# William G. Young

William Glover Young (born September 23, 1940) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He previously was a judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court from 1978 to 1985.

## Early life and career

Born in Huntington, New York, Young received a B.A. degree from Harvard University in 1962. He received a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1967. He was a Captain in the United States Army from 1962 to 1964. He was a law clerk for Chief Justice Raymond S. Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1967 to 1968.
Young was in private practice of law in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1968 to 1972. Young was a special assistant attorney general of Massachusetts from 1970 to 1972 and chief counsel to the Governor of Massachusetts, Republican Francis Sargent, from 1972 to 1974. He was in private practice of law in Boston from 1975 to 1978. He was an associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court from 1978 to 1985. Young was a lecturer in law for Boston College Law School from 1968 to the present and at Boston University Law School from 1979 to the present. He was a lecturer in law at Harvard Law School from 1979 to 1990.

## Federal judicial service

Young was first nominated by President Ronald Reagan on September 11, 1984, to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333, but the nomination lapsed without a Senate vote. Reagan renominated him on March 8, 1985. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 3, 1985, and received his commission on April 4, 1985. He served as chief judge from 1999 to 2005. On March 10, 2021, Young advised President Joe Biden that he intended to retire from regular active service on July 1, 2021, and that he would serve as a senior judge thereafter. In January 2024, Judge Young blocked the $3.8 billion merger of Spirit Airlines and JetBlue, stating that it would violate the Clayton Act, which “was designed to prevent anticompetitive harms for consumers.” Ten months later, Spirit Airlines announced plans to file for bankruptcy.

## Notable cases
### Patent cases

Young has worked on federal judge on patent cases relating to biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, and also heard computer-related patent cases, including a patent infringement suit by a small company against RealNetworks. The jury found that the patents were invalid and the case was affirmed upon appeal.

### Criminal cases

Young has heard many criminal cases both as a Massachusetts state judge and as a federal judge, including the "Big Dan" rape case, the shoe bomber case, and the Boston Strangler case.
He was the trial judge in Massachusetts state court for the highly publicized 'Big Dan' rape case which was the inspiration for the movie The Accused starring Jodie Foster. He sentenced Richard Reid, better known as the shoe bomber, to 3 life terms plus 110 years in prison.
According to Trial by Media, Judge Young allowed the media inside of the courtroom of the Cheryl Araujo case. He now admits that was a mistake on his part.

### Constitutional law cases

Young heard Singer v. City of Newton, the first case in the United States on the constitutionality of state and local regulation of drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). Judge Young partially invalidated the city ordinance because it was preempted by Federal Aviation Administration regulations.