William H. Pauley III

William H. Pauley III (born August 14, 1952) is a United States federal judge.

Early life and education

Born in Glen Cove, New York, Pauley received an A.B. from Duke University in 1974 and a J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1977. He was a law clerk, Office of the Nassau County Attorney, New York from 1977 to 1978. He was a Deputy county attorney of Nassau County Attorney' Office, New York in 1978. He was in private practice in New York City from 1978 to 1998. He was an Assistant counsel, New York State Assembly Minority Leader, New York from 1984 to 1998.

Federal judicial service

On May 21, 1998, Pauley was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Peter K. Leisure. Pauley was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 21, 1998, and received his commission on October 22, 1998.

Notable decisions

Among his notable decisions was that involving Ben-ami Kadish, a U.S. national who pleaded guilty to passing classified information to Israel. On December 27, 2013, he also ruled that the NSA's bulk collection of metadata on nearly every phone call made in the United States is legal.^[1][2] Pauley's ruling contrasted with a ruling of a similar suit in the D.C. District by Richard J. Leon.^[3] On May 7, 2015, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his ruling and remanded the case for further consideration.^[4]

References

External links

• William H. Pauley III at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.