Vermont’s new U.S. District Court Judge, Mary Kay Lanthier, had her formal investiture on Nov. 8 in Rutland. Although Lanthier took her oath of office from Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss in Burlington on Sept. 17, and began exercising her official duties immediately thereafter, the investiture ceremony provided a formal marker
for Lanthier’s new position.
Lanthier was nominated for the judgeship by Vermont Senators Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders. She fills the full-time vacancy created by District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford’s move to Senior Status. Lanthier was confirmed by the Senate with bipartisan support in September.
Both Welch and Sanders were on hand at the Rutland ceremony to offer remarks. They were joined by (among others) Judge Crawford, Judge Reiss, Vermont Defender General and VBA Board Member Matthew Valerio, and Vermont Supreme Court Justice Bill Cohen.
Judge Crawford served on the federal bench for 10 years, following service as a Vermont Superior Court judge, a Vermont Supreme Court Justice, and a long career as a Vermont attorney.
Lanthier will preside primarily at the U.S. District Courthouse on West Street in Rutland.
Well known and well respected for her many years serving as the Supervising Attorney in the Rutland County Public Defender’s Office, Lanthier also served for many years as the chair of the VBA’s Criminal Law Section. (She taught an excellent CLE, “Vermont Arraignments 101” with Rutland State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan not long before her nomination, available in the VBA Digital Library). She is a graduate of Amherst College in Amherst, MA and of the Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. Congratulations Judge Lanthier!
Photo courtesy of Judith Dillon