Daniel Paul Collins (born 1963) is a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

Early life and career

Collins earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

, '' summa cum laude'', from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. He received his Juris Doctor from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

in 1988, where he served on the ''

Stanford Law Review The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produces s ...

''. After graduating from law school, Collins served as a law clerk to Judge

Dorothy Wright Nelson Dorothy Wright Nelson (born September 30, 1928) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Education and career Born in San Pedro, California, Wright received an Artium Baccalaureus degr ...

of the

from 1988 to 1989 and then to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1991 to 1992. Collins then worked as an assistant United States attorney for the

Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a Federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in Southern and Central California, m ...

and as an attorney-advisor in the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

Office of Legal Counsel The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General's position as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the Attorney ...

. He later served as an Associate

United States Deputy Attorney General The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department. The deputy attorney general acts as attorney general during the ...

and in that role participated substantially in the drafting of the

PROTECT Act of 2003 The PROTECT Act of 2003 (, 117 Stat. 650, S. 151, enacted April 30, 2003) is a United States law with the stated intent of preventing child abuse as well as investigating and prosecuting violent crimes against children. "PROTECT" is a contrived ...

. From 2003 to 2019, Collins was a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson. In 2007, he was considered but not chosen for the position of

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

. In 2009, he represented Phillip Morris in opposing a ban on tobacco sales in drug stores in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. In 2017, he served on the Federal Courts Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules.

Federal judicial service

On October 10, 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

announced his intent to nominate Collins to serve as a United States circuit judge of the

. On October 11, 2018, Senator

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she wa ...

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. 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 Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on December 11, 2015. On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. On January 30, 2019, President Trump indicated that he would renominate Collins to a Ninth Circuit vacancy. On February 6, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. On March 13, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

. On April 4, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On May 20, 2019, the Senate invoked

cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ' ...

on his nomination by a 51–43 vote, and on the following day, May 21, the Senate confirmed his nomination by a 53–46 vote. He received his judicial commission on May 22, 2019. In the early months after his confirmation, Collins was lambasted by some Ninth Circuit judges for failing to follow court rules and objecting to other judges' rulings in language that colleagues found combative. Collins also quickly moved to challenge rulings made by his colleagues on three-judge panels. 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.

Notable cases

*On May 22, 2020, Collins dissented in a 2–1 decision which ruled that California Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California f ...

's order to close churches was constitutional. On May 29, a majority on the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

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. *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. *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. *In ''Brach v. Newsom'', Collins ruled that private schools were exempt from COVID-19 restrictions.

References

Selected publications

* * Hein paid access.

External links