Loretta A. Preska (born January 7, 1949 in Albany, New York) is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and a former nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
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Judge Preska attended The College of Saint Rose (B.A. 1970), Fordham University School of Law (J.D. 1973), and New York University School of Law (LL.M. 1978).
She was an attorney in private practice in New York City from 1973 until 1992, initially with Cahill Gordon & Reindel and then with Hertzog, Calamari & Gleason (now Winston & Strawn).
Judge Preska was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on March 31, 1992, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Robert Joseph Ward. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 11, 1992, and received her commission on August 12.
In 2007, it was reported that Judge Preska was on President Bush's short list of potential Supreme Court nominees.[1]
On September 9, 2008, Judge Preska was nominated by President George W. Bush to be a United States Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.[2] Since Preska was nominated after July 1, 2008, the unofficial start date of the Thurmond Rule during a presidential election year, no hearings were scheduled on her nomination, and the nomination was returned to Bush at the end of his term.
In 2009 Preska presided over Bloomberg L.P. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The suit sought under the Freedom of Information Act to require the Fed to divulge the names of private financial institutions that received $1.2 trillion in public bailout money, along with the types and amounts of collateral provided. In a championship victory for those advocating more transparency with the Federal Reserve System, on August 24, 2009, Preska ruled against the Federal Reserve's attempts to block the release of the recipient names.[3]
On May 21, 2009, the accused Somali pirate was arraigned before Judge Preska. Bloomberg report on pirate hearing
On June 9, 2009, Judge Preska heard the plea of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first detainee brought from Guantanamo Bay to stand trial in a U.S. civilian court. Reuters report on the hearing
Preska is married to Thomas J. Kavaler, with whom she attended law school. Kavaler was the editor in chief of the Fordham Law Review, and is currently a partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel.[4]
Bloomberg vs Fed FOIA Lawsuit Decision.pdf