Richard J. Leon

Richard J. Leon (born December 3, 1949) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Early life and education Leon was born in South Natick, Massachusetts, in 1949. He is the son of Silvano B. Leon and Rita M. Leon, née O'Rorke. His paternal grandparents were immigrants from Portugal who settled in Framingham, Massachusetts. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from College of the Holy Cross in 1971, where he played varsity lacrosse and was a classmate of future Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. He received his Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School in 1974. Legal career Leon served as a law clerk to the justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court from 1974 to 1975 and to Thomas F. Kelleher of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from 1975 to 1976. Leon was an attorney for the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States Department of Justice from 1976 to 1977 and a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York working in the Civil Division from 1977 to 1978. Leon received his Master of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1981.