--- title: "Sarah French Russell | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/sarah-f-russell" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Sarah French Russell U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut - State: Connecticut - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile. ## Biography ### Professional career - Director of Criminal Law and Advocacy Concentration, 2015-2024 - Nominated October 4, 2023, to replace Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam, elevated to the 2nd Circuit in 2022 - Associate research scholar, lecturer, and director of Arthur Liman Public Interest Program, Yale Law School, 2007-2010 - Assistant federal public defender, District of Connecticut, 2005-2007 - Law clerk, Hon. Chester J. Straub, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2003-2005 - Law clerk for Circuit Judge Chester J. Straub (2nd Cir.) (2003–2005) - Law clerk, Hon. Michael B. Mukasey, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 2002-2003 - Law clerk for Chief Judge Michael B. Mukasey (S.D.N.Y.) (2002–2003) ### Education - Yale Law School — J.D. (2002) - Yale University — B.A. (1998) - Yale College — B.A. (1998) ### Additional information - Commissioned November 26, 2024; sworn in December 20, 2024 - Senate confirmation: November 19, 2024 (50–45 cloture vote) - Director of Legal Clinic, 2019-2024 - Professor, 2015-2024 - Quinnipiac University School of Law, 2011-2024 - Associate professor, 2013-2015 - Assistant professor, 2011-2013 - Russell took her District of Connecticut judicial oath before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer. - Former counsel to the Federal Grievance Committee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut - Former member of the Connecticut Sentencing Commission and Connecticut Committee on Judicial Ethics ## 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 ### presentation procedure Scope: judge specific Judge-specific source Evidence excerpt: . If a party intends to use a PowerPoint or other exhibits that were not previously filed on the docket during an oral argument, the presentation and/or new exhibits must be shared with opposing counsel at least twenty-four hours in advance of the oral argument. Counsel will generally be prohibited from using any presentation and/or… [Sarah F. Russell | District of Connecticut | United States District Court](https://www.ctd.uscourts.gov/content/sarah-f-russell) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### 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/13761893) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761893) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761893) - [Sarah F. Russell | District of Connecticut | United States District Court](https://www.ctd.uscourts.gov/content/sarah-f-russell) - [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) - [Judge Sarah French Russell](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761893) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/sarah-f-russell", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/sarah-f-russell", "name": "Sarah French Russell | KnowJudges", "description": "Sarah French Russell, U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. 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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.