Robert L. Pitman
Robert Lee Pitman (born 1962) is an American attorney and jurist who serves as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and former United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas. He was previously a United States Magistrate Judge of the same court. Early life and education. Pitman was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1962, the youngest of five children. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Abilene Christian University, where he was student body president. Pitman then obtained a Juris Doctor from the  University of Texas School of Law. After completing law school, Pitman served as a law clerk for Judge David Belew Jr. of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth. Pitman holds a Master of Studies degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford. Career. Following his judicial clerkship, Pitman began his career at the international law firm of Fulbright and Jaworski. In 2001, Pitman briefly served as interim United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas. As United States Attorney on September 11, 2001, he formed the first anti -terrorism task force in the district, uniting local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in their counter-terrorism efforts and in their work to better secure Texas' international border. He was replaced by George W. Bush appointee Johnny Sutton, who asked Pitman to remain in the office as his chief deputy. In October 2003, Pitman was selected to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. As Magistrate Judge, Pitman consistently ranked highest among all local, state, and federal judges in the judicial poll conducted annually by the Austin  Bar Association. In 2009, Republican Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison sent Pitman's name to Democratic President Barack Obama as one of two candidates for United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas. The recommendation of Pitman, who is openly gay, was publicly opposed by a social conservative group in Texas. On June 27, 2011, almost two years after Pitman was recommended for the post, Obama notified members of Congress that he would nominate Pitman to be United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas. He was formally nominated the following day. Citing his credentials and  experience, and expressing a desire to fill the position with the most qualified candidate, he was supported by Texas' two United States Senators, both Republicans. With their support, the United States Senate confirmed Pitman to be the chief federal law enforcement officer in the Western District of Texas on September 26, 2011. He took office on October 3, 2011. He left office on December 19, 2014, upon receiving his judicial commission. Federal judicial service. On June 26, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Pitman to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western  District of Texas, to the seat vacated by Judge William Royal Furgeson, Jr., who took senior status on November 30, 2008. He received a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary for September 9, 2014. On November 20, 2014, his nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote. On Saturday, December 13, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a motion to invoke cloture on the nomination. On December 16, 2014, Reid withdrew his cloture motion on Pitman's nomination, and the Senate proceeded to vote to confirm Pitman in a voice vote. He received his  federal judicial commission on December 19, 2014. On October 6, 2021, Pitman ordered Texas to suspend the Texas Heartbeat Act, a law which banned most abortions, calling it an "offensive deprivation of such an important right." Two days later the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Pitman's suspension order, permitting the law to be enforced again. On December 1, 2021, Pitman struck down a Texas law which attempted to prevent censorship by social media platforms, in the case NetChoice, Inc. v. Paxton. Personal life. Pitman is a sixth-generation Texan and lives in Austin. He is an avid  outdoorsman and horseman. Pitman was the first openly gay United States Attorney in Texas. He was one of four openly LGBT U.S. Attorneys, alongside Jenny Durkan of the Western District of Washington, Laura Duffy of the Southern District of California and Anne Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina. Upon receiving his judicial commission, Pitman became the first openly gay judge to sit on the federal bench within the Fifth Circuit of the federal court system, which covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.