Judge Bios

Noël Anketell Kramer was sworn in as an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on Monday, September 12, 2005. The ceremony took place on the Atrium Level of the H. Carl Moultrie I Courthouse, 500 Indiana Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. The Honorable Eric H. Washington, Chief Judge, presided. The Honorable Frank E. Schwelb, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals and a longtime friend, administered the oath of office.

Noël Anketell Kramer was sworn in as an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on Monday, September 12, 2005. The ceremony took place on the Atrium Level of the H. Carl Moultrie I Courthouse, 500 Indiana Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. The Honorable Eric H. Washington, Chief Judge, presided. The Honorable Frank E. Schwelb, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals and a longtime friend, administered the oath of office.

Judge Kramer has been a judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia since 1984. During that time, she has handled hundreds of cases, including many homicide cases, and has written and published numerous opinions addressing issues of criminal, civil and family law. She has also been a member of court committees that instituted the one-day-or-one-trial jury service system and that formulated a code of conduct for and provided ethical advice to the judges of the D.C. Courts.

In 2002, Chief Judge Rufus G. King III appointed her the Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division, a position that she held until 2005. In that capacity, Judge Kramer was in charge of overseeing the Division’s judicial administration and working with community and criminal justice groups outside the courthouse. During her tenure as the Presiding Judge, she helped to establish and presided over the East of the River Community Court, which handled all misdemeanor cases arising from arrests in the area east of the Anacostia River except those involving domestic violence. The purpose of this court was to increase judicial understanding of the public safety and quality of life concerns of the residents in that area and to reduce recidivism by providing drug and mental health treatment, as well as training and employment assistance for eligible defendants. For her work in the Community Court, she has been recognized by the Metropolitan Police Department, the Department of Employment Services, and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

From 1999 to 2003, Judge Kramer was the Deputy Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division. During that period, she headed a committee that formulated a plan that changed the standards for qualifying to represent indigent defendants in the Superior Court, and that has served as a model for changing the standards for the appointment of attorneys in the Family Court, the Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Court. For her work in this connection, Judge Kramer was awarded the Superior Court Medal of Excellence by Chief Judge Eugene Hamilton and the members of the committee.

Judge Kramer has also been deeply involved in addressing issues pertaining to women lawyers. In 2000, she served as the President of the National Association of Women Judges, having served as an officer for four years previously, and in 2002, she chaired the twenty-fifth annual meeting of that organization here in the District of Columbia. She is also a long-time member of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia, which in May 2005 named her the Woman Lawyer of the Year. The WBA had previously recognized her as a’“Star of the Bar” and honored her for her efforts to mentor younger women attorneys. In addition, Judge Kramer is a member of the Greater Washington Area Chapter of the Women Lawyers Division of the National Bar Association and the Charlotte E. Ray American Inn of Court, part of the American Inns of Court movement that endeavors to train junior lawyers in professionalism and proper litigation techniques. In law school, she was the first president of the University of Michigan Women Law Student’s Association, now the largest student organization on the campus.

Judge Kramer has also been involved in the D.C. Bar since her early years in the profession. Before becoming a judge, she chaired the Bar’s Division on Courts, Lawyers and the Administration of Justice, and oversaw reports and comments addressing such topics as the adoption of codified rules of evidence, the standards for admission of attorneys, and the question of residency requirements for local judges. As a judge, she was a member of the Bar committee that formulated civility guidelines for attorneys practicing in this jurisdiction, and she co-chaired a subsequent committee to implement those guidelines.

She has also been active in the American Bar Association, and has for many years been a Superior Court delegate to the ABA’s Judicial Division, as well as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the American Law Institute. In the 1990’s, Judge Kramer developed an interest in genetics and joined the Committee on Medical Ethics of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, where she participated in writing a publication to assist the public in assessing issues raised by genetic testing.

Before becoming a judge on the Superior Court, Judge Kramer was an attorney at the firm of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering and an Assistant United States Attorney here in the District of Columbia, where she was the Chief of the Grand Jury Section. In 2004, an association of former U.S. Attorneys presented her with the Judge Robert A. Shuker award, annually given for “wit, scholarship and commitment to community service.”

Judge Kramer was born in Bay City, Michigan, which is located on the shores of Lake Huron. She was raised by her mother, Ruth LeRoux Anketell, and her grandmother, Alice King LeRoux. She graduated with honors from Vassar College and from the University of Michigan Law School, where she served as the Constitutional and Criminal Law Editor of the Law Review.

Judge Kramer is married to Franklin David Kramer, a defense and international consultant, who was formerly the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. They have two children, Katherine Anketell Kramer and Christopher Anketell Kramer.