deborah anne batts (april 13, 1947 – february 3, 2020) was an american lawyer and politician. he was the judge for the united states district court for the southern district of new york from 1994 to 2012, after being nominated by bill clinton. in june 1994, deborah batts was sworn in as a united states district judge for manhattan, becoming the nation's first openly lgbt, african-american federal judge. she took senior status on her 65th birthday, april 13, 2012. batts was born in philadelphia, pennsylvania.