Lesbian Named Chief Judge of U.S. Claims Court

The White House announced Monday that President Obama has appointed a prominent lesbian attorney and ordained Episcopal priest as Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Emily C. Hewitt, 64, has been serving as one of 16 judges on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims since President Clinton appointed her to the post in 1998.

Hewitt’s elevation to Chief Judge on the court does not require Senate confirmation. The Senate confirmed her 1998 appointment to the court.

A biography of Hewitt on the court’s web site says she is married to Eleanor Dean Acheson, a nationally recognized gay rights attorney who served as an assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration. Acheson, who was out as a lesbian in the Clinton administration, later worked as director of public policy and government affairs for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.

A White House statement announcing Hewitt’s appointment as chief judge says she has “handled cases in all areas of the court’s jurisdiction, chaired the court’s Rules and Building and Space Committees, and served on its Management Committee.”

In 2006, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts appointed her to serve on the Financial Disclosure Committee of the United States Judicial Conference, the statement says. Prior to becoming a judge on the Court of Federal Claims, Hewitt served as general counsel to the U.S. General Services Administration during the Clinton administration. Before entering government service, Hewitt practiced law from 1978 to 1993 with the Boston law firm Hill & Barlow and was elected partner in the firm in 1985. She served as chair of the firm’s real estate department from 1987 to 1993.

She graduated from Harvard Law School with honors in 1978, according to her biography on the court’s web site. The biography says that between the time she completed her undergraduate degree at Cornell University in New York in 1966 and the time she entered law school, Hewitt studied at New York City’s Union Theological Seminary, where she received a degree in religion and educational studies.

The biography says she became one of the first 11 women to be ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in 1974 after being recognized as a leader in efforts to open the Episcopal ordination process to women. She served from 1973-1975 as assistant professor of religion and education at Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims hears cases involving monetary claims against the federal government. It’s located near the White House on Madison Pl., N.W.

(by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)