The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is comprised of the following counties: New York, Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan.
The court does not have jurisdiction over the entirety of New York City. Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island are in the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court.
The court is one of the most influential and active Federal district courts in the United States. The Southern District of New York has jurisdiction over New York's major financial centers. When Rudolph Giuliani worked as a federal prosecutor in this district, his unusually aggressive style of litigation combined with the overall power of this district caused legal commentators to joke that S.D.N.Y. stood for the "Sovereign District of New York."
The Southern District of New York was subdivided out of the U.S. District Court for the District of New York on April 9, 1814 along with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
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