Judge Beryl A. Howell
District of Columbia U.S. District Court
Beryl Alaine Howell was born in December 1956 in Fort Benning, Georgia. She earned an undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College. Howell worked as a legal assistant for an international law firm until she received her Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law. She clerked for a judge from the New Jersey U.S. District Court.
Howel practiced law at a private law firm in New York City before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. She then served as a senior advisor to the chair of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. She teaches legal ethics as an adjunct professor.
Howell was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the District of Columbia U.S. District Court. She was confirmed by the Senate and received her commission in December 2010.
In the News…
Federal Judge Beryl Howell of the D.C. District Court dismissed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s legal challenge to President Trump’s $100,000 fee for companies trying to employ foreigners on H1-B visas. The business organization sought to have the enforcement of the president’s proclamation blocked or struck down, claiming that it violated the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Judge Howell ruled that Congress has given the president the authority to “impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.” She wrote, “Congress could have, but did not, impose the limit on presidential authority that plaintiffs’ urge.”
“The parties’ vigorous debate over the ultimate wisdom of this political judgment is not within the province of the courts,” Judge Howell wrote. “So long as the actions dictated by the policy decision and articulated in the Proclamation fit within the confines of the law, the Proclamation must be upheld.”
The judge further stated that President Trump’s administration had provided sufficient evidence that the H1-B program had displaced U.S. workers.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Howell today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Beryl Howell
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse
333 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
