Joan A. Lenard is an American lawyer

Law of the United States

The law of the United States consists of many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States...

 and judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

. She currently serves on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is the federal United States district court with jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida....

.

Early life and education

Lenard was born in 1952 in Amityville, New York

Amityville, New York

Amityville is a village in the town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. The population was 9,441 at the 2000 census.-History:...

. She received her Associate of Arts degree

Academic degree

An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...

 from Rockland Community College

Rockland Community College

Rockland Community College is a two-year college in the State University of New York system, located in hamlet of Viola within the Village of Suffern from the Town of Ramapo in Rockland County, New York. The college began in 1959 in the former county almshouse. The college offers 48 programs and...

 in 1972, her Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 from Roger Williams College in 1973, and her J.D.

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 from Antioch School of Law

Antioch University

Antioch University is an American university with five campuses located in four states. Campuses are located in Los Angeles, California; Santa Barbara, California; Keene, New Hampshire; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Seattle, Washington. Additionally, Antioch University houses two institution-wide...

 in 1976.

Career

Lenard worked for the Office of the State Attorney in the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Florida Circuit Courts

The Florida Circuit Courts are state courts. They are trial courts of original jurisdiction for most controversies. In Florida, the circuit courts are one of four types of courts created by the Florida Constitution .The Circuit Courts primarily handle civil cases where...

 (Dade County

Miami-Dade County, Florida

Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...

) from 1976 to 1982, serving as assistant state attorney from 1976 to 1978, as chief of the Consumer Fraud Division from 1978 to 1980, and as chief of the Consumer and Economic Crime Division from 1980 to 1982. Lenard served as a Dade County Court judge from 1982 to 1993 and as a circuit judge for the Family Division of the 11th Judicial Circuit from 1993 to 1995.

President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 nominated Lenard to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on September 29, 1995, to the seat vacated by James Lawrence King

James Lawrence King

James Lawrence King is the senior United States federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and one of the longest serving federal judges in the entire United States....

. Confirmed

Advice and consent

Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts, describing a situation in which the executive branch of a government enacts something previously approved of by the legislative branch.-General:The expression is...

 by the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 on December 22, 1995, she received commission

Letters patent

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...

 on December 26, 1995.

Lenard was the presiding judge in the third trial of the Liberty City Seven

Seas of David

The Liberty City Seven were seven members of a small Miami, Florida-based religious group who called themselves the Seas of David or Seeds of David. Described as a "bizarre cult," the seven were arrested and charged with terrorism-related offenses in 2006 after a Federal Bureau of Investigation...

, after the first two trials ended in mistrials. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/us/24miami.html?scp=1&sq=Joan+Lenard&st=nyt She also has presided over the Moisés Maionica case http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/world/americas/26suitcase.html?scp=6&sq=Joan+Lenard&st=nyt, the civil trial

Lawsuit

A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...

 of Juan López Grijalba, a Honduran Army colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

, who was found responsible killings and kidnappings in Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

 during the 1980s and was ordered to pay $47 million to several torture

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

 victims and surviving relatives, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE7DF1030F937A35757C0A9609C8B63&scp=7&sq=Joan+Lenard&st=nyt and the case of the Cuban Five

Cuban Five

The Cuban Five, also known as the Miami Five are five Cuban intelligence officers convicted in Miami of conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit murder, and other illegal activities in the United States...

. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E4D9123FF930A25751C1A9679C8B63&scp=10&sq=Joan+Lenard&st=nyt

External links