Stephen Reinhardt

Infobox Judge
name = Stephen Roy Reinhardt

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office = Judge of United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
termstart = 1980
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nominator = Jimmy Carter
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predecessor = "(seat established)"
successor = Incumbent
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birthdate = Birth date and age|1931|3|27|mf=y
birthplace = New York, NY
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Stephen Roy Reinhardt (born March 27, 1931 in New York, New York) is a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Los Angeles, California. He was appointed in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter.

Education and practice

Reinhardt graduated from University High School in Los Angeles. He enrolled in Pomona College and graduated three years later with an A.B. (Government) in 1951. In 1954, he received an LL.B. from Yale Law School.

After law school, Reinhardt worked at the legal counsel’s office in Washington, D.C. for the United States Air Force as a lieutenant. Two years later, he clerked for district judge Luther Youngdahl, a former governor of Minnesota, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He then entered private practice, working for the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers from 1958 until 1959 practicing entertainment law. After two years at O’Melveny & Myers, he began working at a small firm in Los Angeles that became Fogel, Julber, Reinhardt, Rothschild & Feldman specializing in labor law.

Reinhardt served as a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, California Advisory Committee from 1962 to 1974 and was its Vice Chairman from 1969 to 1974. He also served as member of the Democratic National Committee and as an unpaid advisor to former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and former California governor Jerry Brown. In 1975 he was appointed to the Los Angeles Police Commission, which he chaired from 1978 until his judicial confirmation in 1980.

Reinhardt continued his public service as Secretary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Amateur Athletic Foundation.

Reinhardt administered the oath of office to current Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, on July 1, 2005. [cite web| date=2005-06-30| url=http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2005/06/reinhardt_to_gi.html| title=Reinhardt to give Antonio the oath| work=LA Observed| accessdate=2006-06-14]

Personal life

Reinhardt's mother divorced his father and married movie director Gottfried Reinhardt—the son of director Max Reinhardt. Stephen Reinhardt is currently married to Ramona Ripston, the Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California, [cite web| date=1998-07-20| url=http://www.aclu-sc.org/News/Releases/1998/100232/| title=Ramona Ripston, Exectutive Director, ACLU of Southern California Appointed to the State Commission on Judicial Performance| publisher=ACLU of Southern California| accessdate=2006-06-14] and has three children.

Judicial career

Reinhardt, known as one of the most liberal judges on the courts of appeals, is also one of the most-reversed judges before the Supreme Court. [Citation | last=Farnsworth | first=Ward | publication-date=2006 | title=The Role of Law in Close Cases: Some Evidence From the Federal Courts of Appeals | periodical=Boston University Law Review | volume=86 | pages=1083, 1090] Opinions he wrote for the Ninth Circuit were reversed in, for example:

"Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. Burr", 127 S.Ct. 2201 (2007); "Gonzales v. Carhart", 127 S.Ct. 1610 (2007); "Ayers v. Belmontes", 127 S.Ct. 469 (2006); "Garcetti v. Ceballos", 126 S.Ct. 1951 (2006); "Texaco Inc. v. Dagher", 547 U.S. 1 (2006); "Pliler v. Ford", 542 U.S. 225 (2002); "Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Echazabal", 536 U.S. 73 (2002); "United States v. Arvizu", 534 U.S. 266 (2002); "Major League Baseball Players Ass'n v. Garvey", 532 U.S. 504 (2001); "Albertson's, Inc. v. Kirkingburg", 527 U.S. 555 (1999); "Washington v. Glucksberg", 521 U.S. 702 (1997); "Lambert v. Wicklund", 520 U.S. 292 (1997); "United States v. Armstrong", 517 U.S. 456 (1997); "I.N.S. v. Abudu", 485 U.S. 94 (1988); "Heckler v. Lopez", 463 U.S. 1328 (1983) (per Rehnquist, Circuit Justice).

The following are some of his most notable judicial opinions:

; United States of America v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins (9th Cir 2008) [http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/B36C33B16501581D8825740F0058F5FC/$file/0556274.pdf?openelement 05-56294] : Forfeiture of the shark fins was denied on the grounds that, although according to the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 any shark fins found aboard a fishing vessel without a corresponding shark carcass may be deemed the product of illegal harvesting, the vessel from which the fins were seized was not in fact a fishing vessel within the meaning of the act. The fins had been harvested by, and bought from, other vessels.; Ma v. Reno (9th Cir 2000) 208 F.3d 815: It was ruled that an alien cannot be held indefinitely in detention in the absence of a repatriation agreement with his or her country of origin.; Compassion in Dying v. Washington (9th Cir 1996) 79 F.3d 790 (en banc): It was ruled that a statute prohibiting doctors from prescribing life-ending medication for the terminally ill violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Ninth Circuit denied rehearing over Judge Kleinfeld's strong dissent, which was later cited by the US Supreme Court when it reversed Judge Reinhardt.; Yniguez v. Arizonans for Official English (9th Cir 1991) 939 F.2d 727; opinion adopted en banc (9th Cir 1995) 69 F.3d 920: It was ruled that the English-only provision in the Arizona constitution was overly broad and violated the First Amendment right of free speech. This decision was vacated by the Supreme Court as moot because plaintiff Yniguez had voluntarily left the employment of the State of Arizona the day after the appeal was filed. 530 US 43. Justice Ginsburg's unanimous opinion for the Court also took a swipe at the Ninth Circuit for failing to certify this question to the state courts, holding that "A more cautious approach was in order. In addition, footnote 11 of Justice Ginsburg's decision chides the Ninth Circuit for failing to recognize that state courts are not bound by decisions of federal courts (except the Supreme Court), even on questions of federal law.; Cardoza-Fonseca v. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (1985) 767 F.2d 1448: It was ruled that the INS had conflated two different routes for seeking asylum and had improperly rejected an application made under one route based on the requirements of the second. This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court.; Coleman v. Risley (9th Cir 1988) 839 F.2d 434, 465: Standard to obtain asylum.; Sanders v. Ratelle (9th Cir 1994) 21 F.3d 1446, 1455 (Part II): It was ruled that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel can be infringed if the counsel has a conflict of interest, even if the defendant has issued a waiver of conflict of interest.; Silveira v. Lockyer (9th Cir. 2002) 312 F.3d 1052, 1087: It was ruled that the right to bear arms is a collective right, not an individual right. This ruling was effectively overruled several years later by the Supreme Court in "D.C. v. Heller".

Awards

Reinhardt has received the following awards:

* “1987 Appellate Judge of the Year” by the California Trial Lawyers Association.
* “1993 St. Thomas More Medallion Award” by Loyola Law School.
* “1993 Donald Wright Award” by the California Attorney for Criminal Justice.
* “1995 Appellate Justice of the Year” by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.
* “1998 Champion of Justice: Legal Award” by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
* “2004 Award for Judicial Excellence” by the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
* “2004 Meritorious Service Award” by the University of Oregon Law School. [cite web| date=2004-05-12| url=http://comm.uoregon.edu/newsreleases/2004/20040512B.html| title=Oregon Supreme Court Justice Will Address 2004 UO Law Commencement| publisher=University of Oregon| accessdate=2006-06-14]

Law clerks

Judge Reinhardt hires four law clerks every year.

References