| Susan Ritchie Bolton | |
|---|---|
| Judge on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2000 |
|
| Nominated by | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Robert C. Broomfield |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 1, 1951 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Susan Ritchie Bolton (born September 1, 1951) is a United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
Contents |
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bolton received a B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1973 and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1975.
She was a law clerk for Judge Laurance T. Wren of the Arizona Court of Appeals from 1975 to 1977. She was then in private practice in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1977 to 1989.
Bolton's judicial service began on the Arizona Superior Court for Maricopa County, where she served from 1989 to 2000. On July 21, 2000, based upon the recommendation of U.S. Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona,[1] Bolton was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a District Court seat vacated by Robert C. Broomfield. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 3, 2000, and received her commission on October 13, 2000.[2] She is a registered Independent.[3]
In July 2010, Bolton heard arguments on three of seven lawsuits related to the Arizona SB 1070 immigration law, the most notable of which is United States v. Arizona.[4][5]
On Wednesday, July 28, 2010, Bolton issued a ruling blocking key portions of SB 1070, writing that "requiring police to check the immigration status of those they arrest or whom they stop and suspect are in the country illegally would overwhelm the federal government's ability to respond, and could mean legal immigrants are wrongly arrested."[6] Judge Bolton wrote: "Federal resources will be taxed and diverted from federal enforcement priorities as a result of the increase in requests for immigration status determination that will flow from Arizona."[6]