Lynne A. Battaglia
MSA SC 3520-13543
Extended biography written Maryland State Archives' Summer 2001 Intern Joanna Berger:
Currently a judge on the Maryland Court of Appeals, Lynne Ann Battaglia has had a long life of impressive accomplishments. She was the first presidentially-appointed United States attorney for the District of Maryland, a judge on the highest court of Maryland, and a proud mother to her son Scott.
Lynne Ann Battaglia was born in Buffalo, New York, on April 14, 1946. She was raised in Silver Creek, New York, a village in the western part of the state, where her father was one of the town’s pharmacists.1
As an undergraduate student at American University from 1963 to 1967 and a graduate student from 1967 to 1968, Lynne A. Battaglia was active in campus activities, engaging in both campus politics and academics. She was the secretary of the student association and was a member of the Mortar Board, an honorary association.2 She received her bachelor’s of arts degree in international relations from American University in 1967 and her master of arts degree in 1968 for the same subject.3
In 1968, Lynne Battaglia entered Georgetown University with a NDEA Title IV fellowship to begin her doctoral studies in American government. Before earning her doctorate degree, however, Battaglia left the program to pursue a law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. During her time at the University of Maryland School of Law, she was the articles editor of the Maryland Law Review. She graduated Order of the Coif, a law school honorary society and recognition of being in the top ten percent of the class, in 1974. The same year, she was admitted to the Maryland bar.4
Battaglia practiced as an associate lawyer for Semmes, Bowen, & Semmes from 1974 to 1978. In 1978 she began her prosecutorial career when she was appointed assistant United States attorney. In this position, which she held until 1982, Battaglia prosecuted numerous cases involving bank robbery, mail fraud, drug violations, and tax evasion. She was also the civil case liaison for the United States attorney.5
Battaglia gave back to the law profession in many ways. As she said in an interview upon receiving the distinction of being on The Daily Record's list of Maryland’s "Top 100 Women" for the third time:
One of the most interesting and rewarding aspects of my career is mentoring new attorneys. I have participated, whenever possible, in panel discussions directed at law students discussing the various roles of lawyers. I am a regular participant in the MSBA classes on professionalism offered to new attorneys, and since 1980, I have taught at the University of Maryland Law School. I started as an adjunct, teaching a course titled Women and the Law. In 1983, I became a visiting professor, teaching a course titled Counseling and Negotiation and courses in the Trial Clinic. Thereafter, I continued to teach Counseling and Negotiation, then Criminal Procedure II.6In addition to her continued involvement with her alma mater as an adjunct professor, in 1984 Battaglia took on the position of senior trial attorney for the Office of Special Litigation in the Tax Division of the Department of Justice. During her time with this office, Lynne Battaglia tried complex tax shelter cases throughout the United States. Twice during her tenure with the Office of Special Litigation she received awards naming her an outstanding attorney.7
Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran chose Battaglia as chief of the Criminal Investigations Division in 1988. She held this position from 1988 until 1991 during which time she supervised attorneys, accountants, and investigators. She also became involved in the prosecution of environmental and white-collar crimes.8 She would continue this work throughout her career.
In November 1991, Battaglia became U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski’s chief of staff. As chief of staff, she supervised the work of the Washington office, two subcommittees, and six state offices. In addition, she acted as legal advisor to the office. She held this position until 1993. In addition to her work as chief of staff, Lynne Battaglia also served as chair of one of the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission Inquiry Panels and chair of the Gender Equality Committee.9
In 1993, Battaglia was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed
by the United States Senate to take the position of United States attorney
for the District of Maryland.10 She became the first woman
to be so appointed to this position. Her appointment to Maryland
U.S. attorney and her proposed aims were lauded by The Baltimore Sun:
Lynne Battaglia, the United States attorney-designate for Maryland, is on the right track when she says she wants to make street crime in Baltimore her top priority. Muggings, break-ins, hold-ups and assaults are, as she says, not only making life hell for those who live here, but are driving good citizens to the suburbs. The city itself is a victim. Most U.S. attorneys prefer to assign higher priorities to other transgressions -- political corruption, civil rights, white-collar crime, especially of the financial sort. That is traditional. But things seem to be changing, and people like Ms. Battaglia are in the vanguard.11
In support of these aims, Lynne Battaglia was on several committees
that confronted the issues of crime. She became known as “staunchly
pro-civil rights" and "her track record included getting two Howard County
deputy sheriffs dismissed for racist behavior.”12 In 1995
she was chair of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Executive Committee.13
From 1995 to 1996, she was a member of the Task Force on Sentencing and
Intermediate Sanctions.14 Through this organization she
worked to “strengthen the credibility and effectiveness of Maryland's sentencing
and correctional process, in the eyes of offenders and the public.”15
In addition, from 1998 until 2000, Lynne Battaglia was on the Maryland
Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission, a commission whose initiative,
according to the vision statement, was to "increase the public’s access
to justice, make the courts more user-friendly, increase resources for
traditional litigation, empower more people to control the outcomes of
their own disputes, and promote a more peaceful and civil society."16
In 1996, Lynne Battaglia took a unique step to permanently ground the drug trade. In a legal first, the Battaglia office filed a suit to confiscate the frequent flyer miles earned by marijuana smuggler Robert Michael Pate. The claim made was that the 117,705 miles Pate took between Philadelphia, Newark, N. J., and Toronto on USAir were earned as part of his drug business and were therefore government property. This “ingenious” play, as Lynne Battaglia put it, was enacted to get mileage for local law enforcement agencies to use in their pursuit of other drug traffickers.
Probably one of the most influential programs instituted by Lynne Battaglia during her tenure as Maryland’s U.S. Attorney was Project DISARM. This program, instituted in 1994, targeted firearm violators arrested by local authorities for prosecution in federal court where the defendant is a convicted felon and possesses a firearm. From 1994 through 2000, over 175 firearm offenders were indicted statewide in Maryland under Project Disarm. The state of Maryland saw a 300% increase in federal firearms prosecutions by the U.S. Attorney’s Office from 1998 through 2000. The average sentence imposed upon felons prosecuted under Project DISARM was 5.8 years. For possession of firearms, prosecuted felons received sentences without parole.17
Besides being “in the vanguard” as United States attorney for the District of Maryland, Lynne Battaglia was also on the forefront of many other legal reform efforts during her tenure from 1993 to 2001. Battaglia was chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC) Ethics Subcommittee in 1998. She was also the chair of the Judicial Administration Committee as well as the Gender Issues Subcommittee for the Baltimore City Bar Association. She was also a member of the Maryland State Bar Civility Task Force. She was also the University of Maryland Law School’s Law Alumni Association president. In 1996 Battaglia worked with the Combined Federal Campaign of Central Maryland, which allowed Federal employees to make designated gifts to a charity of their choice through payroll deductions or direct donations.
Efforts aimed at protecting women have also been major priorities of Lynne Battaglia’s career. In support of women’s issues, Battaglia has served as vice-chair of the Maryland Commission for Women. Starting in 1998 she was co-chair of the Women’s Health Promotion Council, a twenty-three member council created to address women’s health issues.18 At the Third Annual Howard County Women's Fair, entitled “Women’s Fair: Broadening Horizons and Improving Life Quality,” held March 28, 1998, Lynne Battaglia was the keynote speaker.19 As a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, she currently works toward efforts of gender equality by serving on the Gender Equality Committee developed with this end in mind.
Issues relating to children are also important catalysts in the career of Lynne Battaglia. In 1998 she was the AGAC Child Exploitation and Obscenity Subcommittee co-chair.20 She has been a member of the Safe Schools Interagency Steering Committee since 1999.21 She and others trained parents on internet safety and issued twenty internet tips for parents to protect their children from danger while surfing on the world wide web. In addition, Ms. Battaglia has worked closely with the Innocent Images Organization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to further offer protection to children on the internet.22
Lynne Battaglia has also worked on environmental issues. In November 2000, Ms. Battaglia, as U.S. Attorney for Maryland, indicted a tanker captain, a chief engineer, two shore-based supervisors, and two corporations for concealing a hazardous leak in the hull of a tanker. The Norwegian-flagged vessel the Freja Jutlandic had failed to report a hull leak to the Coast Guard as required. This case marked the first time such a shore-side safety officer was criminally charged with directing pollution.23
In addition to pursuing environmental aims, the Maryland U.S. attorney also strove to limit white-collar crime. Lynne Battaglia won two high-profile convictions against Maryland lobbyists, Bruce C. Bereano and Gerard E. Evans.24 Bruce Bereano, one of Maryland’s highest-paid lobbyists, was convicted of tricking clients into paying for more than $16,000 in illegal campaign contributions to state politicians.25 Gerard Evans was convicted in 2000 for defrauding his clients. Lynne Battaglia’s participation in these two trials helped shed light on some of the corrupt practices in lobby politics.
For her many accomplishments, Lynne Battaglia has received recognition through several awards. In 1994, the Women’s Law Center of Maryland honored Ms. Battaglia with the Dorothy Beatty Memorial Award. The Daily Record recognized Ms. Battaglia as one of the Maryland’s Top 100 Women in 1996, in 1999, and in 2001. For her dedication to women’s issues, Battaglia was given the Distinguished Women Award by the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland in 1997. In 1998, Judge Battaglia obtained an honorary law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law and a Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Maryland School of Law.26
Most recently, Lynne Battaglia received yet another badge of distinction. In December of 2000, Governor Glendening appointed the Maryland U.S. attorney to the Maryland Court of Appeals, the highest court of Maryland. Lauding her many accomplishments, Governor Glendening said that Judge Battaglia “has dedicated both her career and her life to the pursuit of justice. She is driven by her genuine belief that "the law can make a real difference in the lives of people."27 This first presidentially-appointed female U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland achieved another first with her appointment to the Maryland Court of Appeals. Sitting simultaneously with Irma Raker on the highest court in the state marks the first time two women have served on the court together, a feat Governor Glendening called “long past overdue.”28
The years to come are sure to bring even greater things from this strong-willed pioneer. As Judge Battaglia continues her work for Maryland from this new position, she keeps a firm goal in mind: “I want the legacy of my life to be that, as a mother, I have nurtured a productive and happy man who contributes to his society, and, as a professional, that I have, in some way, made a difference in making the state of Maryland an even better place to live and raise our families.”29
With Lynne Battaglia helping to develop the laws of Maryland, this goal may well be within reach.
_______________________________
Notes
1. Lynne Battaglia Biography, United States Attorney's Office,
District of Maryland. (http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/bio.htm)
2. Battaglia Biography, District of Maryland. (http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/bio.htm)
3. Maryland Manual on-line (http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/29ap/former/html/msa13543.html)
4. Battaglia Biography, District of Maryland. (http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/bio.htm)
5. Ibid.
6. Maryland’s Top 100 Women. (http://www.mddailyrecord.com/top100w/01battaglia.html)
7. Battaglia Biography, District of Maryland. (http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/bio.htm)
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. “President Names U.S. Attorneys in Six States,” Office of
the Press Secretary, 6 August 1993. (http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/archives/whitehouse-papers/1993/Aug/President-Names-U-S-Attorneys-in-6-States-8-7-93).
11. “Priority on Street Crime,” The Baltimore Sun, 4 September
1993, 8A.
12. “When police are accused,” The Baltimore Sun, 13 July
1994, 12A.
13. Maryland’s Top 100 Women. (http://www.mddailyrecord.com/top100w/01battaglia.html)
14. Maryland Manual on-line (http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/29ap/former/html/msa13543.html)
15. Task Force on Sentencing and Intermediate Sanctions.
16. Maryland Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission Members.
17. Press Release, “Twelve Individuals Sentenced this Month on
Federal Firearm Charges Under DISARM.” 12 December 2000. (http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/press00/disarmsentnov.htm).
18. DHMH News Release, “Governor’s Council to Work on Women’s
Health Issues.” (http://www.dhmh.state.md.us/publ-rel/html/1199womn.htm)
19. “Women’s Fair: Broadening Horizons And Improving Life Quality,”
The
Business Monthly, Bizmonthly.com
20. Maryland’s Top 100 Women. (http://www.mddailyrecord.com/top100w/01battaglia.html)
21. Maryland Manual on-line (http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/29ap/former/html/msa13543.html)
22. Greg Miller, “Former Exec Pleads Guilty to Seeking Sex with
Minor on Internet,” The Los Angeles Times, 18 March 2000, C1.
23. "Crime and Justice," The Washington Post, 1 November
2000, B02.
24. Gail Gibson, “State judge pick named; Governor nominates
Md.'s U.S. attorney to Court of Appeals,” The Baltimore Sun, 22
December 2000, 1B.
25. Karl Vick, “Lobbyist Convicted of Fraud; Bereano Verdict
Called ‘End of Era’ In Maryland Politics,” The Washington Post,
1 December 1994, A1.
26. Maryland Manual on-line (http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/29ap/former/html/msa13543.html)
27. "State judge pick named,"
The Baltimore Sun,
22 December 2000.
28. Maryland’s Top 100 Women. (http://www.mddailyrecord.com/top100w/01battaglia.html)
29. Maryland’s Top 100 Women. (http://www.mddailyrecord.com/top100w/01battaglia.html)
Biography written by Maryland State Archives' Summer 2001 Intern Joanna Berger.
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