William G. Young

Judge William G. Young is a United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts. He has served the public for almost all of his professional life, starting with his time in the United States Army where he served as a Captain from 1962 until 1964. He attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

He has worked in the legal field since 1967, and he was a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge before being appointed to the federal judiciary by President Reagan in 1985. cite web|url=http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2678 |title=Judges of the United States Courts |accessdate=2007-02-08 ]

Judge Young was the trial judge in Massachusetts state court for the highly publicized [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_v36/ai_3230920] 'Big Dan' rape case [401 Mass. 843, 519 N.E.2d 1328, Mass., March 10, 1988] which was the inspiration for the movie "The Accused" staring Jodie Foster. Judge Young served as Chief Judge of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 1997 until 2005.

After his federal appointment, Judge Young sentenced Richard Reid who is better known as the terrorist shoe bomber to life in prison. [http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/30/shoebomber.sentencing/] During sentencing Young reportedly stated "You hate our freedom -- our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, and to believe or not believe as we individually choose. ... See that flag, Mr. Reid? That is the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is forgotten. And it still stands for freedom." [http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/31/reid.transcript/]

Judicial positions held

Private practice

* Boston, Massachusetts - 1968-1972
* Boston, Massachusetts - 1975-1978

Public positions

* Law clerk, Hon. Raymond S. Wilkins, Chief Justice, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1967-68
* Special assistant attorney general, State of Massachusetts, 1970-1972
* Chief counsel to the Governor of Massachusetts, 1972-1974
* Associate justice, Superior Court of Massachusetts, 1978-1985
* United States District Courts Judge, District of Massachusetts, 1985-present
* United States District Courts Judge, District of Massachusetts, Chief Judge, 1999-2005

Education

Professional degrees

* Harvard University, A.B., 1962
* Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1967

Teaching positions

* Lecturer in law, Boston College Law School, 1968-present
* Lecturer in law, Boston University Law School, 1979-present
* Lecturer in law, Harvard Law School, 1979-1990

References