| Barbara Keenan | |
|---|---|
| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office March 9, 2010 |
|
| Nominated by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Emory Widener |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia | |
| In office 1991–2010 |
|
| Preceded by | Charles Russell |
| Succeeded by | Bill Mims |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1950 (age 61–62) Vienna, Austria |
| Alma mater | Cornell University George Washington University University of Virginia |
Barbara Milano Keenan (born 1950) is a judge on United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and a former justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia.
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Keenan was born in Vienna, Austria, where her father, a highly decorated World War II veteran, was serving as chief of intelligence operations after the war.[1] She was raised in Northern Virginia. Keenan received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1971 and her law degree from George Washington University Law School in 1974.[2] She also earned a master of law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1992.[2]
From 1974 to 1976, Keenan was an assistant commonwealth's attorney for Fairfax County, Virginia before entering private practice, first as a solo practitioner and then as partner in the firm Keenan, Ardis and Roehrenbeck.[2] In 1980, she was made a judge of the General District Court of Fairfax County, and two years later became the first woman to be elected to a Circuit Court judgeship by the Virginia General Assembly.[2] In 1985, she was elected as one of the first ten judges of the newly created Court of Appeals of Virginia, making her the first woman to serve as a state appellate court judge in Virginia.[2] Keenan holds the distinction of being the only woman to have served on all levels of the Virginia court system. [3] In 2011, she wrote the foreword to the first volume of Jurist Prudent, the collected opinions of her former Supreme Court of Virginia colleague Sr. Justice Lawrence L. Koontz, Jr.. [4]
In 1991, Keenan was elected to be a Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, succeeding Justice Charles S. Russell.[2] Justice Keenan was reelected in 2003 to a second twelve-year term on the Court.
Justice Keenan holds the distinction of being the first Virginia jurist to have served at every level of Virginia's judicial system (District, Circuit, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court). Sr. Justice Lawrence L. Koontz, Jr., and Justice Leroy F. Millette, Jr., have also served at every level of the state's court system. She joins Judge G. Steven Agee of that court as the second Virginia Supreme Court Justice (and former Virginia Court of Appeals judge) to advance to the federal appellate bench in recent times.
In 2009, Justice Keenan asked to be considered for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The Virginia Bar Association included her name on the list of candidates it submitted to Virginia's two senators on February 24, 2009. On June 2, 2009, Virginia's senators recommended that President Barack Obama nominate her to the Fourth Circuit.[5] On September 14, 2009, Obama formally nominated Keenan to the Fourth Circuit.[2] The Senate Judiciary Committee has backed her nomination.[6]
On February 26, 2010, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on Keenan's nomination. The Senate voted 99-0 for cloture on the nomination on March 2, 2010.[7] The Senate then voted 99-0 to confirm Keenan on March 2, 2010.[8] She received her commission on March 9, 2010.
Keenan is the first woman on the Fourth Circuit from Virginia.[5]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Russell |
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia 1991–2010 |
Succeeded by Bill Mims |
| Preceded by Emory Widener |
Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 2010–present |
Incumbent |