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William Denman (November 7, 1872 – March 9, 1959) was a 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
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
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 ...
, Denman attended Lowell High School, received a
Bachelor of Letters Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second bachelor's degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been touched on in ...
degree from the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
in 1894, and 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 1897. He entered private practice in San Francisco in 1898, and was an assistant professor and lecturer at the
University of California, Hastings College of the Law The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (abbreviated as UC Law SF or UC Law) is a public law school in San Francisco, California, United States. It was known as the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (a ...
from 1902 to 1906.


Federal judicial service

On January 10, 1935, Denman was nominated by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
to a seat on 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 ...
vacated by Judge William Ball Gilbert. Denman 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 January 29, 1935, and received his commission on February 1, 1935. He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the
Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial co ...
from September 1, 1948 to July 3, 1957, when he assumed senior status. He continued to serve in that capacity until his death on March 9, 1959.


Notable case

Denman dissented in ''
Korematsu v. United States ''Korematsu v. United States'', 323 U.S. 214 (1944), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that upheld the internment of Japanese Americans from the West Coast Military Area during World War II. The decision has been widely ...
'' (9th Cir. 1943). The Ninth Circuit permitted the government to force
Japanese Americans are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...
into internment camps, and the Supreme Court affirmed the following year. Denman wrote: "If it be unusual for a judge of a court in which he is a participant to dissent from his associates on the matter of a certification, the occasion is even more unusual. Under the threat of penitentiary sentences to these 70,000 American citizens who have relied on the right they believe the Constitution gives them, we are driving from their homes to internment camps, not men alone, as with the deportation of the Dutch by the Germans, but their wives and children, without giving the latter the choice to remain in their homes. We are destroying their businesses, in effect, as if such citizens were enemy aliens. The destruction of their business connections means for many that they will not be able to return to their native areas; in effect, as were the French Canadians so taken to Louisiana."


References


Sources

*
Guide to the William Denman Papers
at The Bancroft Library * Jonathan van Harmelen. "William Denman: A Voice of Dissent on the Courts - Part 1." ''Discover Nikkei'', June 8, 2022. http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2022/6/8/william-denman-1/ * Jonathan van Harmelen. "William Denman: A Voice of Dissent on the Courts - Part 2." ''Discover Nikkei'', June 9, 2022. http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2022/6/9/william-denman-2/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Denman, William 1872 births 1959 deaths University of California, Berkeley alumni Harvard Law School alumni University of California College of the Law, San Francisco faculty Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt