--- title: "Denise Jefferson Casper | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/denise-jefferson-casper" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Denise Jefferson Casper U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts - State: Massachusetts - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, D. Massachusetts, 2010-present - American attorney and Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, a position she assumed on July 1, 2025 - Deputy District Attorney for Middlesex County from 2007 until her judicial appointment - Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Massachusetts, 1999-2005 - Law clerk, Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1994-1995 - As Chief Judge, Casper leads the District of Massachusetts court - Official site: United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts – Judge Casper ### Education - B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1990 and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1994. ### Additional information - Casper has received multiple awards, including the Trailblazer Award from the Massachusetts Black Lawyers’ Association (2014) and a Distinguished Alumna Award from Wesleyan University (2015). - received her commission on December 20, 2010. - Deputy district attorney, Middlesex County, MA, 2007-2010 - Instructor, Boston University School of Law, 2005-2007 - She also taught legal writing at Boston University School of Law (2005–2007) - From 1999 to 2005, Casper held the role of an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Boston, later becoming Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. - Private practice, Boston, MA, 1995-1998 - Born January 9, 1968, East Patchogue, New York. - Date of birth: 1968-01-01 - At the time, she was the first African-American woman to serve as a federal judge in Massachusetts and one of the youngest federal judges in the U.S - overseeing case management, judicial policy, and bench-bar relations. - She clerked for justices of the Massachusetts Appeals Court before entering private practice in Boston - She continues to preside over significant cases and remains active in judicial and community leadership roles - She serves on boards such as the Steppingstone Foundation and the Park School, and has been active in the Boston Bar Association - Birth place: East Patchogue, NY ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393536) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393536) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393536) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/563/denise-jefferson-casper/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/563/denise-jefferson-casper/) - [Wikidata: Denise Jefferson Casper](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5257686) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/denise-jefferson-casper", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/denise-jefferson-casper", "name": "Denise Jefferson Casper | KnowJudges", "description": "Denise Jefferson Casper, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.