Harvard University has been at the center of some big legal cases lately – cases that have all started on the desk of one federal judge, Allison Burroughs of Massachusetts. Here’s a look at who she is.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
President Trump is not happy with U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs. Shortly after Judge Burroughs presided over a hearing for Harvard University’s lawsuit over federal funding cuts, he took to Truth Social and called her a, quote, “Trump hating judge,” adding that, quote, “she’s a total disaster.” Who is this judge drawing so much ire from the president? Carrie Jung of member station WBUR takes a closer look.
CARRIE JUNG, BYLINE: In her Senate confirmation hearing in 2014, Allison Burroughs, a former assistant U.S. attorney, told the judiciary committee she was thrilled about the idea of becoming a federal judge.
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ALLISON BURROUGHS: I really – I love being in a courtroom. I love the woof and warp (ph) of it. I love the human drama in there.
JUNG: Burroughs was nominated to the role of U.S. district court judge for Massachusetts by President Obama. And over the last decade, she’s had a lot of time to enjoy courtroom drama from a major trial involving the Mafia…
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What could be the last chapter in New England’s Mafia story came to a close in Boston Federal Court yesterday.
JUNG: …To another consequential Harvard lawsuit that started in her courtroom and ended like this.
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MARY LOUISE KELLY: The Supreme Court guts the use of race in college admissions.
ARI SHAPIRO: The rulings were expected. We’ll consider the consequences for race.
JUNG: She was also one of several judges to issue a temporary restraining order on President Trump’s 2017 ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries. But what’s she like as a person?
LISA CARTER: She’s very self-assured, and she is smart. You know, she just knows her stuff.
NANCY GERTNER: She’s enormously self-confident in her skin.
CHRIS SWISTRO: What you see is what you get, you know, no BS.
JUNG: That was Lisa Carter, who knows Burroughs through her work with a summer camp for underserved youth, retired federal judge Nancy Gertner, who was on Burroughs’ selection committee, and Chris Swistro, who worked with Burroughs at the Boston chapter of Womenade, a nonprofit that supports women and girls. Swistro says, as a board member, Burroughs had a philosophy to making tough decisions.
SWISTRO: Irrespective of where your heartstrings may be pulled, facts matter. Information matters. And we’re going to do our best work if we let those drive our decision-making.
JUNG: Retired Judge Gertner describes Burroughs as someone who knows the law, doesn’t get intimidated and won’t be pressured into making a decision.
GERTNER: She had an extraordinary amount of trial experience. You know, she knows the system inside and out.
JUNG: Burroughs declined to be interviewed for this story. Her clerk said the judge didn’t think it would be possible or prudent given the two Harvard cases that are still pending, the lawsuits around federal funding cuts and Trump’s efforts to ban international students from the school. Here’s Gertner again.
GERTNER: Having high-profile cases involving Harvard, that doesn’t surprise me that she would be comfortable in the case and in the attention because she’s self-confident, because she knows who she is and because she’s prepared to work as hard as the case takes.
JUNG: When it comes to commenting on federal judges, the legal experts NPR reached out to were cautious. Several conservative legal voices, including at the Federalist Society, declined to be interviewed for this story. NPR also reached out to some of the federal agencies named in the lawsuits. In a statement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, quote, “we have the law, the facts and common sense on our side.” Trump has also said on Truth Social that he expects Burroughs to rule against the federal government, and, quote, “we will immediately appeal and win.” Burroughs’ decisions on the two lawsuits are expected in the next few months.
For NPR News, I’m Carrie Jung in Boston.
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Carrie Jung 2025-08-02 11:45:29
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