Angel Kelley

Angel Kelley (born 1967) is an American attorney and judge serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She is a former associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court.

Early life and education

Kelley was born in New Rochelle, New York, in 1967, growing up with three brothers. Her father was an overnight truck driver originally from Selma, Alabama; her mother had immigrated from Japan following World War II after marrying a U.S. soldier and found work as a supermarket meat packer in New York following a divorce.

Following her father's death, Kelley attended college and received her Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University in 1989, her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University in 1992, and her Master of Laws in trial advocacy from Temple University in 2003.

Legal and academic career

Kelley began her legal career as a staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society in the Juvenile Rights Division in Brooklyn, New York from 1993 to 1997. From 1997 to 2005, she was an attorney for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. From 2007 to 2009, Kelley served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Judicial career

State judicial service In 2009, she was appointed to the Brockton District Court by Governor Deval Patrick and sworn in on September 17, 2010. On January 4, 2013, she was nominated to be a judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court and confirmed to the position on January 24, 2013, in a 6–2 vote.

Federal judicial service

On May 12, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Kelley to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts to the seat vacated by Judge Douglas P. Woodlock, who assumed senior status on June 1, 2015. On June 23, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On July 22, 2021, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 15–7 vote. On September 14, 2021, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 52–43 vote. Her nomination was confirmed later that day by a 52–44 vote. She received her judicial commission on September 15, 2021, and was sworn in the same day. She is the second African American female judge and the second Asian American judge to serve on the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. ), acting under guidance of the second Trump administration, introduced a Notice stating that the NIH would fund the portion of higher educational institution research grants termed indirect costs–typically covering institutional overhead expenses including depreciation, research facility maintenance, and research staff support—at a fixed level of 15%, discarding the generally much higher indirect cost percentages that had been previously negotiated for grants in effect to individual institutions. A coalition of the attorneys general for 22 states sued the NIH, and Kelley granted a temporary restraining order, effectively blocking the rule from taking effect on February 10. The New York Times and Forbes.com subsequently reported that Judge Kelley expanded the ruling to cover institutions nationwide "in response to another lawsuit filed by university associations and major research centers". On, April 4, 2025, The New York Times reported: "A federal judge [Kelley] permanently barred the Trump administration on Friday from limiting funding from the National Institutes of Health that supports research at universities and academic medical centers, restoring billions of dollars in grant money but setting up an almost certain appeal. The ruling by Judge Angel Kelley, of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts, made an earlier temporary order by her permanent and was one of the first final decisions in the barrage of lawsuits against the Trump administration." The First Circuit unanimously affirmed Kelley's decision on January 5, 2026.