PASSINGS : Burnita Shelton Matthews; 1st Woman on Federal Trial Court

Burnita Shelton Matthews, 93, a senior judge on the U.S. District Court in Washington, and the first woman appointed to a federal trial court who was named to the bench by President Harry S. Truman in 1949. In the 1970s, she was designated to sit on the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and she remained active in the District Court until September, 1983. One of her most notable cases was when she presided over the 1957 trial of Jimmy Hoffa, the former president of the Teamsters Union. He was acquitted of bribery charges. While sitting on the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1971, she ruled that disabled people receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration were entitled to hearings before their benefits were terminated. President Reagan in 1984 wrote to her that “in furthering the administration of justice in our legal system,” her “diligence, distinguished efforts and pioneering spirit serve as an inspiration to all.” In Washington on Monday after a stroke.