Patti Barbara Saris (born July 20, 1951) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She is also the former chair of the United States Sentencing Commission.
Patti B. Saris
Chief Judge — U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Born 1951 in Boston, MA
FJC ID: 2100
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 13/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 44/year
Massachusetts District Court · 1993–Massachusetts District Court · 1993–
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Female
- Race
- White
Prior employment
Chair · 2010–2017- Massachusetts Superior CourtAssociate justice · 1989–1993
District of MassachusettsAssistant U.S. attorney · 1982–1986- ↳chief, Civil Division · 1984–1986
- Private practice, Boston, Massachusetts1977–1979, 1981–1982
- U.S. Senate Committee on the JudiciaryStaff counsel · 1979–1981
- Supreme Judicial Court of MassachusettsLaw clerk , Hon. Robert Braucher · 1976–1977
Appointments
1993–2024 · Appointed by William J. Clinton (Democratic)
1993–present
Education
J.D. · 1976- Radcliffe CollegeB.A. · 1973