Diane S. Sykes Explained

Diane S. Sykes
Office:Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Term Start:July 3, 2020
Predecessor:Diane Wood
Office1:Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Appointer1:George W. Bush
Term Start1:July 1, 2004
Predecessor1:John Louis Coffey
Office2:Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Appointer2:Tommy Thompson
Term Start2:September 7, 1999
Term End2:July 1, 2004
Predecessor2:Donald W. Steinmetz
Successor2:Louis B. Butler
Office3:Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the Milwaukee Circuit, Branch 43
Term Start3:August 1, 1992
Term End3:September 1999
Predecessor3:Seat established
Successor3:Marshall Murray
Birth Name:Diane Elizabeth Schwerm
Birth Date:23 December 1957
Birth Place:Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Education:Northwestern University (BS)
Marquette University (JD)

Diane Schwerm Sykes (née Diane Elizabeth Schwerm; born December 23, 1957)[1] is an American jurist and lawyer who serves as the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She served as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1999 to 2004.

Early life and education

Sykes graduated from Brown Deer High School in 1976 and then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism at Northwestern University in 1980,[2] and a Juris Doctor at Marquette University Law School in 1984.[2] Between college and law school she worked as a reporter for The Milwaukee Journal.[2] [3] [4]

Legal career

After law school, from 1984 to 1985, Sykes clerked for Judge Terence T. Evans of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.[2] From 1985 to 1992, she worked in private practice as a litigator for Whyte & Hirschboeck, a medium-sized law firm in Milwaukee. Sykes won election to a newly created trial judge seat on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 1992, serving in the misdemeanor, felony, and civil divisions.[2]

She left the trial court in 1999 when she was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, to fill a vacancy for Justice Donald W. Steinmetz.[2] After being appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, she was elected to the Supreme Court in April 2000, defeating Louis B. Butler, who was later appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by Governor Jim Doyle in 2004.[5]

Federal judicial service

President George W. Bush nominated Sykes to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on November 14, 2003.[6] [7] The Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination by a 14–5 vote on March 11, 2004. The United States Senate confirmed her on June 24, 2004, by a 70–27 vote.[8] She received her commission on July 1, 2004.[7] She became Chief Judge on July 3, 2020.[9]

In 2005, President George W. Bush seriously considered nominating Sykes to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court of the United States.[10] In 2017, Sykes was on President Donald Trump's list of potential Supreme Court justices.[4] [11]

On June 7, 2017, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas's 1st congressional district commented on her conservative judicial philosophy: "There are only two reliable originalists on the Seventh Circuit, Michael Kanne and Diane Sykes."[12]

Notable cases

In May 2015, the Supreme Court reversed a unanimous panel opinion Sykes joined which had found that Article Three of the United States Constitution forbids bankruptcy courts from creating jurisdiction over a claim through the litigants' consent.[13] In Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran (2016), Sykes wrote for a unanimous court when it found that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act did not grant terrorist attack victims the right to attach a foreign state's property.[14] That judgment was unanimously affirmed by the Supreme Court in February 2018.[15]

In April 2017, Sykes dissented when the en banc Seventh Circuit, by a vote of 8–3, found that LGBT Americans were protected from sex discrimination by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[16] In her dissent, Sykes argued the court should have applied a "textualist decision method" instead of the majority's "sex stereotyping" reasoning or the "judicial interpretive updating" Judge Richard Posner promoted in his concurrence. In April 2018, Sykes wrote for a unanimous court when it found that the Americans with Disabilities Act did not require an employer to grant a multi-month leave of absence as a reasonable accommodation.[17]

In December 2017, Sykes supported the 4–3 en banc decision to reverse an earlier federal magistrate judgment that a confession had been unlawfully coerced from Brendan Dassey. The dissenting opinion described this decision as "a travesty of justice".[18]

In July 2018, Sykes wrote for a unanimous panel when it found that a new Illinois law that required previously convicted sex offenders to relocate their residences away from newly opened daycares did not violate the Constitution's Ex Post Facto Clause.[19]

Personal life

In 1980, she married Charlie Sykes, who went on to become a conservative talk-show host on WTMJ Radio in Milwaukee. The couple had two children and divorced in 1999.[20]

Sykes is a member of the Federalist Society.[2] [4]

Wisconsin Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Separate opinions

Publications

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary. United States Senate. February 11, 2004.
  2. Book: Barish . Lawrence S.. Meloy . Patricia E.. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau . State of Wisconsin 2001–2002 Blue Book. . Wisconsin Legislature Joint Committee on Legislative Organization . 2001 . 10. Appointed to Supreme Court 1999 to fill vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Donald W. Steinmetz. Elected to full term 2000..
  3. https://www.wicourts.gov/courts/supreme/justices/retired/sykes.htm Supreme Court, Former justices: Diane S. Sykes (1957–)
  4. News: de Vogue . Ariane . January 24, 2017 . Examining the top contenders on Trump's Supreme Court list . . . January 28, 2017. A former journalist, she flexed her interviewing skills in 2013 by sitting down with Justice Clarence Thomas for a talk to discuss his jurisprudence..
  5. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20000816071107/http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/apr00/1supreme040400.asp. August 16, 2000. Sykes locks up a term of her own. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. April 5, 2000. December 26, 2016.
  6. Web site: Presidential Nomination 1109, 108th United States Congress . November 14, 2003 . . June 30, 2018.
  7. Web site: Sykes, Diane S.. Federal Judicial Center. January 28, 2017.
  8. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=2&vote=00152 On the Nomination (Confirmation Diane S. Sykes, of Wisconsin, To Be U.S. Circuit Judge)
  9. Web site: Paralegal or Judicial Assistant to Circuit Judge Diane S. Sykes when she assumes the role of Chief Judge of the Seventh Circuit on July 3, 2020. United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. May 19, 2020. June 10, 2020.
  10. Andrew Zajac. "Selecting Next Justice Could Prove To Be Volatile ". Sun Sentinel, July 2, 2005.
  11. News: Sherman. Mark. Colvin. Jill. Trump's Supreme Court list underscores election's importance. May 18, 2016. Associated Press. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160519104509/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOP_2016_TRUMP_SUPREME_COURT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-18-14-08-40. May 19, 2016.
  12. Gohmert. Louie. Issues of the Day. Congressional Record, 115th Congress, 1st Session. June 7, 2017. 163. 97. H4693–H4698.
  13. Wellness International Network, Ltd. v. Sharif . 727 . F.3d . 751 . 7th Cir. . 2013. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4862012478019755417.
  14. Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran . 830 . F.3d . 470 . 7th Cir. . 2016. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2019712763774923972.
  15. Web site: Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran . . July 2, 2018.
  16. Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College . 853 . F.3d . 339 . 7th Cir. . 2017) (en banc. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7107595910255863116 .
  17. Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc . 583 . F.3d . 339 . 7th Cir. . 2017. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9354347258161716820.
  18. Bruce Vielmetti and Tom Kertscher. "U.S. Appeals Court upholds conviction of Brendan Dassey in 'Making a Murderer' case". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 8, 2017.
  19. Vasquez v. Foxx. 895 . F.3d. 515 . 7th Cir.. 2018. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17145196137138370426.
  20. Web site: Family Court Divorce Filing. WisOpinion.com. WisPolitics.com. March 15, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160319122120/http://www.wisopinion.com/blogs/eyeonwi/sykes002.pdf . March 19, 2016.