Thomas L. Ambro

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Thomas L. Ambro (born 1949 in Cambridge, Ohio) is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Judge Ambro received both his B.A. (1971) and J.D. (1975) from Georgetown University. After law school, he clerked for Chief Justice Daniel L. Hermann of the Supreme Court of Delaware. He was in private practice in Wilmington, Delaware from 1976-2000. Before being elevated to the bench, he headed the bankruptcy practice at Richards, Layton, and Finger.

He was appointed to the bench of the Third District by President Bill Clinton on September 29, 1999, to fill a seat vacated by Walter King Stapleton. He was confirmed by the Senate on February 10, 2000, by a 96-2 vote and was sworn in on June 19, 2000.

Judge Ambro's well-known opinions include United States v. Gunter, 462 F.3d 247 (3d Cir. 2006) (holding that district courts may consider whether the federal Sentencing Guidelines's differential between crack and cocaine is rational when imposing sentences); In re Owens Corning, 419 F.3d 195 (3d Cir. 2005) (clarifying when a bankruptcy court may substantively consolidate affiliated entities); and Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights v. Rumsfeld, 390 F.3d 219 (3d Cir. 2004) (holding that law schools have a First Amendment right to refuse to allow the military to recruit on campus without their institutions losing federal funding), rev'd ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 1297 (2006).