The Judge Who Halted Trump's Immigration Order: Who Is Ann Donnelly?

The federal judge in Brooklyn who issued the stay halting President Trump's order denying entry to the United States to people from seven predominantly Muslim countries is a former prosecutor who spent 25 years working in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Ann M. Donnelly, 57, became a federal judge in October 2015.

Donnelly was born in Michigan, graduating from the University of Michigan before getting her law degree from the Ohio State University College of Law.

She joined Morgenthau's office in 1984 as an assistant district attorney. In 1997, she was promoted to senior trial counsel. In that time, she prosecuted gang members and other violent criminals as part of the office's Major Offense Career Criminal Program.

She stayed there until 2005 when she was made the chief of the office's Gamily Violence Child Abuse Bureau.

"Her reputation is legendary," See. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat for New York, who suggested President Obama nominate her to the federal bench, said at her confirmation hearing. "When you mention her to anyone who served in District Attorney Morgenthau's office, they will tell you that she was one of the best admired people there."

Her most notable case came in 2005 when she helped lead the prosecution of Dennis Kozlowski, the chief executive of Tyco who was convicted of looting $100 million from the company. He was infamously known for extravagances such as a $6,000 gold shower curtain and a $2 million birthday party that included an ice sculpture replica of Michelangelo's David that dispensed vodka.

For the years before being elevated to the federal bench in 2015, Donnelly served as a state judge in New York, presiding over many criminal trials.

"She is at her core, a kind, thoughtful and compassionate person fair and open-minded temperament well-suited to be a federal judge," Schumer said, adding that she had spent years judging mock trials, helping students and young lawyers become better.

When Donnelly, who is married and has two daughters, was having her confirmation hearing, she was asked if she would be up to the challenge of making the shift from the state courts to the federal courts.

"In my 25 years as assistant district attorney and during my six years as a state court judge, I've been very lucky to have been challenged by very complex cases and required to get up to speed quickly on issues I wasn't familiar with," she told the senators. "I am committed to hitting the ground running.

"I look forward to that challenge."

She was confirmed by a vote of 95-2.

Photo United States Senate.