Catherine C. Blake

---

title: "Catherine C. Blake" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1950-births", "living-people", "20th-century-american-judges", "21st-century-american-judges", "20th-century-american-women-judges", "21st-century-american-women-judges", "assistant-united-states-attorneys", "harvard-law-school-alumni", "judges-of-the-united-states-district-court-for-the-district-of-maryland", "lawyers-from-boston", "radcliffe-college-alumni", "united-states-attorneys-for-the-district-of-maryland", "united-states-district-court-judges-appointed-by-bill-clinton", "united-states-magistrate-judges"] description: "American judge (born 1950)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_C._Blake" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American judge (born 1950) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Catherine C. Blake
image	Catherine C. Blake, U.S. District Court Judge.jpg
office	Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
term_start	April 2, 2021
office1	Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
term_start1	October 3, 2014
term_end1	October 6, 2017
predecessor1	Deborah K. Chasanow
successor1	James K. Bredar
office2	Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
term_start2	August 14, 1995
term_end2	April 2, 2021
appointer2	Bill Clinton
predecessor2	John R. Hargrove Sr.
successor2	Lydia Griggsby
office3	Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
term_start3	1987
term_end3	August 14, 1995
birth_name	Catherine Curtis Blake
birth_date
birth_place	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
education	Radcliffe College (AB)
Harvard Law School (JD)
::

| honorific-prefix = | name = Catherine C. Blake | honorific-suffix = | image = Catherine C. Blake, U.S. District Court Judge.jpg | alt = | caption = | office = Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland | term_start = April 2, 2021 | term_end = | office1 = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland | term_start1 = October 3, 2014 | term_end1 = October 6, 2017 | predecessor1 = Deborah K. Chasanow | successor1 = James K. Bredar | office2 = Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland | term_start2 = August 14, 1995 | term_end2 = April 2, 2021 | appointer2 = Bill Clinton | predecessor2 = John R. Hargrove Sr. | successor2 = Lydia Griggsby | office3 = Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland | term_start3 = 1987 | term_end3 = August 14, 1995 | pronunciation = | birth_name = Catherine Curtis Blake | birth_date = | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | nationality = | party = | otherparty = | height = | spouse = | partner = | relations = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | residence = | education = Radcliffe College (AB) Harvard Law School (JD) | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | religion = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes =

Catherine Curtis Blake (born July 27, 1950) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

Early life and education

Blake was born in Boston, Massachusetts. After receiving an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Radcliffe College in 1972, she enrolled in Harvard Law School, where she received a Juris Doctor in 1975.

Career

Blake was in private practice in Boston, from 1975 to 1977. She was with the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland from 1977 to 1987. During that period, she was an Assistant United States Attorney from 1977 to 1983, then became a first assistant from 1983 to 1985, when she was appointed by the court to serve as the United States Attorney, a position she held until 1987, when she again became the first assistant.

Federal judicial service

In 1987 Blake became a United States magistrate judge of the District of Maryland. In 1995, Blake became a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on May 4, 1995, to a seat vacated by John R. Hargrove Sr. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 11, 1995, and received her commission on August 14, 1995. She served as Chief Judge of the District of Maryland from October 3, 2014 to October 6, 2017. She assumed senior status on April 2, 2021.

Judge Blake presided over the infamous Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force case. She is portrayed in the final episode of the HBO miniseries "We Own This City" which depicts the events surrounding the case.

In October 2020, Judge Blake struck down a constitutional challenge to Governor Hogan's executive order that mandated state contractors were not allowed to engage in a political or economic boycott of Israel in their business or personal life. The case was one of several constitutional challenges to anti-BDS laws since 2017.

References

References

1. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pur1.32754067398762&view=1up&seq=110 Confirmation hearings on federal appointments: hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, first session, on confirmation of appointees to the federal judiciary.]
2. {{FJC Bio
3. (7 June 2018). "Ex-leader of rogue police unit gets 25 years in prison".
4. "We Own This City (TV Mini Series 2022) - IMDb".
5. "Maryland's anti-BDS law 'chills' free speech".

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