Judge Rosemary S. Pooler, whose no-nonsense voice of reason and wry observations have been touchstones of the Second Circuit for 25 years, has died at the age of 85, a court.
Pooler was the first woman elected to the State Supreme Court’s Fifth Judicial District, which covers Syracuse, serving on the bench from 1991 to 1995. She was then appointed by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, making her the first woman to serve on that bench.
In 1998, Clinton elevated Pooler to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, one step below the United States Supreme Court. Pooler served until 2020-21 when she became a senior judge with the court.