Judge Rosemarie Aquilina is making a name for herself across the United States for her compassionate, encouraging and no-nonsense approach to a disturbing, high-profile case dealing with the sexual abuse of over 150 young gymnasts and other athletes in Michigan.
But she has also come in for criticism for her strong views, some of which many legal observers have considered to be inappropriate.
Judge Aquilina sentenced Larry Nassar last Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison, telling him, "I just signed your death warrant."
"It is my honour and privilege to sentence you. You do not deserve to walk outside a prison ever again. You have done nothing to control those urges and anywhere you walk, destruction will occur to those most vulnerable," Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said.
But what most Maltese readers may be unaware of is that Judge Aquilina’s father is Maltese, originally from Qrendi, and that she had become a naturalised citizen of the United States at the age of 12.
Her Maltese father, a urologist, and her German mother met on a train and married a year later. When their two children were toddlers, they emigrated to Detroit, Michigan and eventually to Saginaw, Michigan.
Judge Aquilina has captured hearts across America with her unyielding stance towards the defendant. When the accused, Larry Nasaar, sent a letter to Judge Aquilina in which he pleaded not to have to listen to his victims, writing, “I’m very concerned about my ability to be able to face witnesses this next four days mentally,” Judge Aquilina had none of it, replying: “You may find it harsh that you are here listening, but nothing is as harsh as what your victims endured for thousands of hours at your hands.”
Nassar had complained it was too hard for him to listen to over 150 accusers describe how he abused them during supposed medical treatments and how it had ruined their lives. He said the judge had turned the proceeding into a "media circus" and put herself in the spotlight.
"Now this is entertaining to me," Judge Aquilina said as she read from the letter in court: “'Aquilina said if I pass out she'll have the EMTs revive me and prop me up in the witness box'," Nassar wrote, to which the judge replied: "I suspect you have watched too much television. It's delusional. You need to talk about these issues with a therapist and that's not me."
After each victim’s statement, Judge Aquilina consoled and applauded the accuser, pouring scorn on the accused in the process. She had said she will impose a sentence that ensures he dies in jail: "The next judge he faces will be God," she told one woman accuser.
During the sentencing hearing, the judge praised each speaker and lambasted Nassar, who she described as a "monster" who is "going to wither" like the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz.
At another point, Judge Aquilina said she would allow someone "to do to him what he did to others" if the US Constitution allowed crueller punishments.
"I want you to know that your face and the face of all the sister survivor warriors – the whole army of you – I've heard your words," Judge Aquilina, an Ingham County Circuit Judge, said after one victim spoke in her courtroom. "Your sister survivors and you are going through incomprehensible lengths, emotions and soul-searching to put your words together, to publicly stop (the) defendant, to publicly stop predators, to make people listen."
"Spending four or five days listening to them is significantly minor considering the hours of pleasure you had at their expense and ruining their lives," she told Nassar.
"Your words are vital. They are as strong as your martial arts," Aquilina told Christina Barba, who has known Nasaar for decades and practises karate. "They will take him down quicker and cleaner than any kick you've got."
Her approach in this case has won her kudos, but outside the courtroom Judge Aquilina has had a fascinating personal life.
She has two older children, 36 and 35 years of age, and she decided to have another child when she was 42 with a former long-term partner. That child is now 17.
Ten years later, when she was 52 she gave birth to twins, Michael and Marissa, as a single mother while serving as judge, having used a sperm bank and in vitro fertilisation.
She also has two grandchildren. She lives with three of her children and her Maltese father, a retired urologist and her mother, both in their 80s.
Aquilina has been on the bench since 2005, first as a district court judge then as a circuit court judge after winning elections in 2008 and 2014. She also worked for a decade in the Michigan State Legislature, had a private practice and was the first woman to serve as a Judge Advocate General providing legal counsel for the Michigan National Guard. She retired after 20 years in the Guard.
She is also a professor at Michigan State University College of Law and at Cooley Law School.
Judge Aquilina also earned an English degree from Michigan State University and to top it all off, she is also a published author of write crime novels.
Additional reporting Associated Press