Rainey R. Brandt

Rainey Ransom Brandt is an Associate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Brandt received her B.A., masters degree, and Ph.D. from American University. She earned her J.D. from Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in 1995.

In 1996, she served as law clerk to Judge Michael Rankin and later to Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters.

Prior to becoming a judge, Brandt was a professor in the Department of Justice, Law and Criminology at American University. She continues to serve as an adjunct associate professor at American University, where her areas of research include the prison system and criminal justice. Brandt's dissertation was about the effects of incarceration on the father-child relationship.

On November 7, 2012, Brandt was sworn in as a Magistrate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

President Barack Obama nominated her on November 15, 2016, to become an associate judge on the same court. Her nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the 114th United States Congress.

President Donald Trump nominated her on September 7, 2017, to the same court to the seat vacated by Judith N. Macaluso. Her nomination expired on January 4, 2019, with the end of the 115th United States Congress. On March 11, 2019, President Trump renominated Brandt to the same seat on the court. The Senate confirmed her nomination on August 1, 2019, by voice vote. She was sworn in on September 16, 2019.

Brandt lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband Robert W. Brandt, a chief with the U.S. Marshals Service.