward case could have a bearing on the judge's decision-making in the Fair Fight litigation, which directly involved Abrams, since she is the chairperson of that organization. 'But I've also met some of the most ingenious guys, phenomenal dudes, scientists, woodsmen, some very sharp individuals. She served as an associate at the law firm of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, from 2006 to 2007. Play it now! Growing up in Tampa Bay, Florida, Gardner was a natural at sport, from football to basketball, but it was baseball that was destined to be his future - until he was wrongly convicted, In May 1987, a mother and her daughter were robbed, beaten, and the latter raped at their home in Charleston. .widget-row.heading { } Many felt it was inappropriate for Gardner to rule on the case, a concern that was | Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images. Counties | Before that she worked as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's . While that claim was later disputed, they charged him with both assaults. The two met at an event for the Georgias Black Women Lawyers Association. A former prosecutor nominated by Obama in 2014, she became the . I felt like I was 13 years old. She has also been involved in recent efforts to push Facebook Inc. and other social media platforms to do more to combat racism and voter suppression on their sites. She also previously worked for the U.S. Stacey Abrams' sister, federal judge on Biden's Supreme Court shortlist Conservatives would likely focus on her ties to her sister, voting rights activist Stacey Abrams, who ran for governor of Georgia in 2018 and was behind get-out-the-vote efforts that flipped the state blue in 2020. After 27 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, college The Muscogee County Board of Elections determined that Russell's challenge was probably valid, and contacted those 4,033 "targeted voters" to inform them they could only cast provisional ballots, and would have to provide proof of residency. | Prior to her confirmation last summer, Jackson served as a federal district court judge from 2013 through 2021. But that information wasnt shared with Gardners defense team or presented to the jury during his trial. color: white; Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP. Just because the courts arent hearing me, Im not going to stop.. 'If you've been wrongfully convicted, then keep on fighting, don't give up, and if you're in rightfully, and been given too much time - which the majority have - then also don't give up. 'Rough situations - guys getting killed on the softball field, in the yard, in cells on lock down, getting stabbed or beaten to death. U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner is the sister of Stacey Abrams, and ruled on a voter-registration case that was very similar to another case before a different district court in Georgia, which involved Abrams' voting rights organization Fair Fight. } The comments below have been moderated in advance. Her brother, Walter, has been incarcerated and experienced mental health and substance abuse problems. Majority Forward is a non-profit voter registration organization, and Turner is a resident of Muscogee County, Georgia. Leslie Abrams Gardner is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. } 'I had a lot of anger in my first five years, but I understood that I was in a life and death situation. But if the last few decades have taught him anything its that, while life too often isnt fair and dreams do in fact explode, they also can sometimes be put together again. He was acknowledged at the assembly in February 2018 and received a house resolution commending him. .widget-row.value-only { Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner allows Georgia voters regardless of address background-color: red; Ruckman even identified another man out of a police lineup as the man who assaulted her, but Zain said that his DNA evidence excluded that man. .widget-row.value-only.white { Zain had died of liver cancer and escaped a custodial sentence for his crimes. Elections in 2023 | Then Zain claimed the man identified by one of the victims couldnt have been her attacker. Justice Leslie Abrams Gardner has served as a federal district court judge in Georgia since 2014. On the night of Stacey Abram's victory against Stacey Evans, Gardner and the candidate's younger sister Leslie were right by her side in Atlanta, While working alongside schools and prisons in Georgia, Gardner (right) met his future wife Leslie (left) at a gathering of black female judges, Gardner and Leslie, pictured with a friend at the 2018 Innocence Project Gala in May, plan to get married later this year. [4][5] NBC News had previously reported the retirement on January 26. Three years later, in 1993, West Virginias Supreme Court of Appeals received complaints about Zain falsifying evidence. Despite the fact that Gardner is 6 feet 4, has a wide nose and is dark-skinned, Fred Zain, who examined blood for the West Virginia State Police, said that Gardners blood and fingerprints matched the blood and fingerprints that were found at the scene of the crime. My case lingered throughout the system for 23 years without me getting the opportunity to get a review in court.. Childs, 55, may have been considered a long shot given that no federal district judge has been directly elevated to the Supreme Court since 1923. How to vote | I dont want to discount anyone elses experience, he said. color: black; I've met her sisters, mother, father, her family are extraordinary, remarkable, her parents are ministers in Mississippi and I got their approval. | She challenges me from a great position and I challenge her from a good position, he said. [8] On November 12, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on her nomination. I went through 13 attorneys that were on my case, he said. A three-year-old Stacey can be seen right alongside a two-year-old Leslie center, and their older sister Andrea Abrams, aged six at the time. U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner A federal judge on Monday evening sided with a voting rights organization seeking to prevent two counties from purging thousands of "targeted voters" from their voting rolls less than two weeks ahead of the state's highly consequential Senate runoff elections. MEGHAN MCCAIN: Ohio in a poisonous soup. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak. width: 100%; Im very familiar with laws, and I got talking with Leslie; we were discussing for hours about judicial laws and different processes.. Its a great opportunity to have two minds come together and be able to share opinions and just really get to know each other.. Gardner struggled to adjust to life in prison, as he lost the opportunity to watch his daughter, who was only three when he was incarcerated, grow up. Gardner said it was likely 'dangerous' for Cochran to be helping him due to his connection to the white supremacist group, but they had 'respect for each other'. In December 2020, right-leaning observers and prominent Republican politicians cried foul after a federal court judge blocked attempts to remove thousands of names from voter rolls in Georgia, ahead of January's two U.S. Senate run-off elections in the state. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president certainly stands by his campaign commitment. .clearfix { Some people you think will be uneasy, maybe her parents won't accept me, but they did. WOW! Georgia Judge Who Also Is Stacy Abrams' Sister BLOCKS Elections Interns wanted: Get paid to help ensure that every voter has unbiased election information. Her age -- she is the youngest of Bidens potential picks -- means she could easily serve for three decades or more on the high court. Gardner, pictured with Georgia Governor candidate Stacey Abrams, said he and Leslie's relationship has the support of their families, In 2015, when Leslie Abrams was being sworn in as a US District Judge in Georgia, her older sister Stacey posted a throwback photo of them together. Childs is a favorite of top Black Caucus members including Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), according to two senior Democratic aides. The case in question was Majority Forward and Gamaliel Warren Turner vs. Ben Hill County Board of Elections et al. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. .widget-value { During the retirement announcement, Biden said that: "The person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity. Georgia judge, Stacey Abrams' sister, rules against voter purge before Whatever was offered, I took it. He also formed the nonprofit Gardner House to help get people out of prison and transition back into society. The scene first came to him in the late 1980s, when he was playing minor league baseball. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. She could become the nation's first Black woman governor", "The fate of the Democrats' future may lie in Georgia", "President Obama Nominates Leslie Joyce Abrams to Serve on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia", "Abrams, Leslie Joyce Federal Judicial Center", "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate", "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of Leslie Joyce Abrams, of Georgia, to be U.S. District Judge)", "On the Nomination (Confirmation Leslie Joyce Abrams, of Georgia, to be U.S. District Judge)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leslie_Abrams_Gardner&oldid=1142113247, Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 15:46. background-color: #003388; Jackson was nominated by Biden and confirmed last year by the Senate to the powerful D.C. font-size: 1.2em; From 2010 to 2014, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia. Leslie Abrams Gardner. Over the years, Abrams has repeatedly confirmed as much, including when she congratulated Abrams Gardner on her U.S. Senate confirmation and appointment as U.S. District Court judge for the Middle District of Georgia, in 2014 and 2015. A state judge denied his petition. Biden'S Scotus Choices Include Judge Who Provoked Republicans and And he plans to keep fighting for others who are still sitting in prison cells, nursing their own deferred dreams. 'Leslie is brilliant, and that's an understatement,' said Gardner, who added that professionally and at home, everyone has accepted his and Leslie's relationship. Biden's First Supreme Court Selection: The Leading Contenders from Yale Law School. } She is the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant mother and a Jewish father, both pediatricians. Justice Stephen Breyers retirement plans have quickly created an expectation that President Biden will nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, as he promised during his campaign. Her age will almost certainly work against her given the push by both parties for younger justices who can serve longer. After his year of service ended, Gardner started a for-profit company called J.C. Gardner Speaks. Leslie Abrams Gardner - Wikipedia margin-top: 1px; We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Fred Zain, a forensic expert at the West Virginia State criminal lab, claimed his samples matched blood from the crime scene, and Gardner was found guilty on that evidence alone, being sentenced to 110 years in February 1990. .widget-key { Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, Double murderer Alex Murdaugh is heckled about surviving son Buster as he leaves court to begin life sentence without parole: Judge tells him Maggie and Paul will 'visit you in your sleep' - as his lawyers plan appeal in ten days, Don Jr. calls Fetterman a 'vegetable' who should be a 'bag guy at a grocery store' NOT a Senator - after he was admitted to Walter Reed with clinical depression, Would YOU move to another state if you were paid? Kruger has held several high-ranking posts at the Department of Justice, I just try to be a good person, I try to treat people with respect.'. And hes involved in multiple criminal justice reform efforts, including a seat on the board of the Georgia Innocence Project, which works to free wrongfully convicted prisoners. margin: auto; font-weight: bold; None of the victims identified him as their attacker. 'I'll keep fighting for injustice, wrongful convictions and for people who haven't got voices,' Gardner said. However her prospects are complicated by being the sister of Democratic voting rights activist and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Like other potential candidates, she has an Ivy League background. 'We got together, it clicked, we know that God brought us together for a purpose. [1] Biography [ edit] She would bring another dimension of diversity to the Supreme Court as a former public defender. [15] The Senate Judiciary Committee reported Abrams to the full Senate on June 19, 2014, on a voice vote. 'All the computer classes, I got three degrees inside, learned whatever I could, like how to strip floors, carpentry, restaurant management, air conditioning/heating, plumbing, staying abreast with the Internet and mobiles, car mechanics, anything to keep my mind active. U.S. President | I speak about resiliency, determination, never giving up, staying positive and being thankful for the opportunities you have, he said. width: 250px; Jackson received both her undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University. I had fingerprints, photos, stayed 90 minutes to be interrogated, they said nothing matched, and wished me well for the season. Millions of men out of work and lonely. The pair got married in November 2018, and he said, Its just been wonderful ever since. Her husband was wrongly imprisoned for 26 years for a rape and robbery he didnt commit before getting exonerated. Turner was one of those targeted voters. Gardner is still fighting in court today, trying to get compensation from West Virginia for the years he was wrongfully imprisoned. font-weight: bold; Circuit Court of Appeals. At 23 years old, he was sentenced to up to 110 years in prison. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Ukraine soldiers shoot down enemy drones with drones of their own, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Isabel Oakeshott clashes with Nick Robinson over Hancock texts, Dozens stuck in car park as staff refuses to open gate for woman, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA. Childs would bring a different set of experiences to the Supreme Court as a non-Ivy League law school graduate -- she graduated from the University of South Carolina -- and a former South Carolina labor official. Federal courts | vertical-align: top; As a California Supreme Court justice since 2015, she has developed a reputation as a careful, incremental jurist -- a trait that might disappoint some liberal advocates while potentially attracting Republican support. Zain was fired in 1993 and indicted for fraud, according to the National Registry of Exonerations at the University of Michigan. Childs noteworthy decisions include a 2014 ruling in favor of a lesbian couple who sought to have South Carolina recognize an out-of-state marriage. Neither Abrams nor Fair Fight were a party to the specific case before Abrams Gardner in the Middle District of Georgia in December 2020. [6] On February 15, Biden announced he would nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson. District Judge Wilhelmina 'Mimi' Wright, Judge on Minnesota's. Now the 51-year-old has found love with Georgia District Judge Leslie Abrams, and the pair plan to marry later this year. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Leslie Abrams Gardner are indeed sisters. If that happens, Bidens pick would be the third Black justice and the sixth woman in the courts history of more than 230 years. Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, the sister of former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, found that the counties seemed to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to. On the nomination: Abrams was rated Majority Qualified, Minority Not Qualified by the American Bar Association. Gardner attended the event. Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, Stacey Abrams' sister, blocks Georgia display: inline-block; .widget-row.Republican { In late December Biden nominated her for a spot on the D.C. By Kimberly Robinson, Greg Stohr and Madi Alder. Even though he knew of this discovery, Gardner would spend another 23 years in prison. Sentencing Commission for several years as its vice chair. She will serve the American people with integrity and an unwavering commitment to justice. Both said that their attacker was lighter than Gardner. But it would take 23 years for Gardner to finally be released, being denied hearing after hearing, and he spent years writing to advocacy groups and even President Barack Obama looking for help.