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Brad Garcia

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Brad Garcia
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 16, 2023
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byJudith W. Rogers
Personal details
Born
Bradley Nelson Garcia

1986 (age 37–38)
Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S.
EducationJohns Hopkins University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Bradley Nelson Garcia (born 1986)[1] is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was an official at the United States Department of Justice from 2022 to 2023.

Education

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Garcia was born in 1986 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in international studies and economics,[2] where he also was president of the university's chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.[3] Garcia then attended Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated in 2011 with a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude.[4]

Career

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After law school, Garcia was a law clerk for Judge Thomas B. Griffith of the D.C. Circuit from 2011 to 2012 and for Associate Justice Elena Kagan of the U.S. Supreme Court from 2012 to 2013.[4]

After his clerkships, Garcia entered private practice at the law firm O'Melveny & Myers in 2013, becoming a partner in 2020. Garcia practiced appellate law with a client list that included Google, Warner Bros., and the Ford Motor Company.[5][6] Garcia argued more than a dozen times before federal and state appeals courts, including before the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2021 immigration case, United States v. Palomar-Santiago.[7][8] Other cases he practiced included the fields of criminal law, corporate law, insurance coverage, patent rights, and federal jurisdiction.[9]

In February 2022, Garcia left private practice to serve as a deputy assistant attorney general in the United States Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel.[4][10] He left in 2023 when he became a federal judge.

Notable cases

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Garcia was part of the legal team representing El Paso County, Texas, in a suit challenging the diversion of U.S. Department of Defense funds to build a border wall.[11]

In 2019, Garcia represented a man seeking better mental health treatment in a Pennsylvania prison.[12] A unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in favor of the prisoner.[13]

In 2019, Garcia was co-counsel for Jason Daniel Sims, who pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Sims was sentenced as an armed career criminal, and he appealed. The Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA") imposes a mandatory fifteen-year minimum sentence on a defendant convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition who has three or more previous convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses. 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). The district court designated Sims an armed career criminal based on four convictions: two Arkansas residential burglaries and two serious drug offenses. Sims appealed, arguing that his previous Arkansas burglary convictions do not qualify as violent felonies and that he therefore lacks the three or more convictions necessary to qualify as an armed career criminal.[14][15]

In 2020, Garcia was the counsel of record in June Medical Services, LLC v. Russo, challenging Louisiana's law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.[16][17][18]

In 2022, Garcia was co-counsel for Bel Air Auto Auction, Inc. in their lawsuit against Great Northern Insurance Company. Bel Air's claims stemmed from Great Northern's denial of insurance benefits Bel Air asserts Great Northern owed it to cover business loss Bel Air incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.[19][20]

Federal judicial service

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On June 15, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Garcia to serve as a United States circuit judge for the District of Columbia Circuit.[4] President Biden nominated Garcia to the seat to be vacated by Judge Judith W. Rogers, who subsequently assumed senior status on September 1, 2022.[21] On July 27, 2022, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[22] During his confirmation hearing, Republican senators questioned him on cases that he was involved with that dealt with gun rights and abortion access.[23][24] On September 15, 2022, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[25][26] On January 3, 2023, his nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate; he was renominated later the same day.[27] On February 2, 2023, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–9 vote.[28] On May 9, 2023, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on his nomination.[29] On May 11, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 54–41 vote.[30] On May 15, 2023, his nomination was confirmed by a 53–40 vote.[31] He received his judicial commission on May 16, 2023.[32] Garcia is the first Latino to serve as a judge on the D.C. Circuit.[33][34][35][36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  2. ^ "2017 Washington DC Career Conference". PracticePro. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  3. ^ Cushing, Marie (February 22, 2008). "Wawa, Pike may be forced to relocate - University repeals sophomore housing exemption for fraternity members". The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d "President Biden Names Nineteenth Round of Judicial Nominees". The White House. June 15, 2022. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  5. ^ Rubin, Jordan S. (March 24, 2021). "They've Got Next: Appellate Fresh Face Brad Garcia". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "Appointments". Washington Post. December 28, 2020. p. A11.
  7. ^ "Latest Biden Nominees Would Be First Latino on DC Circuit, First Women of Color on 5th Circuit". National Law Journal. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  8. ^ "United States v. Palomar-Santiago". Oyez. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  9. ^ "Former O'Melveny Partner Brad Garcia Nominated to U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit - O'Melveny".
  10. ^ Scarcella, Mike (February 4, 2022). "Appellate law veteran at O'Melveny leaves for DOJ legal counsel post". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  11. ^ "High Court Vacates Border Wall Case After Construction Halt". Law360.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-02. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  12. ^ Rachel Weiner (2022-06-15). "Biden nominee would be first Latino on federal appeals court in D.C." The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409. Archived from the original on 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  13. ^ "CASEY DOOLEY v. JOHN WETZEL; KEVEN KAUFMAN; RICHARD A. GOSS" (PDF). 2.ca3.uscourts.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  14. ^ "United States v. Sims, 933 F.3d 1009 | Casetext Search + Citator".
  15. ^ "Supreme Court Backs Expansive Burglary Definition in Career-Criminal Case". www.courthousenews.com.
  16. ^ "Graham under fire for voting for Biden judicial nominees". 7 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Louisiana abortion case may hinge on Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts". ABC News.
  18. ^ "The Louisiana Clinic At The Center Of Abortion Case Before Supreme Court". NPR. Archived from the original on 2023-04-13.
  19. ^ "Bel Air Auto Auction, Inc. V. Great N. Ins. Co., No. 21-1493 | Casetext Search + Citator".
  20. ^ "Bel Air Auto Auction, Incorporated v. Great Northern Insurance Company". www.law360.com.
  21. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. June 15, 2022. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  22. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  23. ^ Scarcella, Mike (July 27, 2022). "Biden D.C. Circuit nominee Garcia, 36, defends experience". Reuters. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  24. ^ Wagner, Rose. "Record on gun, abortion cases muddies confirmation waters for DC Circuit pick". Courthouse News. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  25. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – September 15, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  26. ^ Alder, Madison. "DC, Fifth Circuit Nominees Advanced by Senate Judiciary Panel".
  27. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2023.
  28. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 2, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  29. ^ "PN93 - Nomination of Bradley N. Garcia for The Judiciary, 118th Congress (2023-2024)". Congress.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  30. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Bradley N. Garcia to be United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit)". United States Senate. May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  31. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Bradley N. Garcia, of Maryland, to be United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit)". United States Senate. May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  32. ^ Brad Garcia at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  33. ^ Weiner, Rachel (June 15, 2022). "Biden nominee would be first Latino on federal appeals court in D.C." Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  34. ^ Stern, Seth. "First Latino Garcia Confirmed to Powerful D.C. Circuit Court (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  35. ^ Thomsen, Jacqueline; Goudsward, Andrew. "US Senate confirms Biden nominee as DC Circuit's 1st Latino judge". Reuters. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  36. ^ Tarinelli, Ryan. "Senate confirms Bradley N. Garcia to appeals court in DC". Roll Call. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
2023–present 		Incumbent
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