Anne Elise Thompson

For other people with the same name, see Anne Thompson.

Anne Elise Thompson
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
Incumbent
Assumed office June 1, 2001
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
In office 1994–2001
Preceded by	John F. Gerry
Succeeded by	John Winslow Bissell
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
In office November 2, 1979 – June 1, 2001
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629
Succeeded by	Stanley R. Chesler
County Prosecutor of Mercer County, New Jersey
In office 1975–1979
Judge of the Trenton Municipal Court
In office 1972–1975
Municipal Prosecutor of the Lawrence Township
In office 1970–1972
Personal details
Born	Anne Elise Jenkins (1934-07-08) July 8, 1934 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Spouse	William H. Thompson
Education	Howard University (BA, LLB) Temple University (MA)

Anne Elise Thompson (born July 8, 1934) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She was the first female and first African American federal judge in New Jersey.

Early life

Anne is the daughter of Leroy H. Jenkins and Mary E. Jackson. Her father was a dentist and her mother was originally from Wilson, North Carolina, which was a town of strict segregation, but also was said to be "the bright leaf tobacco market for the East".

Education and career

Thompson was born in Philadelphia. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University in 1955, a Master of Arts from Temple University in 1957, and a Bachelor of Laws from Howard University School of Law in 1964. She was an attorney in the Office of the Solicitor of the United States Department of Labor in Chicago from 1964 to 1965. She was a grant writer for United Progress, Inc. from 1966 to 1967. She became an assistant deputy public defender for the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender in the Mercer-Somerset-Hunterdon Region of Trenton, New Jersey from 1967 to 1970. She was the Municipal Prosecutor for Lawrence Township in Lawrenceville, New Jersey from 1970 to 1972. She was a municipal court judge for the City of Trenton, New Jersey from 1972 to 1975. She was a prosecutor for Mercer County, New Jersey from 1975 to 1979.

Federal judicial service

On September 28, 1979, Thompson was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey created by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 31, 1979, and received her commission on November 2, 1979. Judge Thompson was the first woman to serve as a federal district court judge in the state of New Jersey. She was also the first African American federal judge to serve in the state of New Jersey. She served as Chief Judge from 1994 to 2001, and assumed senior status on June 1, 2001.

See also

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists
• List of first women lawyers and judges in New Jersey
• List of United States federal judges by longevity of service

Sources

• Anne Elise Thompson at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.