Ralph K. Winter, Jr.

Ralph Winter
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office September 30, 2000
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office July 1, 1997 – September 30, 2000
Preceded by	Jon Newman
Succeeded by	John Walker
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office December 10, 1981 – September 30, 2000
Appointed by	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Walter Mansfield
Succeeded by	Barrington Parker
Personal details
Born	1935 (age 79–80) Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater	Yale University

Judge Ralph K. Winter, Jr. (born 1935 in Waterbury, Connecticut) is a Senior Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. President Ronald Reagan nominated Winter on November 18, 1981, to a seat vacated by Walter Roe Mansfield. Judge Winter was confirmed by the Senate on December 9, 1981, and received his commission on December 10, 1981. Winter served as Chief Judge of the Second Circuit from 1997 to 2000, and assumed senior status on September 30, 2000.

From 2003-2010, Judge Winter also served as one of the three judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review.

Winter graduated from Taft School in 1953. He received his B.A. from Yale University in 1957 and obtained his LL.B. from Yale Law School in 1960. Before going on the bench, he taught antitrust law at Yale, and continued as an adjunct faculty member after his judicial appointment. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Brooklyn Law School.

In a controversial decision, written by Judge Ralph K. Winter Jr., the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which encompasses Wall Street, unexpectedly overturned a lower court and ruled that neither the nation’s foundational securities laws, adopted in 1934, nor a “housekeeping” rule adopted by FINRA in 1990 gave it the right to pursue its monetary sanctions in court. Finra has been considered to be an important regulator of Wall Street for more than 70 years.

See also

• George H. W. Bush Supreme Court candidates

References

• Ralph K. Winter, Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• http://www.brooklaw.edu/about/trustees/
• http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/court-rules-against-finra-on-enforcement-actions.html