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Daniel P. Collins

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Daniel P. Collins
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 22, 2019
Appointed byDonald Trump
Preceded byHarry Pregerson
Personal details
Born1963 (age 60–61)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Stanford University (JD)

Daniel Paul Collins (born 1963) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Early life and education

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Collins earned his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Harvard College.[1] He received his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1988, where he served on the Stanford Law Review.[2][3] After graduating from law school, Collins served as a law clerk to Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1988 to 1989 and then to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1991 to 1992.

Career

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Collins then worked as an assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California and as an attorney-advisor in the United States Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel.[4] He later served as an Associate United States Deputy Attorney General and in that role participated substantially in the drafting of the PROTECT Act of 2003.[5] From 2003 to 2019, Collins was a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson.[6] In 2007, he was considered but not chosen for the position of United States Attorney for the Central District of California.[7] In 2009, he represented Phillip Morris in opposing a ban on tobacco sales in drug stores in San Francisco.[8] In 2017, he served on the Federal Courts Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules.[9]

Federal judicial service

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On October 10, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Collins to serve as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[6][10] On October 11, 2018, Senator Dianne Feinstein said the White House had not consulted her on the nomination, and that she would oppose Senate confirmation of Collins and two other circuit court nominees.[11][12][13] On November 13, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Collins to the seat vacated by Judge Harry Pregerson, who assumed senior status on December 11, 2015.[14] On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.

On January 30, 2019, President Trump indicated that he would renominate Collins to a Ninth Circuit vacancy.[15] On February 6, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate.[16] On March 13, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[17] On April 4, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[18] On May 20, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–43 vote,[19] and on the following day, May 21, the Senate confirmed his nomination by a 53–46 vote.[20] He received his judicial commission on May 22, 2019.[21]

In the early months after his confirmation, some other Ninth Circuit judges complained that Collins was failing to follow court rules and objecting to other judges' rulings in language that colleagues found combative.[22] Collins also quickly moved to challenge rulings made by his colleagues on three-judge panels.[22] Several judges claimed it was unprecedented for a new jurist to try to overturn so many decisions from colleagues within such a short period of time.[22]

Notable cases

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  • On May 22, 2020, Collins dissented in a 2–1 decision which ruled that California Governor Gavin Newsom's order to close churches was constitutional.[23] On May 29, a majority on the U.S. Supreme Court declined to overrule the 9th Circuit's ruling. However, the issue had shifted from whether closing churches was constitutional to whether limiting church capacity was constitutional.[24]
  • On June 26, 2020, Collins again dissented in a pair of 2–1 decisions ruling that President Trump illegally redirected $2.5 billion in military funds to build portions of a border wall in California, Arizona, and New Mexico.[25]
  • On April 27, 2021, Collins partially dissented in a qualified immunity case where a 13 year old was coerced into confessing a murder that he did not commit. While the majority granted the officers qualified immunity in part, Collins would have granted them qualified immunity in full.[26]
  • In Brach v. Newsom, Collins ruled that private schools were exempt from COVID-19 restrictions.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "'85 Assembly Reps Upset After Meeting". Harvard Crimson. October 7, 1981. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "Reunion-class of 2008, 1988". Stanford Law School. Retrieved October 10, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Board of editors masthead-Vol 40" (PDF). Stanford Law Review. 1988. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  4. ^ United States Congressional Serial Set, Serial No. 14811, Senate Reports Nos. 1–39. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. February 11, 2003. The committee heard testimony from Daniel P. Collins, Associate Deputy Attorney General and Chief Privacy Officer, U.S. Department of Justice.
  5. ^ "Stopping Child Pornography: Protecting our Children and the Constitution". U.S. Senate, Judiciary Committee. October 2, 2002. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "President Donald J. Trump Announces Eighteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Eighteenth Wave of United States Attorney Nominees, and Thirteenth Wave of United States Marshal Nominees". whitehouse.gov. October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018 – via National Archives. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ Weinstein, Henry; Krikorian, Greg (January 18, 2007). "Judge is in race for U.S. attorney job". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  8. ^ Egelko, Bob (August 13, 2009). "Judges don't buy theory in S.F. tobacco-ban case". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  9. ^ Capra, Daniel J. (2017). "The Phillip D. Reed Lecture Series: Conference on Possible Amendments to Federal Rules of Evidence 404(b), 807, and 801(D)(1)(a)". Fordham L. Rev. 85 (4): 517. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  10. ^ Egelko, Bob (October 11, 2018). "President Trump nominates 3 to Court of Appeals in San Francisco". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  11. ^ Swayer, Alex (October 11, 2018). "Dianne Feinstein says White House didn't consult on judicial nominees". Washington Times. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  12. ^ Wire, Sarah D. (October 11, 2018). "California Senators Will Try to Block White House Judicial Nominees for the 9th Circuit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  13. ^ Cadei, Emily; Irby, Kate (October 11, 2018). "Trump defies California senators with 9th Circuit judge nominations". McClatchydc.com. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  14. ^ "Twenty Six Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.
  15. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Judicial Nominees". whitehouse.gov. January 30, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2019 – via National Archives.
  16. ^ "Twelve Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.
  17. ^ "Nominations Hearing | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov. March 13, 2019.
  18. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – April 4, 2019, Senate Judiciary Committee" (PDF).
  19. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Daniel P. Collins to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit)". www.senate.gov.
  20. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Daniel P. Collins, of California, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit)". www.senate.gov.
  21. ^ Daniel P. Collins at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  22. ^ a b c Maura, Dolan (February 22, 2020). "Trump has flipped the 9th Circuit--and some judges are causing a 'shock wave'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  23. ^ "Court summary" (PDF). cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov. May 22, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  24. ^ "Court declines to lift restrictions on crowds at church services (UPDATED)". SCOTUSblog. May 30, 2020.
  25. ^ "Attorney General Becerra Applauds Ruling Blocking Trump's Illegal Diversion of Funding for Border Wall". State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General. June 28, 2019.
  26. ^ "Tobias v. Arteaga" (PDF). cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov. April 27, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  27. ^ "Brach v. Newsom" (PDF). ca9.uscourts.gov. July 23, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.

Selected publications

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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
2019–present 		Incumbent
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