Royce C. Lamberth (born July 16, 1943[1]) is a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, serving as its Chief Judge.
Lamberth was born in 1943 in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas and from the University of Texas School of Law, receiving an LL.B. in 1967. He served as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the United States Army from 1968 to 1974, including one year in Vietnam. After that, he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1978, Lamberth became Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a position he held until his appointment to the federal bench.
He was nominated to the federal bench on March 19, 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 13, 1987. He also served as Presiding Judge of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 1995 to 2002.[2]
Lamberth is known for presiding over a case, Cobell v. Kempthorne in which a group of American Indians sued the U.S. Department of the Interior for allegedly mismanaging a trust intended for their benefit.[3]
In May 2003, in a case brought by the families of the 241 servicemen who were killed in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, Lamberth declared that the Islamic Republic of Iran was responsible for the 1983 attack. Lamberth concluded that Hezbollah was formed under the auspices of the Iranian government, was completely reliant on Iran in 1983, and assisted Iranian Ministry of Information and Security agents in carrying out the operation. On September 7, 2007, Judge Lamberth ordered that Iran pay US$2.65 billion to the families of the 241 U.S. servicepersons killed in the bombing.[4]
Lamberth has presided over Guantanamo captives habeas corpus petitions.[5][6]
In August 2010, Lamberth issued a temporary injunction blocking an executive order by President Barack Obama that expanded stem cell research. He indicated the policy violated a ban on federal money being used to destroy embryos,[7] called the Dickey-Wicker Amendment.[8] Some commentators have surmised that his decision is more a reflection of his politics than a rigorous interpretation of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment.[9]
When Judge Lamberth refused in September 2010 to lift the injunction forbidding the research pending the appeal of his ruling, the Obama Justice Department asked the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which will eventually hear the initial appeal of the case (possibly on an expedited basis), to issue an emergency order to override Judge Lamberth's refusal to lift the injunction, which would enable new embryonic stem cell research to continue (work on embryonic stem cell research that was already approved under the law prior to the order's issuance is unaffected; it can be carried on even while the case is going on). The Court of Appeals issued an order on Thursday, September 9, 2010, providing for an emergency temporary lifting of the injunction in the case that had forbidden the research. The appeals court agreed to temporarily lift the injunction to consider the merits of allowing a more permanent lifting of the injunction that would, if instituted, be in place until Judge Lamberth issues his ruling and the ruling is appealed to the same appeals court. The court of appeals gave both sides until Monday, September 20, 2010 to file argument briefs, when it will decide whether to grant a more permanent version of the injunction, or reverse itself and order an end to the research in agreement with the judge.
In July 2011, Judge Lamberth ordered the release of Richard Nixon's testimony concerning the Watergate scandal. The Justice Department reviewed the decision after an objection from the presidential administration insisting on the continued need for privacy of those involved.[10]