U.S. District Judge Patti Saris ’69 GLS

Judge Patti B. Saris ‘69 GLS is a woman ahead of her time, displaying fearless determination to improve the status quo and the fortitude to push for positive change. Currently, she serves as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court of Massachusetts. Starting at Girls’ Latin School, renowned for its rigorously competitive academic environment, she developed an empowering work ethic to persevere against mounting academic pressures and any obstacle that crossed her path. Her school years were anything but ordinary. The 1970s were a tumultuous time of world leaders’ assassinations and antiwar protests, all of which instilled an early pulse of civil rights advocacy into her. Judge Saris graduated from Harvard College and eventually received a JD from Harvard Law School. In her early career, Saris worked in private practice for Foley, Hoag & Eliot LLP before re-engaging in public service at the United States Attorney’s Office. Later, she worked as staff counsel to Ted Kennedy (D-MA), a member of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and received a United States District Judge nomination from President Bill Clinton. She became the first woman to be named Chief Judge for the U.S.District Court. On the bench, Judge Saris took a particular interest in presiding over criminal and patent cases. At the height of mass incarceration and overpopulated prisons, Judge Saris served as chair of the United States Sentencing Commission under the Obama administration, where she effectively reduced sentences for drug crimes by nearly two years. Today, her judicial philosophy hopes to balance the main aims of sentencing while holistically evaluating a defendant’s background and protecting humanity in the criminal justice system. As a federal judge and instructor at Harvard Law school, Judge Saris continues to achieve feats that were previously thought unattainable for women, shattering glass ceilings and opening doors for generations to come.