Vaughn R. Walker
Encyclopedia
Vaughn R. Walker served as a district judge
of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
from 1989 to 2011.
, in 1944. He graduated from the University of Michigan
(1966) and Stanford Law School
(1970).
After clerking for United States District Court for the Central District of California
Judge Robert J. Kelleher
(1971–72), he practiced in San Francisco at Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro.
Walker was originally nominated to the bench by Ronald Reagan
in 1987. However, this nomination stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee because of controversy over his representation of the United States Olympic Committee
in a lawsuit that prohibited the use of the title "Gay Olympics
". Two dozen House Democrats, led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi
of San Francisco, opposed his nomination because of his perceived insensitivity to gays and the poor.
On September 7, 1989, Walker was re-nominated by President George H. W. Bush
to the seat on the federal district court
vacated by Spencer M. Williams. Walker was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 21, 1989, on unanimous consent and received his commission on November 27, 1989.
On September 29, 2010, Walker announced he would retire at the end of 2010 and return to private practice. He retired at the end of February 2011. On April 6, 2011, Walker told reporters that he is gay and has been in a relationship with a male doctor for about ten years. He was the first known gay person to serve as a United States federal judge, though he did not publicly confirm his sexual orientation
until after retiring from the federal bench.
.
Walker has been called an "unorthodox" and "independent-minded conservative" judge; he has called for policies including the auction
ing of lead counsel status in securities class action
suits and the legalization of drugs. In a 2003 case, United States v. Gementera
, as a condition of supervised release, Walker required a defendant who had pled guilty to mail theft to stand in front of a San Francisco post office wearing a sandwich board that read: "I stole mail. This is my punishment." The condition was upheld on appeal.
A San Francisco Chronicle columnist and reporter wrote in a commentary that Walker has an "aversion to harsh sentences for well-educated, well-heeled criminals and, in particular, perpetrators of securities fraud."
The New York Times
at the time of his initial Reagan nomination stated he was active in Republican politics; Wired
magazine describes Walker as having libertarian
leanings.
; the criminal sentencing of radio host Bernie Ward
; the breach of TD Ameritrade
's customer information database; the Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation copyright infringement case; antitrust litigation over the Hearst Corporation
's purchase of the San Francisco Chronicle
; and Oracle
's merger/hostile takeover of PeopleSoft
, which was approved despite Justice Department
opposition.
On January 11, 2010, Walker began hearing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger
. The case was a federal-constitutional challenge to California Proposition 8
, a voter initiative constitutional amendment that eliminated the right of same sex couples to marry, a right which had previously been granted after the California Supreme Court found that Proposition 22
was unconstitutional. On August 4, 2010, Walker ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional "under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses" and prohibited its enforcement.
Following Walker's decision in Perry, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council
and other proponents of Proposition 8 raised the issue of Walker's homosexuality, already discussed in the press during the trial.
Discussing his homosexuality after retiring from the bench, Walker said he did not consider recusing himself from the Perry case because he thinks using characteristics like sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin or gender as the grounds for recusal is "a very slippery slope." On April 25, 2011, supporters of Proposition 8 filed a motion in district court to vacate Walker's decision, citing Walker's own post-trial statement that he has been in a long-term relationship with another man. They argued he should have recused himself or disclosed his relationship status, and unless Walker "disavowed any interest in marrying his partner", he had "a direct personal interest in the outcome of the case". District Court Judge James Ware
heard arguments on the motion on June 13 and denied it the next day, writing that "the presumption that Judge Walker, by virtue of being in a same-sex relationship, had a desire to be married that rendered him incapable of making an impartial decision, is as warrantless as the presumption that a female judge is incapable of being impartial in a case in which women seek legal relief." Legal experts noted that similar efforts to remove Hispanic judges from immigration cases or female judges from gender-discrimination cases have also failed in the past.
United States federal judge
In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....
of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San...
from 1989 to 2011.
Biography
Walker was born in Watseka, IllinoisWatseka, Illinois
Watseka is a city in and the county seat of Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately west of the Illinois-Indiana state line on U.S...
, in 1944. He graduated from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
(1966) and Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...
(1970).
After clerking for United States District Court for the Central District of California
United States District Court for the Central District of California
The United States District Court for the Central District of California serves over 18 million people in southern and central California, making it the largest federal judicial district by population...
Judge Robert J. Kelleher
Robert J. Kelleher
Robert J. Kelleher is a former American tennis player and official, inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000, and a United States federal judge...
(1971–72), he practiced in San Francisco at Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro.
Walker was originally nominated to the bench by Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in 1987. However, this nomination stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee because of controversy over his representation of the United States Olympic Committee
United States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic Committee is a non-profit organization that serves as the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States and coordinates the relationship between the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency and various...
in a lawsuit that prohibited the use of the title "Gay Olympics
Gay Olympics
Gay Olympics most commonly refers to the Gay Games which were originally named the Gay Olympics but were forced to choose a different name due to legal action by the International Olympic Committee....
". Two dozen House Democrats, led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
of San Francisco, opposed his nomination because of his perceived insensitivity to gays and the poor.
On September 7, 1989, Walker was re-nominated by President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
to the seat on the federal district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
vacated by Spencer M. Williams. Walker was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 21, 1989, on unanimous consent and received his commission on November 27, 1989.
On September 29, 2010, Walker announced he would retire at the end of 2010 and return to private practice. He retired at the end of February 2011. On April 6, 2011, Walker told reporters that he is gay and has been in a relationship with a male doctor for about ten years. He was the first known gay person to serve as a United States federal judge, though he did not publicly confirm his sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
until after retiring from the federal bench.
Views
Walker generally believes in a legal approach known as law and economicsLaw and economics
The economic analysis of law is an analysis of law applying methods of economics. Economic concepts are used to explain the effects of laws, to assess which legal rules are economically efficient, and to predict which legal rules will be promulgated.-Relationship to other disciplines and...
.
Walker has been called an "unorthodox" and "independent-minded conservative" judge; he has called for policies including the auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
ing of lead counsel status in securities class action
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
suits and the legalization of drugs. In a 2003 case, United States v. Gementera
United States v. Gementera
United States v. Gementera, 379 F.3d 596 , was a case decided by the 9th Circuit that held that a judge had the statutory authority to impose a sentence for mail theft that involved public shaming because the punishment was reasonably related to the statutory objective of rehabilitation...
, as a condition of supervised release, Walker required a defendant who had pled guilty to mail theft to stand in front of a San Francisco post office wearing a sandwich board that read: "I stole mail. This is my punishment." The condition was upheld on appeal.
A San Francisco Chronicle columnist and reporter wrote in a commentary that Walker has an "aversion to harsh sentences for well-educated, well-heeled criminals and, in particular, perpetrators of securities fraud."
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
at the time of his initial Reagan nomination stated he was active in Republican politics; Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
magazine describes Walker as having libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
leanings.
Cases
Walker has presided over such notable cases as lawsuits over NSA warrantless surveillanceNSA warrantless surveillance controversy
The NSA warrantless surveillance controversy concerns surveillance of persons within the United States during the collection of foreign intelligence by the U.S. National Security Agency as part of the war on terror...
; the criminal sentencing of radio host Bernie Ward
Bernie Ward
Bernie Ward is a former American radio personality. Formerly a radio talk show host with KGO 810 AM in San Francisco, California, Ward is now serving a seven-year prison sentence for the online distribution of child pornography...
; the breach of TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is an American online broker with over 6 million U.S. customers, and many more internationally, that has grown rapidly through acquisition to become the 746th-largest US firm in 2008. TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation is the owner of TD Ameritrade Inc...
's customer information database; the Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation copyright infringement case; antitrust litigation over the Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
's purchase of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
; and Oracle
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
's merger/hostile takeover of PeopleSoft
PeopleSoft
PeopleSoft, Inc. was a company that provided Human Resource Management Systems , Financial Management Solutions , Supply Chain and customer relationship management software, as well as software solutions for manufacturing, enterprise performance management, and student administration to large...
, which was approved despite Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
opposition.
On January 11, 2010, Walker began hearing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger
Perry v. Schwarzenegger
Perry v. Schwarzenegger is a federal lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the federal constitutionality of Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that amended the California Constitution to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples,...
. The case was a federal-constitutional challenge to California Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
, a voter initiative constitutional amendment that eliminated the right of same sex couples to marry, a right which had previously been granted after the California Supreme Court found that Proposition 22
California Proposition 22 (2000)
Proposition 22 was a law enacted by California voters in March 2000 to restrict marriages to only those between opposite-sex couples. In May 2008 it was struck down by the California Supreme Court as contrary to the state constitution....
was unconstitutional. On August 4, 2010, Walker ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional "under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses" and prohibited its enforcement.
Following Walker's decision in Perry, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council
Family Research Council
The Family Research Council is a conservative or right-wing Christian group and lobbying organization formed in the United States in 1981 by James Dobson. It was fully incorporated in 1983...
and other proponents of Proposition 8 raised the issue of Walker's homosexuality, already discussed in the press during the trial.
Discussing his homosexuality after retiring from the bench, Walker said he did not consider recusing himself from the Perry case because he thinks using characteristics like sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin or gender as the grounds for recusal is "a very slippery slope." On April 25, 2011, supporters of Proposition 8 filed a motion in district court to vacate Walker's decision, citing Walker's own post-trial statement that he has been in a long-term relationship with another man. They argued he should have recused himself or disclosed his relationship status, and unless Walker "disavowed any interest in marrying his partner", he had "a direct personal interest in the outcome of the case". District Court Judge James Ware
James Ware (judge)
James S. Ware is the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and his chambers are in San Francisco, California.- Early life and education :...
heard arguments on the motion on June 13 and denied it the next day, writing that "the presumption that Judge Walker, by virtue of being in a same-sex relationship, had a desire to be married that rendered him incapable of making an impartial decision, is as warrantless as the presumption that a female judge is incapable of being impartial in a case in which women seek legal relief." Legal experts noted that similar efforts to remove Hispanic judges from immigration cases or female judges from gender-discrimination cases have also failed in the past.