--- title: "Dora L. Irizarry | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/dora-l-irizarry" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Dora L. Irizarry U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York - State: New York - Role: Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, E.D. New York, 2004-present - Chief Judge of the Eastern District of New York from April 23, 2016, to January 2020 and assumed senior status on January 26, 2020 - She also held the role of an Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn and Manhattan, becoming the first Hispanic woman to hold a state judgeship in New York In 2002, she resigned from her judgeship to run as the Republican nominee for New York Attorney General, challenging Eliot Spitzer - Acting justice, New York State Court of Claims, 1997-2002 - Judge, Criminal Court of the City of New York, 1995-1997 - Assistant district attorney, Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, New York County, NY, 1987-1995 - Assistant district attorney, Bronx County, NY, 1979-1987 - After law school, Irizarry served as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx and Manhattan — 1979–1981 - Appointed a New York City Criminal Court judge by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and subsequently became a judge of the New York Court of Claims under Governor George Pataki ### Education - Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in 1976, followed by a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1979 ### Additional information - received her commission on July 8, 2004 - Private practice, New York City, 2002-2004 - New York County, 1998-2002 - Appeals Bureau, 1979-1981 - Date of birth: 1955-01-01 - She attended the Bronx High School of Science - focusing on drug and narcotics cases to improve neighborhood safety - Birth place: San Sebastian - Judge Irizarry presided over high-profile terrorism cases, including sentencing Abdul Kadir and Russel Defreitas to life imprisonment for plotting to attack JFK Airport, as well as other co-defendants receiving lengthy sentences ## 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/1392211) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1392211) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1392211) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1596/dora-l-irizarry/) - [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/1596/dora-l-irizarry/) - [Wikidata: Dora Irizarry](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5297411) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/dora-l-irizarry", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/dora-l-irizarry", "name": "Dora L. 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Irizarry", "item": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/dora-l-irizarry" } ] } ] } ``` ## Federal civil docket activity Dataset updated through 2026-06-30. | Period | Assigned cases | Terminated cases | Median disposition (months) | Median sample | | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | | 1y | 66 | 4 | Not available | 4 | | 2y | 73 | 8 | Not available | 8 | | 5y | 692 | 578 | 2.9 | 578 | | 10y | 1639 | 1516 | 5 | 1516 | Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/ ## Published courtroom rules ### Shared court rules - [SDNY and EDNY — Joint Local Civil and Criminal Rules](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/ny-shared-set-201c11a4597834a9a953) — Federal district-court proceedings only. Civil and criminal sections have distinct scope and district-specific exceptions. Not Bankruptcy Court rules. [Official source](https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/local_rules/2026-01-02%20-%20EDNY%20and%20SDNY%20Joint%20Local%20Rules%20As%20Amended.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-651872d6e45e0d82319ecccc) — Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. 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.