Deborah Batts (1947–2020), pioneering judge who was overseeing Michael Avenatti trial

Deborah Batts was the nation’s first openly LGBTQ federal judge, who was set to oversee Michael Avenatti’s Stormy Daniels-related embezzlement trial. She was nominated for a federal judgeship by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and she was sworn in later that year after a smooth confirmation hearing. Serving as the U.S. District Judge for Manhattan, Batts oversaw cases including a 2006 civil suit against an EPA administrator who was accused of misleading the public about the risk of toxic air pollution around the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.