Stephen Spangler Trott (born December 12, 1939) is an inactive Senior United States circuit judge 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 for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

Education and career

Born in Glen Ridge,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, Trott received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

in 1962. As a freshman at Wesleyan, Trott was an early member of the folk music group The Highwaymen. He received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1965. He was a deputy district attorney for

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

from 1966 to 1981 and the chief deputy district attorney from 1975 to 1979. He was the

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 Central District of California from 1981 to 1983. He served as

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the adv ...

for the

United States Department of Justice Criminal Division The United States Department of Justice Criminal Division is a federal agency of the United States Department of Justice that develops, enforces, and supervises the application of all federal criminal laws in the United States. Criminal Divisi ...

from 1983 to 1986, and Associate Attorney General from 1986 to 1988.

Federal judicial service

Trott was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

on August 7, 1987, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Joseph Tyree Sneed III Joseph Tyree Sneed III (July 21, 1920 – February 9, 2008) was an American jurist who served as United States Deputy Attorney General and then as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for nearl ...

. "He reportedly turned down the opportunity to be nominated for

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

director, preferring the Ninth Circuit vacancy instead." He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on March 24, 1988, and received commission on March 25, 1988. He assumed senior status on December 31, 2004, and inactive senior status in December 2020.

References

External links

* * *
Stephen Trott '62 and The Highwaymen at Wesleyan
(video) on the site of Wesleyan University * 1939 births Living people Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit People from Glen Ridge, New Jersey United States assistant attorneys general for the Criminal Division United States associate attorneys general United States attorneys for the Central District of California United States court of appeals judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Wesleyan University alumni {{US-federal-judge-stub