Deborah Batts

Deborah Anne Batts (April 13, 1947 – February 3, 2020) She took senior status on her 65th birthday, April 13, 2012.

Early life and education Batts was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to James Alexander Batts, director of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Harlem Hospital Center, and Ruth V. Batts, a nurse, homemaker, and board member of the Philadelphia Home and School Council in the 1960s.

Batts received a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Radcliffe College in 1969 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1972. She subsequently clerked for Judge Lawrence W. Pierce of the United States district court on which she served as a judge until her death. She was an Assistant United States Attorney from 1979 to 1984. In 1984, she became the first African American faculty member and an associate professor of law at Fordham University School of Law. She was a special associate counsel to the Department of Investigation for New York City from 1990 to 1991. Outside of work, Batts dedicated her time to the RISE program, aiming to lower recidivism amongst at-risk offenders and continued to teach at the Fordham University School of Law. Bourne argued that "I Need a Jew" uses the copyrighted melody of "When You Wish Upon a Star" without commenting on that song, and that it was therefore not a First Amendment-protected parody per the ruling in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. On March 16, 2009, Batts held that Family Guy did not infringe on Bourne's copyright when it transformed the song for comical use in an episode.

In 2007, Batts was a prominent figure in the litigation over the case of the Central Park Five, permitting the Central Park Five's lawsuit against the City of New York for malicious prosecution and racial discrimination to proceed to trial.

Personal life Batts's siblings included sisters Mercedes Ellington and Denise Batts, and her twin, Diane Batts Morrow. She was raised Catholic.

She was married to Ira A. McCown, with whom she had two children, Alexandra S. McCown and James Ellison McCown. In 2011, Batts married Gwen Zornberg.