Douglas P. Woodlock

Douglas Preston Woodlock
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Assumed office
June 1, 2015
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
In office
June 16, 1986 – June 1, 2015
Appointed by Ronald Reagan
Preceded by Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr.
Personal details
Born Douglas Preston Woodlock
(1947-02-27) February 27, 1947
Hartford, Connecticut
Education Yale University (B.A.)
Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.)

Douglas Preston Woodlock (born February 27, 1947) is a Senior United States District Court of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Education and career

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Woodlock received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1969, where he was a member of Skull and Bones,[1] and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1975. He was a law clerk for Judge Frank Jerome Murray of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1976. He was in private practice in Boston, Massachusetts from 1976 to 1979. He was the Chairman of the Board of Appeals for the Town of Hamilton, Massachusetts from 1978 to 1979. He was an Assistant United States Attorney of the District of Massachusetts from 1979 to 1983. He was an Instructor for Harvard Law School from 1980 to 1981. He was in private practice in Boston from 1983 to 1986. He was the Chairman of the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services from 1984 to 1986.[2]

Federal judicial service

Woodlock was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on April 22, 1986, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated by Judge Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 13, 1986, and received his commission on June 16, 1986. He assumed senior status on June 1, 2015.[2]

Notable cases

In 2008, Woodlock issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the case of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority v. Anderson, et al., Civil Action No. 08-11364, preventing four MIT students from revealing weaknesses in the MBTA's "Charlie Card" fare system. This was widely viewed as unconstitutional prior restraint of the students free speech and Woodlock did not renew the TRO when it expired.

Woodlock was featured in the 2016 documentary "Tickled" as the presiding judge in the case of David D'Amato. D'Amato was known for his harassment of young men involved in his competitive tickle contests, and it was alleged in the documentary that Woodlock gave him a rather light sentence in regards to his offenses.

References

  1. ↑ "Patricia Powers To Be the Bride Of Yale Senior". The New York Times. April 3, 1969. p. 37. Retrieved May 4, 2011. (Subscription required (help)).
  2. 1 2 Douglas Preston Woodlock at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

Sources

Legal offices
Preceded by
Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr.		 Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
1986–2015		 Vacant
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