Robert L. Pitman | |
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United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office October 3, 2011 |
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Appointed by | Barack Obama |
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas | |
In office 2003–2011 |
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Personal details | |
Born | 1962 Fort Worth, Texas |
Alma mater | Abilene Christian University (B.S.) University of Texas School of Law (J.D.) |
Robert Lee Pitman is an American lawyer who serves as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas. He was previously a magistrate judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
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Pitman was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1962.[1] He graduated from Abilene Christian University, where he was student body president.[2] Pitman then obtained a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.[2] After completing law school, Pitman served as a law clerk for Judge David Belew Jr. of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.[2]
In 2001, Pitman briefly served as interim United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.[2] He was replaced by George W. Bush appointee Johnny Sutton, who then made Pitman his chief deputy.[2]
In October 2003, Pitman was selected to serve as a magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.[2]
In 2009, Republican Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchinson sent Pitman's name to Democratic President Barack Obama as one of two candidates for United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.[3][4] The recommendation of Pitman, who is openly gay, was publicly opposed by some social conservative groups in Texas.[3][4] On June 27, 2011, almost two years after being recommended for the post, Obama notified members of congress that he would nominate Pitman to be United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.[5] He was formally nominated the following day.[6]
The United States Senate confirmed Pitman to be a federal prosecutor on September 26, 2011 and he took office on October 3, 2011.[7] Pitman is the first openly gay United States Attorney in Texas.[8] He is one of four openly LGBT U.S. Attorneys, alongside Jenny Durkan of the Western District of Washington, Laura Duffy of the Southern District of California and Anne Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina.[9]