KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In her wildest dreams, Katherine A. "Katie" Crytzer never thought she'd get the chance to take the bench at the federal courthouse in Knoxville, administering justice for the people of East Tennessee.
"It is an honor," the Farragut High School graduate observed Friday. "It's like lightning striking."
Nominated by President Trump two years ago, Crytzer actually already has been serving as a U.S. District Court judge about 18 months. But until Friday, she hadn't had a chance to take part in a public "investiture" ceremony marking her ascension.
The ceremony in the federal courthouse downtown included congratulatory letters from U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, remarks by Jonathan Skrmetti, the new Tennessee attorney general, and a ceremonial administration of her oath of office by U.S. Circuit Judge Raymond W. Gruender of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Mo.
Gruender, for whom Crytzer has previously clerked, told the packed fourth-floor courtroom he knew more than 10 years ago that Crytzer "had all the great qualities to be a great judge."
Her husband, Joe Oliveri, who she called "my rock,' stood by her side as she took the oath. Also in attendance was her mother, Karen Crytzer. Her father, Jim, died in 2014 in Knoxville.
Crytzer told onlookers she was committed to following the same oath administered to her after her U.S. Senate confirmation in December 2020. She thanked all the people in her life who have helped her to be successful.
"I will interpret the law, not make it," she said.
She paid tribute to the late District Court Judge Pamela Reeves, who died in September 2020.
Reeves was the first woman to serve as a U.S. District Court judge in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Crytzer became the second with her confirmation.
Many who spoke Friday congratulated her for coming back to Tennessee.
"It’s the sort of thing that reminds you where you come from," Crytzer told WBIR about Friday's ceremony and the people who came to witness it.
"It’s the sort of thing that reminds you why we’re all humble and why we exercise humility, because I owe so much to that room of people who have raised me and supported me."
After getting her undergraduate degree at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Crytzer earned a law degree from George Mason University.
She previously has been an attorney in private practice, an assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and worked as principal deputy assistant attorney general in the DOJ's Office of Legal Policy.
"It is an honor and humbling to show up every day to do the work of the people of Tennessee, to serve my country and to serve my community," the judge told WBIR.
Travis R. McDonough, chief judge of the Eastern District, presided over Friday's event, attended by among other people Crytzer's fellow district judges, U.S. magistrate judges, bankruptcy judges, private attorneys and members of the U.S. Attorney's Office here in Knoxville.
The judge said she respects and honors the gravity of what she is called to do.
"I hope that when folks find themselves in my courtroom that they know that they are there to receive justice. You’re not always going to win, but you’re always going to be treated equally under the law," she said.
