Robert L. Pitman

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American judge (born 1962)

title: "Robert L. Pitman" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1962-births", "living-people", "20th-century-american-lawyers", "21st-century-american-lawyers", "abilene-christian-university-alumni", "alumni-of-the-university-of-oxford", "american-gay-men", "assistant-united-states-attorneys", "judges-of-the-united-states-district-court-for-the-western-district-of-texas", "lgbtq-appointed-officials-in-the-united-states", "lgbtq-judges", "american-lgbtq-lawyers", "lgbtq-people-from-texas", "lawyers-from-fort-worth,-texas", "united-states-attorneys-for-the-western-district-of-texas", "united-states-district-court-judges-appointed-by-barack-obama", "united-states-magistrate-judges", "university-of-texas-school-of-law-alumni"] description: "American judge (born 1962)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Pitman" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American judge (born 1962) ::

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

FieldValue
nameRobert L. Pitman
imageRobert Pitman.jpg
officeJudge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
term_startDecember 19, 2014
appointerBarack Obama
predecessorWilliam Royal Furgeson Jr.
office1United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas
appointer1Barack Obama
term_start1October 3, 2011
term_end1December 19, 2014
predecessor1Johnny Sutton
successor1Richard Durbin
office2Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
term_start22003
term_end22011
birth_nameRobert Lee Pitman
birth_date
birth_placeFort Worth, Texas, U.S.
spouseBiel Pitman
educationAbilene Christian University (BA)
University of Texas, Austin (JD)
University of Oxford (MSt)
::

|name = Robert L. Pitman |image = Robert Pitman.jpg |office = Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas |term_start = December 19, 2014 |term_end = |appointer = Barack Obama |predecessor = William Royal Furgeson Jr. |successor = |office1 = United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas |appointer1 = Barack Obama |term_start1 = October 3, 2011 |term_end1 = December 19, 2014 |predecessor1 = Johnny Sutton |successor1 = Richard Durbin |office2 = Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas |term_start2 = 2003 |term_end2 = 2011 |birth_name = Robert Lee Pitman |birth_date = |birth_place = Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |spouse = Biel Pitman |death_date = |death_place = |education = Abilene Christian University (BA) University of Texas, Austin (JD) University of Oxford (MSt) Robert Lee Pitman (born 1962) is an American attorney who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. He is a former United States attorney for the Western District of Texas. He was previously a United States magistrate judge of the same court.

Early life and education

Pitman was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1962, the youngest of five children. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Abilene Christian University, where he was student body president. Pitman then obtained a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law.

Career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Robert_L_Pitman_US_Attorney.jpg" caption="Pitman as U.S. Attorney"] ::

Following his judicial clerkship, Pitman began his career at the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston. In 2001, Pitman briefly served as interim United States attorney for the Western District of Texas. In 2009, Republican Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison sent Pitman's name to Democratic President Barack Obama as one of two candidates for United States attorney for the Western District of Texas. The recommendation of Pitman, who is openly gay, was publicly opposed by a social conservative group in Texas. He was formally nominated the following day. Citing his credentials and experience, and expressing a desire to fill the position with the most qualified candidate, he was supported by Texas' two United States Senators, both Republicans. With their support, the United States Senate confirmed Pitman to be the chief federal law enforcement officer in the Western District of Texas on September 26, 2011. He took office on October 3, 2011. He left office on December 19, 2014, upon receiving his judicial commission. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

Federal judicial service

On June 26, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Pitman to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, to the seat vacated by Judge William Royal Furgeson Jr., who assumed senior status on November 30, 2008. He received a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary for September 9, 2014. On November 20, 2014, his nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote. On Saturday, December 13, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a motion to invoke cloture on the nomination. On December 16, 2014, Reid withdrew his cloture motion on Pitman's nomination, and the Senate proceeded to vote to confirm Pitman by a voice vote. He received his judicial commission on December 19, 2014.

Notable rulings

  • On October 6, 2021, Pitman ordered Texas to suspend the Texas Heartbeat Act, a law which banned most abortions, calling it an "offensive deprivation of such an important right." Two days later the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed Pitman's suspension order, permitting the law to be enforced again.

  • On December 1, 2021, Pitman struck down a Texas law which attempted to censor social media platforms, in the case, NetChoice, LLC. v. Paxton.

  • On March 30, 2023, Pittman ordered the return of books containing LGBTQ content to shelves after they were removed from public libraries, saying "...the First Amendment prohibits the removal of books from libraries based on either viewpoint or content discrimination"

  • On August 30, 2024, he enjoined a section of the SCOPE Act because they were preempted by Section 230 and violated the First Amendment in the case Computer and Communications Industry Association et al v. Paxton. The section of the SCOPE Act that was blocked required the monitoring and filtering of content that promoted suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, substance abuse, stalking, bullying, or harassment, grooming, trafficking, child pornography, or other sexual exploitation or abuse. He stated it was from clear that Texas had a compelling interest in some of the categories of content Texas was looking to filter with the law. He also stated that the laws use of the word's promotion, grooming, harassment or substance abuse were vague and that Pro-LGBTQ content could be seen as promotion of grooming, he however would let the rest of the law take effect as their wasn't enough evidence that the rest of the law violated the Constitution or was preempted by federal law.

Personal life

Pitman is a sixth-generation Texan and lives in Austin. He is an avid outdoorsman and horseman. Pitman was the first openly gay United States attorney in Texas. He was one of four openly LGBT U.S. Attorneys, alongside Jenny Durkan of the Western District of Washington, Laura Duffy of the Southern District of California and Anne Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina. Upon receiving his judicial commission, Pitman became the first openly gay judge to sit on the federal bench within the Fifth Circuit of the federal court system, which covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

References

References

  1. Knight, Samuel. (September 13, 2011). "Meet Robert Pitman". Main Justice.
  2. Waugh, Anna. (March 29, 2012). "The law west of the Pecos". [[Dallas Voice]].
  3. Kreytak, Steven. (December 1, 2003). "Behind the bench, a man to be counted on: New judge won praise for fairness, kindness in 13 years as U.S. prosecutor". [[Austin American-Statesman]].
  4. (June 26, 2014). "President Obama Nominates Four to Serve on the United States District Courts". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  5. {{FJC Bio
  6. Ramonas, Andrew. (November 2, 2009). "Texas GOP Senators Advanced Gay U.S. Attorney Candidate". Main Justice.
  7. Gilman, Todd J.. (November 1, 2009). "Hutchison irks right by including gay judge as U.S. attorney pick". [[The Dallas Morning News]].
  8. Martin, Gary. (June 27, 2011). "Austin magistrate judge to get U.S. attorney nod". [[San Antonio Express-News]].
  9. The White House: Office of the Press Secretary. (June 28, 2011). "President Obama Nominates Four to Serve as United States Attorneys". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  10. (June 26, 2014). "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  11. "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary".
  12. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – November 20, 2014 United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary".
  13. Weber, Paul J. "[https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-business-texas-courts-5eb085acee67615da3623212953220c9 Judge orders Texas to suspend new law banning most abortions]", [[Associated Press]]. October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  14. Swanson, Ian. (October 7, 2021). "Texas to appeal ruling blocking abortion law".
  15. Vakil, Caroline. (October 8, 2021). "Appeals court temporarily reinstates Texas abortion law". The Hill.
  16. [[Eric Goldman]]. (December 2, 2021). "Court Enjoins Texas' Attempt to Censor Social Media, and the Opinion Is a Major Development in Internet Law-NetChoice v. Paxton".
  17. Schrader, Adam. (April 1, 2023). "Federal judge orders books with LGBTQ content to return to library shelves in Texas - UPI.com".
  18. [https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txwd.1172798016/gov.uscourts.txwd.1172798016.25.0_1.pdf gov.uscourts.txwd.1172798016.25.0_1.pdf]
  19. [https://abc13.com/post/texas-scope-act-blocked-robert-pitman-social-media-filters-blocked/15261423/ Federal judge blocks portion of Texas SCOPE Act that cracks down on minors and social media - ABC13 Houston]
  20. Wright, John. (June 28, 2011). "What's Brewing: President Obama to nominate openly gay man for U.S. attorney in Texas". [[Dallas Voice]].
  21. Song, Kyung M.. (June 21, 2010). "Coming out helps lessen others' fears, says U.S. Attorney Durkan". [[Seattle Times]].
  22. Toce, Sarah. (December 19, 2014). "Robert Pitman Becomes 1st Openly Gay Judge to Sit on Federal Bench in Texas". Rainbow Times.
  23. Johnson, Chris. (December 17, 2014). "Gay attorney confirmed to federal judiciary in Texas". [[Washington Blade]].
  24. Railey, Kimberly. (December 17, 2014). "Senate confirms three Texas judges, including state's first openly gay judge". [[The Dallas Morning News]].

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