Jed S. Rakoff

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Judge Jed S. Rakoff

Overview

Jed S. Rakoff (born 1943) is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York.^[1] Rakoff attended Swarthmore College (BA 1964), Oxford (M. Phil 1966), Harvard (J.D. 1969). He has received honorary degrees from Swarthmore College, where he is a member of the Board of Managers, and St. Francis University.

After clerking for the Honorable Abraham Freedman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, he spent two years in private practice before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. He spent seven years with the office, the last two as chief of business and securities fraud prosecutions. He then returned to private practice where he was a partner first with Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Ferdon, and then with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. Rakoff is also a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School.

In his years on the bench, Judge Rakoff has become known, in particular, for his sharp intelligence, rigorous fairness, and innovative approach to case management. Swarthmore, in conferring his honorary degree, noted that Rakoff is "broadly recognized as a legal thinker, scholar and judge who not only elucidates and enforces the law, but interprets, defends and challenges it in light of the principles of ethics and social justice that it is designed to serve." Rakoff's legal writing is elegant, engaging, lucid, and often funny. For example, speaking about the federal mail fraud statute, he wrote, "To federal prosecutors of white-collar crime, the mail fraud statute is our Stradivarius, our Colt .45, our Louisville Slugger, our Cuisinart -- and our true love. We may flirt with [other laws] and call the conspiracy law 'darling,' but we always come home to the virtues of [mail fraud], with its simplicity, adaptability, and comfortable familiarity. It understands us and, like many a foolish spouse, we like to think we understand it."

Rakoff is a leading authority on the law of white collar crime, and has authored many articles on the topic, as well as leading treatises on RICO and corporate sentencing.

Recent notable cases

United States v. Quinones

In 2002, Rakoff declared the federal death penalty unconstitutional. See United States v. Quinones, 205 F. Supp. 2d 256 (S.D.N.Y. 2002) PDF: [2]. Although the decision was subsequently reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, see United States v. Quinones, 313 F.3d 49 (2d Cir. 2002), his opinion's recognition of the disturbing possibility that an actually innocent person might be executed was heralded by the New York Times as "a cogent, powerful argument that all members of Congress - indeed, all Americans - should contemplate."

WorldCom

Rakoff presided over the Securities and Exchange Commission's accounting fraud suit against Worldcom. On July 7 2003, Rakoff approved a settlement between the SEC and Worldcom.^[3] Worldcom was purchased by Verizon in January 2006.

As part of the suit, Rakoff appointed Richard C. Breeden, former Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to serve as Corporate Monitor. Breeden prepared a report for Judge Rakoff, titled Restoring Trust (Link: [4]), in which he proposed extensive corporate governance reforms, as part of an effort to "cast the new MCI into what he hoped would become a model of how shareholders should be protected and how companies should be run." The reforms were implemented, and Rakoff credited Breeden with "helping to transform a fraud-ridden company into an honest, well-governed, economically viable entity, MCI, Inc."

Impath

Rakoff sentenced Anuradha D. Saad former CEO of Impath for fraud.^[5]

Associated Press v. Dep't of Defense

In November 2004, the Associated Press submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") seeking transcripts of the Department of Defense's Combatant Status Review Tribunals' proceedings and related documentation. Rakoff's January 23 2006 ruling ordered the Department of Defense to release the unredacted transcripts (including the detainees' names) and related documentation. See AP v. United States DOD, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 211 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 4, 2006), reconsideration denied, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2456 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 23, 2006).

References

1. ^ Rakoff, Jed Saul, US Department of Justice
2. ^ The Honorable Jed Rakoff Approves Settlement of SEC'S Claim for a Civil Penalty Against Worldcom, US Department of Justice, July 7 2003
3. ^ Impath CEO Sentenced For Fraud, North Country Gazette, January 23 2006
4. ^ Judge Orders Release of Gitmo Detainee IDs, Washington Post, January 24 2006