Leonie Brinkema
Encyclopedia
Leonie M. Brinkema is a United States District Court
judge
, in the Eastern District of Virginia.
descent, Brinkema was born in Teaneck, New Jersey
. She received her B.A.
from Douglass College in 1966 and undertook graduate studies in philosophy
at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1966) and New York University
(1967-1969). She earned her M.L.S.
at Rutgers University
in 1970 and her J.D.
at Cornell Law School
in 1976.
's Public Integrity Section
1976–1977, and then the U.S. Attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia
, Criminal Division 1977–1983. During 1983–1984 she returned to the Criminal Division and worked as a solo practitioner from 1984–1985.
On August 6, 1993, President
Bill Clinton
nominated Brinkema to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
vacated by Albert V. Bryan. She was confirmed by the United States Senate
on October 18, 1993, and received her commission on October 20, 1993. She took up her post on October 23, 1993.
Brinkema presided over RTC
v. Lerma
et al. (1995), a case that involved the reproduction of materials owned by the Church of Scientology
. Brinkema found for the defendants in most of the claims, and awarded minimum damages of $2,500 for copyright infringement
, citing the "increasingly vitriolic rhetoric" of RTC's legal filings.
On October 28, 2003, she sentenced al-Qaeda
operative Iyman Faris
to twenty years imprisonment for providing material support to the group.
Brinkema presided over the case of 9/11
conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui
. When she asked about the videotapes
showing the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah
, the government denied their existence. As she sentenced Moussaoui to life in a supermax
prison, she told him he would "die with a whimper."
She told him: “You came here to be a martyr and to die in a great big bang of glory, but to paraphrase the poet T. S. Eliot, instead, you will die with a whimper. The rest of your life you will spend in prison." Mr. Moussaoui began to respond, but Judge Brinkema continued. “You will never again get a chance to speak,” she said, “and that is an appropriate and fair ending.”
On April 2, 2009, Brinkema weighed in on the question of whether terrorist detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp could be prosecuted in the civilian justice system.
.
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
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...
, in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Early life and education
Of DutchDutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
descent, Brinkema was born in Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 39,776, making it the second-most populous among the 70 municipalities in Bergen County....
. She received her B.A.
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 Douglass College in 1966 and undertook graduate studies in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1966) and New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(1967-1969). She earned her M.L.S.
Master of Library and Information Science
The Master of Library and Information Science is the master's degree that is required for most professional librarian positions in the United States and Canada. The MLIS is a relatively recent degree; an older and still common degree designation for librarians to acquire is the Master of Library...
at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
in 1970 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...
at Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, is a graduate school of Cornell University and one of the five Ivy League law schools. The school confers three law degrees...
in 1976.
Legal career
She worked in the United States Department of Justice Criminal DivisionUnited States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division develops, enforces, and supervises the application of all federal criminal laws in the United States, except those specifically assigned to other divisions. Criminal Division attorneys prosecute many nationally significant cases and formulate and...
's Public Integrity Section
Public Integrity Section
The Public Integrity Section is a section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice charged with combating political corruption at all levels of government through the prosecution of corrupt federal, state, and local elected and appointed public officials.-Administrative...
1976–1977, and then the U.S. Attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Criminal Division 1977–1983. During 1983–1984 she returned to the Criminal Division and worked as a solo practitioner from 1984–1985.
Federal judicial career
Brinkema was a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia from 1985 to 1993.On August 6, 1993, 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 Brinkema to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia...
vacated by Albert V. Bryan. She was confirmed by the United States 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 October 18, 1993, and received her commission on October 20, 1993. She took up her post on October 23, 1993.
Brinkema presided over RTC
Religious Technology Center
The Religious Technology Center is a Californian non-profit corporation. RTC was founded in 1982 by the Church of Scientology in order to control and oversee the use of all of the trademarks, symbols and texts of Scientology and Dianetics, including the copyrighted works of Scientology founder and...
v. Lerma
Arnaldo Lerma
Arnaldo Pagliarini Lerma is an American writer and activist, a former Scientologist, and critic of Scientology, who has appeared in television, media and radio interviews...
et al. (1995), a case that involved the reproduction of materials owned by the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
. Brinkema found for the defendants in most of the claims, and awarded minimum damages of $2,500 for copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
, citing the "increasingly vitriolic rhetoric" of RTC's legal filings.
On October 28, 2003, she sentenced al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
operative Iyman Faris
Iyman Faris
Iyman Faris is a Pakistani American former truck driver from Columbus, Ohio who was convicted of providing material support to Al Qaeda, for his role in a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge...
to twenty years imprisonment for providing material support to the group.
Brinkema presided over the case of 9/11
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui is a French citizen who was convicted of conspiring to kill citizens of the US as part of the September 11 attacks...
. When she asked about the videotapes
2005 CIA interrogation tapes destruction
The CIA interrogation tapes destruction occurred on November 9, 2005. The videotapes were made by the United States Central Intelligence Agency during interrogations of Al-Qaeda suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in 2002 at a CIA black site prison in Thailand.. 90 tapes were made of...
showing the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah
Abu Zubaydah
Abu Zubaydah is a Saudi Arabian citizen, sentenced to death in Jordan and currently held in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Not neutral: Arrested in Pakistan in March 2002, he has been in US custody for more than eight years, four-and-a-half of them spent incommunicado in solitary confinement...
, the government denied their existence. As she sentenced Moussaoui to life in a supermax
Supermax
Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in the prison systems of certain countries...
prison, she told him he would "die with a whimper."
She told him: “You came here to be a martyr and to die in a great big bang of glory, but to paraphrase the poet T. S. Eliot, instead, you will die with a whimper. The rest of your life you will spend in prison." Mr. Moussaoui began to respond, but Judge Brinkema continued. “You will never again get a chance to speak,” she said, “and that is an appropriate and fair ending.”
On April 2, 2009, Brinkema weighed in on the question of whether terrorist detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp could be prosecuted in the civilian justice system.
Personal life
Brinkema's husband is a 1961 graduate of Ramapo High School. He works for the Judicial Conference of the United StatesJudicial Conference of the United States
The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial courts in the United States...
.
External links
- U.S.D.C. Eastern district of Virginia
- Terrorists and Detainees: Do We Need a New National Security Court? podcast of keynote address by Leonie Brinkema at the Washington College of LawWashington College of LawAmerican University Washington College of Law is the law school of American University. It is located on Massachusetts Avenue in the Spring Valley neighborhood of northwest Washington. WCL is ranked 50th among law schools by US News and World Report...
at American UniversityAmerican UniversityAmerican University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
, February 1, 2008.