Kim Wardlaw | |
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| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | |
| Assumed office August 3, 1998 | |
| Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | J. Clifford Wallace |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Central District of California | |
| In office December 26, 1995 – August 3, 1998 | |
| Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | David Vreeland Kenyon |
| Succeeded by | Percy Anderson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kim Anita McLane (1954-07-02)July 2, 1954 (age 71) San Francisco,California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | William Wardlaw |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA,JD) |
Kim Anita McLane Wardlaw (born July 2, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1998. She is the firstHispanic American woman to be appointed to a federal appeals court.[1] Wardlaw was considered as apossible candidate to be nominated byBarack Obama to theSupreme Court of the United States.[2][3]
In 1954, Wardlaw was born as Kim Anita McLane inSan Francisco, California. Wardlaw's father was a salesman ofScotch Irish lineage. Wardlaw's mother was Soledad Jiménez, an accountant of Mexican descent.[1][4][5]
In 1976, Wardlaw earned a bachelor's degree in communications,summa cum laude andPhi Beta Kappa, fromUCLA. In 1979, Wardlaw earned aJuris Doctor from theUCLA School of Law.[1][4][5][6]
Wardlaw worked as alaw clerk for JudgeWilliam P. Gray of theUnited States District Court for the Central District of California and a legal extern for JudgeJoseph Tyree Sneed III of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Wardlaw joined the law firm ofO'Melveny & Myers in 1980 as an associate, and worked at the firm for sixteen years, the final ten as a partner in the litigation department.
Wardlaw volunteered forBill Clinton's presidential campaign in California during the 1991–1992 election season, and later served on the Clinton-Gorepresidential transition team, working with theUnited States Department of Justice.[7] She was an elected delegate from theCalifornia's 27th congressional district to the 1992Democratic National Convention. In 1993, Wardlaw served on the Executive Committee on Debate Preparation forRichard Riordan's campaign forMayor of Los Angeles.[7] After volunteering for Riordan's successful campaign, she worked as his Government Liaison during the mayoral transition.[7]
President Clinton nominated Wardlaw to theUnited States District Court for the Central District of California on August 10, 1995. TheJudiciary Committee unanimously approved her nomination, and the Senate confirmed Wardlaw on December 22, 1995, byunanimous consent. She received her judicial commission on December 26, 1995. She served on the district court until August 3, 1998 when she was elevated to the court of appeals.[7]
Clinton nominated Wardlaw to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on January 27, 1998. The Judiciary Committee approved her nomination by a 17–1 vote, and the Senate again confirmed her nomination by unanimous consent on July 31, 1998. She received her judicial commission on August 3, 1998.[7]
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In 2006, Judge Wardlaw held that homeless plaintiffs could challenge an ordinance banning sleeping on the street, over the dissent of JudgePamela Ann Rymer.[8]
On July 11, 2008, Wardlaw ruled in favor of Savannah Redding, a 13-year-old girl who was strip searched because she was wrongly suspected of having drugs on her. Wardlaw, joined by Judges Pregerson, Fisher, Paez, M. Smith, and N.R. Smith, ruled that the strip search of Redding violated the 4th amendment and denied individuals conducting the strip search qualified immunity.[9] InSafford Unified School District v. Redding, the Supreme Court affirmed the 9th circuit on the strip search violating the 4th amendment, but grantedqualified immunity to the individuals conducting the strip search. JusticesRuth Bader Ginsburg &John Paul Stevens dissented from the qualified immunity ruling and voted to affirm Wardlaw's ruling in full.
Wardlaw wrote the majority opinion inBryan v. MacPherson, a case where police officers tasered a man at a traffic spot because he was not wearing a seatbelt. Wardlaw concluded that the police violated the man's 4th amendment rights, and that use of a taser can be consideredexcessive force. Wardlaw also wrote a concurrence in denying en banc, joined by judges Pregerson, Reinhardt, and W. Fletcher, defending her initial decision to rule against the officers.[10][11]
On March 8, 2017, Wardlaw ruled that Carlos Bringas-Rodriguez, a gay Mexican, must be given protection from persecution, overrulingCastro-Martinez v. Holder. She ruled that Bringas-Rodriguez had suffered past prosecution, as he was abused as a child based on his sexual orientation, and that the Mexican police would not investigate the abuse because of Bringas-Rodriguez's sexual orientation. Wardlaw was joined by Chief JudgeSidney Runyan Thomas, JudgeWilliam A. Fletcher,Milan Smith,Morgan Christen,John B. Owens,Michelle T. Friedland, and Senior JudgeBarry G. Silverman, over the dissent ofCarlos Bea who was joined byDiarmuid O'Scannlain.Richard R. Clifton concurred in the judgement but would not overrule Castro-Martinez v. Holder.
On January 2, 2019, Wardlaw ruled that Dr. Rahinah Ibrahim had experienced sex discrimination, and Wardlaw remanded for a recalculation of Ibrahim's fees. Wardlaw also ruled that the government may have acted in bad faith. Wardlaw was joined bySidney Runyan Thomas,M. Margaret McKeown,William A. Fletcher,Marsha Berzon,Milan Smith,Morgan Christen, andPaul J. Watford, over the partial dissent ofConsuelo Callahan who was joined byN. Randy Smith andJacqueline Nguyen. In October 2019, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, with JusticeSamuel Alito commenting that he voted to take up the case.
On July 12, 2019, inCity of Los Angeles V. Barr, theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned anationwide injunction issued in 2018, thus upholding preferential treatment in awarding community policing grants to cities that cooperate with immigration authorities. In the opinion, JudgeSandra Ikuta wrote, "Cooperation relating to enforcement of federal immigration law is in pursuit of the general welfare, and meets the low bar of being germane to the federal interest in providing the funding to "address crime and disorder problems, and otherwise... enhance public safety... one of the main purposes for which” the grant is intended. In her dissent, Judge Wardlaw wrote, "[The Department of Justice's] decision to implement both the illegal immigration focus area and the Cooperation Certification is foreclosed by the text, structure, and purpose of the Community Policing Act."[12]
In July 2019, Wardlaw dissented when the 9th circuit en banc upheld Trump's gag rule which defunded abortion providers from Title X funds.
In March 2020, Wardlaw authored the opinion of the court on Tresóna Multimedia v.Burbank High School Vocal Music Ass'n,[13] which held the school choir's usage of the songMagic wasfair use, and that the school should be awardedattorney's fees due to Tresóna's "overreaching claims of copyright infringement".[14]
Wardlaw wrote that
Tresóna did more than simply pursue an aggressive litigation strategy. It sued a public school teacher, a not-for-profit Boosters Club, and parent volunteers. [...] None of these actions furthers the purposes of theCopyright Act. Courts have a legitimate interest in deterring the type of litigation conduct in which Tresóna engaged, and in compensating those who have been harmed by such conduct. [...] Awarding Defendants their attorneys' fees insures that they are properly compensated for defending against overreaching claims of copyright infringement and pressing a defense that benefits those educating our youth. An award of attorneys' fees here assures that "an overzealous monopolist [cannot] use his copyright to stamp out the very creativity that the [Copyright] Act seeks to ignite," allowing for greater breathing room for classroom educators and those involved in similar educational extracurricular activities.
— [13]
On September 23, 2021, Wardlaw, joined by Milan Smith, ordered the DOJ to publicize records regarding the number of weapons that were formerly owned by law enforcement. The basis for this decision was theFreedom of Information Act.[15]
On July 25, 2024, Wardlaw reinstated a hostile work environment lawsuit. The lawsuit had been filed by a staff psychologist working for a federal prison who discovered that a corrections lieutenant was sexually harassing her via social media.[16]
On August 15, 2024, Wardlaw wrote for a unanimous panel ruling that California's vote-by-mail system was constitutional.[17][18]
Wardlaw's husband is William Wardlaw. They have two children, William, Jr. and Katherine Ann. Since 2009, Wardlaw and her family have resided in Pasadena, California.[19][20]
Wardlaw established the Soledad Jiménez McLane Scholarship Fund, in honor of her mother, for disadvantaged Latino children in theSan Gabriel Valley at theMayfield School, inPasadena, California.[21][22]
| This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Kim McLane Wardlaw" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The panel affirmed the district court's summary judgment in favor of the vocal music director at Burbank High School and other defendants in a copyright suit and reversed the district court's denial of attorneys' fees to defendants.
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Central District of California 1995–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 1998–present | Incumbent |
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