Judge William G. Young is a United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts.

He served as a captain in the United States Army from 1962 until 1964. He attended Harvard College

Harvard College

Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

 and Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

. He has worked in the legal field since 1967, and he was a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge before being appointed to the federal judiciary by President Reagan in 1985.

Patent cases

Judge Young is a respected federal judge in patent cases relating to biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

Judge Young has also heard important computer-related patent cases, including a patent infringement suit by a small company against RealNetworks. The jury properly found that the patents were invalid and the case was affirmed upon appeal.

Criminal cases

Judge Young has heard many famous criminal cases both as a Massachusetts state judge and as a federal judge, including the "Big Dan" rape case, the shoe bomber case, and the Boston Strangler

Boston Strangler

The Boston Strangler is a name attributed to the murderer of several women in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in the early 1960s. Though the crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo, investigators of the case have since suggested the murders were not committed by one person.-First Stage...

 case.

Judge Young was the trial judge in Massachusetts state court for the highly publicized 'Big Dan' rape case

Cheryl Araujo

Cheryl Ann Araujo was an American rape survivor whose case became national news, and was the basis of the 1988 film The Accused. Araujo was gang-raped in 1983 at age 21 by four men on a pool table in a tavern while other patrons watched but did not interfere...

 which was the inspiration for the movie The Accused starring Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster

Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....

. Judge Young served as Chief Judge of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 1997 until 2005.

After his federal appointment, Judge Young sentenced Richard Reid

Richard Reid (shoe bomber)

Richard Colvin Reid , also known as the Shoe Bomber, is a self-admitted member of al-Qaeda who pled guilty in 2002 in U.S. federal court to eight criminal counts of terrorism stemming from his attempt to destroy a commercial aircraft in-flight by detonating explosives hidden in his shoes...

 who is better known as the terrorist shoe bomber to life in prison.

Public positions

• Law clerk, Hon. Raymond S. Wilkins, Chief Justice, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1967–68
• Special assistant attorney general, State of Massachusetts, 1970–1972
• Chief counsel to the Governor of Massachusetts, 1972–1974
• Associate justice, Superior Court of Massachusetts, 1978–1985
• Judge, United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, 1985–present
• Chief Judge, United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, 1999–2005

Teaching positions

• Lecturer in law, Boston College Law School, 1968–1990
• Lecturer in law, Boston University School of Law, 1979–present
• Lecturer in law, Harvard Law School, 1979–1990