Judge Bios

Judge Greene was nominated to the Superior Court bench by President Reagan and sworn in on May 1, 1981. In February, 1996, he was unanimously found “”well qualified”” for reappointment by the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure and redesignated for a second term. In April, 2000, he sought and received appointment as a Senior Judge of the Court, and he was reappointed as a Senior Judge in April, 2004.

Henry Greene was born in New York City in 1941 and graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1963 and Columbia Law School in 1966. After serving as law clerk to United States District Judge William B. Bryant from September, 1966 to January, 1968, Judge Greene joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. There he was involved in both the trial and appeal of serious criminal cases, served as Executive Assistant United States Attorney from 1972 to 1977, and supervised over 125 trial attorneys and support personnel as Director of Superior Court Operations from 1977 to 1981.

During nearly twenty-five years on the bench, Judge Greene has presided over trials in all major divisions (Criminal, Civil and Family), managed the Court’s complex asbestos case litigation, tried some of the Court’s most serious first degree murder cases, sat by designation on fifteen cases in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, chaired the Court’s Legislation and Instructions Committee, and advocated and implemented more effective techniques to manage jury trials of civil and criminal cases. He also chaired the Court’s Rules Committee from 1991 to 2000, served as Co-Chair of its Media Committee, and served on the Benchbook Committee, the Jury Management Committee, the Judicial Conference Committee, and the Liaison Committee to the Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure. Additionally, Judge Greene has been active in the training of new judges, both as a member of the Court’s Judicial Training Committee (from 1986 to 1992) and as a faculty member at the National Judicial College (1987 to 1993). He has written numerous opinions and has prepared extensive training materials (including Materials on Special Jury Techniques) for both Superior Court judges and those enrolled at the National Judicial College. As a Senior Judge he remains involved in criminal jury trials; additionally, he was appointed by the Chief Judges of the District of Columbia Courts to the Courts’ Strategic Planning Leadership Council, on which he served from 2001 to 2005, and he presently serves on the Courts’ Security Committee and the Superior Court’s Jury Management Committee and Liaison Committee to the Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure.

Judge Greene also has served as a faculty member with the Criminal Practice and Juvenile and Neglect Practice Institutes, developed and taught a course in “”Legal Method”” for high school students in the District of Columbia, lectured at area law schools and Gallaudet University’s “”People’s Law School””, served as a “”Master”” in both the William B. Bryant and Charlotte E. Ray American Inns of Court, and presided over numerous “”moot court”” competitions for both District high school students in the “”Street Law”” program and Bell Multi-cultural High School’s “”Trial of Christopher Columbus,”” and law students in law school mock trials and the National Moot Court Competition. He was the editor of the second and third editions of Criminal Jury Instructions for the District of Columbia, has authored several articles, was a member of both the District of Columbia Jury Project and the Grand Jury Study Committee of the Council for Court Excellence, and is the recipient of many professional awards. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the United Planning Organization from 1993 to 2005.

He has been married to Karen Ann Kapala since 1966 and has resided in the District of Columbia with her since 1973. The Greenes’ two children reside in Maryland and Minnesota, along with their five grandchildren. Judge Greene is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States.