Richard Clifton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senior Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | |
| Assumed office December 31, 2016 | |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | |
| In office July 30, 2002 – December 31, 2016 | |
| Appointed by | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Cynthia Holcomb Hall |
| Succeeded by | Mark J. Bennett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Randall Clifton (1950-11-13)November 13, 1950 (age 75) |
| Education | Princeton University (AB) Yale University (JD) |
Richard Randall Clifton (born November 13, 1950) is aseniorUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Clifton received anArtium Baccalaureus degree atPrinceton University and aJuris Doctor fromYale Law School. After law school, he clerked for Ninth Circuit JudgeHerbert Choy.[1]
Following his clerkship, he was in private practice inHonolulu, Hawaii until his appointment to the federal bench. He also taught for several years at theWilliam S. Richardson School of Law at theUniversity of Hawaii as an adjunct professor.
He was nominated to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit byGeorge W. Bush on September 4, 2001 to fill a seat vacated byCynthia Holcomb Hall. TheUnited States Senate confirmed him on July 30, 2002 by a 98–0 vote.[2] He was Bush's first appointment to the Ninth Circuit. He received his commission on July 30, 2002.[3] He assumedsenior status on December 31, 2016.[3][4]
In 2006, he was one of the judges on the panel that upheld the imprisonment of journalistJosh Wolf.[5]
On February 7, 2017, Clifton along with fellow Ninth Circuit judgesWilliam Canby andMichelle Friedland heard oral arguments on a motion from theTrump administration to stay the temporary restraining order inState of Washington v. Trump, part of the ongoing court cases related toExecutive Order 13769.[6][7] A live audio feed[8] of the telephonic argument was broadcast nationwide.[6][7] On February 9, the three judges denied the request for a stay of the temporary restraining order.[9][10]
In July 2018, Clifton dissented when the court found that Hawaii'slicensing requirement toopenly carry firearms violated theSecond Amendment to the United States Constitution.[11][12]
On July 3, 2019, in a follow-up ruling to the February 2017 ruling, Clifton andMichelle T. Friedland upheld a district court's halting of parts of Donald Trump's wall.N. Randy Smith issued a dissent, and on July 26, the Supreme Court overturned Friedland and Clifton by a 5-3 vote on ideological lines withStephen Breyer saying he would temporarily block the construction of the wall but allow funding to be set aside for it.[13][14]
On November 29, 2019, Clifton temporarily halted the execution of Barry Lee Jones, who was convicted of one count of sexual assault, 3 counts of child abuse, and a felony murder.[15]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 2002–2016 | Succeeded by |