Ann Donnelly

Ann Marie Donnelly (born 1959) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Education

Donnelly received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctor in 1984 from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Career

From 1984 to 2009, she was a prosecutor in the New York County District Attorney's office. Donnelly was also part of the prosecution team in the murder trial of Sante Kimes and her son, Kenneth Kimes.

State judicial service

From 2009 to 2015, she served as a judge of the New York Court of Claims. Concurrently, she served at various points on the New York Supreme Court (the state trial court) in Bronx County, Kings County (Brooklyn), and New York County (Manhattan), as well as on a special term for election matters.

Federal judicial service

On November 20, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Donnelly to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, to the seat vacated by Judge Sandra L. Townes, who assumed senior status on May 1, 2015. Senator Charles Schumer recommended Donnelly for the position.

On December 16, 2014, her nomination was returned to the President due to the sine die adjournment of the 113th Congress. On January 7, 2015, President Obama renominated her to the same position. She received a hearing before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on May 6, 2015. On June 4, 2015, her nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote. On October 20, 2015, the Senate confirmed her nomination by a 95–2 vote. She received her judicial commission on October 21, 2015. Several minutes after Donnelly entered her order, another judge, Leonie Brinkema of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from preventing the return of lawful permanent residents at Dulles International Airport. On June 29, 2022, Donnelly sentenced Kelly to 30 years in prison.

In June 2022, The United States Supreme Court unanimously vacated Judge Donnelly's decision that a minor child be compelled to return to Italy despite the child "facing a grave risk of harm" if returned. The Supreme Court returned the matter to Judge Donnelly, who again ordered the child returned to Italy, in August 2022. The child's mother, Narkis Aliza Golan, who had settled at a New York domestic violence shelter after fleeing Italy to protect the child, was found dead weeks after Judge Donnelly's August 2022 decision. At the time of her death, Golan was preparing to appeal Donnelly's August 2022 decision.