Confirmed

Professionally Diverse

Beth Robinson

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

NominatedAugust 5, 2021

ConfirmedNovember 1, 2021

  • Judge Beth Robinson was confirmed by the Senate on November 1st, 2021. She served on the Vermont Supreme Court since 2011 from to 2021.
  • Judge Robinson was a civil rights advocate and plaintiff’s lawyer for eighteen years at the Vermont-based firm Langrock, Sperry & Wool, where she focused primarily on civil cases.
    • Justice Robinson served as co-counsel in Baker v. State, a landmark 1999 case that led to Vermont becoming the first state in the nation to recognize civil unions for same-sex couples.
  • In 2011, Robinson served as the top legal adviser to Governor Peter Shumlin, helping to craft legislation and policy. She played a leading role in shepherding legislation that allowed same-sex couples to marry in Vermont.
  • Judge Robinson was the first openly LGBT justice to serve on the Vermont Supreme Court and upon confirmation became the first openly LGBT judge on the Second Circuit. She is also the first openly LGBT woman to serve as a federal circuit judge in history and only the third openly LGBT federal circuit judge.
  • Judge Robinson received her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.