Rising star in U.S. Justice
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 June 2013, 00:45 GMT]
Mythili Raman, the newly appointed Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Justice Department and successor to Mr. Lanny Breuer, is widely acclaimed in legal circles as a trailblazer in the Justice Department. Her parents are from Vadaramaraadchi, Jaffna. Ms Raman had her undergraduate degree from Yale, and obtained a law degree from the University of Chicago.
Mythili Raman, the newly appointed Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Justice Department and successor to Mr. Lanny Breuer, is widely acclaimed in legal circles as a trailblazer in the Justice Department. Her parents are from Vadaramaraadchi, Jaffna. Ms Raman had her undergraduate degree from Yale, and obtained a law degree from the University of Chicago.
As head of the Criminal Division, Ms. Raman oversees nearly 600 attorneys who prosecute federal criminal cases across the country and help develop the criminal law. She also works closely with the nation’s 93 United States Attorneys in connection with the investigation and prosecution of criminal matters in their districts. Ms. Raman has been serving in the Criminal Division since August 2008, first as Acting Chief of Staff and, from September 2, 2009 to March 1, 2013, as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Chief of Staff.
Ms. Raman joined the Department of Justice in 1996, as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, where she prosecuted narcotics cases in districts across the country. From 1999 to 2008, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, where she prosecuted and supervised dozens of criminal cases involving violent crime, financial fraud, narcotics, child exploitation and civil rights offenses. In Maryland, she served as Branch Chief of the district’s Greenbelt office and then as the district’s Appellate Chief. For her work in Greenbelt, Ms. Raman received numerous honors and awards, including the Director’s Award for Superior Performance and the Special Award of Honor from the International Narcotic Enforcement Officers' Association. In 2006, on a detail from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Raman served as Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, advising the Deputy Attorney General on a variety of criminal law matters and managing the day-to-day work of the President's Identity Theft Task Force.
Ms. Raman began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She graduated summa cum laude from Yale University in 1991 and with honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 1994.
Indian-American Srinivasan does India proud, sworn in as US court judge
Described by President Barack Obama as "trailblazer", Srinivasan attributed phenomenal success to his family and the Indian American community. (Reuters)
PTI : Washington, Tue Jun 18 2013
Indian-American legal luminary Sri Srinivasan was today sworn in as a judge in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, the second most powerful court in the United States after the Supreme Court
With this, Chandigarh-born 46-year-old Srinivasan has become the first Indian American judge in the second most powerful court of the country. Described by President Barack Obama as "trailblazer", Srinivasan attributed phenomenal success to his family and the Indian American community.
"You all made it possible," Srinivasan told a gathering of Indian Americans at a reception hosted in his honor by the Indian Ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao. "I am incredibly honored and humbled by the tremendous support you have given me," he said.
Srinivasan was first nominated by Obama on June 11, 2012. On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the sine die adjournment of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, Obama re-nominated him for the same office. Srinivasan was confirmed by a rare US Senate 97-0 votes, which he attributed to the overwhelming support he received from the Indian American community throughout the nation.
Addressing the gathering, Rao said Srinivasan personifies the "extraordinary" accomplishments of the Indian Americans in the country and much more. Having achieved so much at this young age, Rao said the best is yet to come. She hoped that soon, there would be an Indian American in the US Supreme Court.
Srinivasan began his legal career by serving as a law clerk for Judge J Harvie Wilkinson on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1995 to 1996.
