Michael Boudin

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title: "Michael Boudin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1939-births", "2025-deaths", "20th-century-american-jews", "harvard-law-school-alumni", "harvard-law-school-faculty", "judges-of-the-united-states-court-of-appeals-for-the-first-circuit", "judges-of-the-united-states-district-court-for-the-district-of-columbia", "law-clerks-of-the-supreme-court-of-the-united-states", "united-states-court-of-appeals-judges-appointed-by-george-h.-w.-bush", "united-states-district-court-judges-appointed-by-george-h.-w.-bush", "people-associated-with-covington-&-burling", "boudin-family", "members-of-the-american-philosophical-society", "21st-century-american-jews", "deaths-from-parkinson's-disease-in-massachusetts", "deaths-from-dementia-in-massachusetts", "little-red-school-house-alumni"] description: "American federal judge (1939–2025)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Boudin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American federal judge (1939–2025) ::

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

Field	Value
name	Michael Boudin
image	Michael Boudin Judicial Portrait (cropped).webp
caption	Boudin in 2011
office	Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
term_start	June 1, 2013
term_end	December 15, 2021
office1	Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
term_start1	June 15, 2001
term_end1	June 16, 2008
predecessor1	Juan R. Torruella
successor1	Sandra Lynch
office2	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
term_start2	May 26, 1992
term_end2	June 1, 2013
appointer2	George H. W. Bush
predecessor2	Levin H. Campbell
successor2	David J. Barron
office3	Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
term_start3	August 7, 1990
term_end3	January 31, 1992
appointer3	George H. W. Bush
predecessor3	John H. Pratt
successor3	Gladys Kessler
birth_date
birth_place	New York City, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
spouse	Martha Field (separated)
children	3
father	Leonard Boudin
relatives	{{plainlist
education
website
::

| honorific-prefix = | name = Michael Boudin | honorific-suffix = | image = Michael Boudin Judicial Portrait (cropped).webp | alt = | caption = Boudin in 2011 | office = Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit | term_start = June 1, 2013 | term_end = December 15, 2021 | office1 = Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit | term_start1 = June 15, 2001 | term_end1 = June 16, 2008 | predecessor1 = Juan R. Torruella | successor1 = Sandra Lynch | office2 = Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit | term_start2 = May 26, 1992 | term_end2 = June 1, 2013 | nominator2 = | appointer2 = George H. W. Bush | predecessor2 = Levin H. Campbell | successor2 = David J. Barron | office3 = Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia | term_start3 = August 7, 1990 | term_end3 = January 31, 1992 | nominator3 = | appointer3 = George H. W. Bush | predecessor3 = John H. Pratt | successor3 = Gladys Kessler | pronunciation = | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | spouse = Martha Field (separated) | partner = | children = 3 | mother = | father = Leonard Boudin | relatives = {{plainlist|

• Louis B. Boudin (grand-uncle)
• I. F. Stone (uncle)
• Kathy Boudin (sister)
• Chesa Boudin (nephew) | residence = | education = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes =

Michael Boudin ( ; November 29, 1939 – March 24, 2025) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1992 to 2021. He served as Chief Judge of that court from 2001 to 2008. Before his service on the First Circuit, he was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Early life and education

Boudin was born in Manhattan, New York, on November 29, 1939, in a Jewish family; the son of poet Jean (Roisman) Boudin and civil liberties attorney Leonard Boudin. He was the older brother of Weather Underground member Kathy Boudin. He was educated at Elizabeth Irwin High School before going on to Harvard University, where he graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Arts in government. He then attended Harvard Law School, where became the president of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated first in his class with a Bachelor of Laws in 1964.

Boudin was a law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1964 to 1965, and is noted as being "like a son to the judge"; he was later instrumental in the endowment of the Henry J. Friendly Medal, awarded by the American Law Institute. He subsequently clerked for Justice John Marshall Harlan II of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1966.

Legal career

From 1966 to 1987, Boudin practiced law at Covington & Burling, a Washington, D.C., law firm. He worked as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School from 1982 to 1983, and then as a lecturer there from 1983 to 1998. He then served in President Reagan's Justice Department as a deputy assistant United States Attorney General of the Antitrust Division from 1987 to 1990.

Federal judicial service

On May 18, 1990, President George H. W. Bush nominated Boudin to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, to a seat vacated by John H. Pratt. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 1990, and received his commission on August 7, 1990. Boudin served on the District Court for about 18 months, but resigned on January 31, 1992, to return to Massachusetts.

Two months later, on March 20, 1992, President Bush nominated Boudin to an appellate judgeship on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, headquartered in Boston, to the seat vacated when Judge Levin H. Campbell assumed senior status. He was confirmed by the Senate on May 21, 1992, and received his commission on May 26, 1992. Boudin served as Chief Judge of the First Circuit from 2001 to 2008. He assumed senior status on June 1, 2013. He retired from service on December 15, 2021.

The New York Times stated that Boudin was "not easy to pigeonhole ideologically". In 2012, Boudin penned a decision holding the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law defining marriage as an opposite-sex union, unconstitutional. Boudin was widely regarded as having a brilliant legal mind.

Personal life and death

Boudin was married to Harvard Law professor Martha Field. His nephew, Chesa Boudin, is an attorney who has served as district attorney of San Francisco.

Boudin died from complications of dementia and Parkinson's disease at a care facility in Boston on March 24, 2025, at the age of 85.

References

References

1. (2007). "Jewish Currents".
2. Langer, Emily. (March 24, 2025). "Michael Boudin, federal judge who forged his own path, dies at 85". [[The Washington Post]].
3. Margolick, David. (April 24, 1992). "An Unusual Court Nominee, N.Y. Times (April 24, 1992)". The New York Times.
4. Nossiter, Adam. (March 25, 2025). "Michael Boudin, Independent Judge From a Family on the Left, Dies at 85". [[The New York Times]].
5. (October 20, 2011). "Remarks on Henry Friendly on the award of the Henry Friendly Medal to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor". American Law Institute.
6. "Boudin, Michael - Federal Judicial Center".
7. "Senior Status for Judge Michael Boudin".
8. Marquard, Bryan. (March 27, 2025). "Michael Boudin, ‘an appellate judge’s judge’ who wrote key DOMA ruling, dies at 85".
9. McGreal, Chris. (May 31, 2012). "Federal court in Boston rules Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional".
10. "APS Member History".

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