Amir Ali | |
---|---|
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia | |
Assumed office November 22, 2024 | |
Appointed by | Joe Biden |
Preceded by | Beryl Howell |
Personal details | |
Born | Amir Hatem Mahdy Ali 1985 (age 38–39) Kingston,Ontario,Canada |
Education | University of Waterloo (BSE) Harvard University (JD) |
Amir Hatem Mahdy Ali (born 1985) [1] is a Canadian-American lawyer and academic who is serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. [2]
Ali received a Bachelor of Software Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario,Canada in 2008 and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude ,from Harvard Law School in 2011. [3]
After graduating,Ali served as a law clerk for Judge Raymond C. Fisher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2011 to 2012 and for Justice Marshall Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada from 2012 to 2013. [4] From 2013 to 2017,Ali practiced at the law firm Jenner &Block. [5] He also argued and won a case before the U.S. Supreme Court as a fifth-year associate. [6] From 2021 to 2024,Ali was the executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center, [7] [8] a nonprofit law firm founded by businessman and philanthropist J. Roderick MacArthur. Since 2018,Ali has been a professor at Harvard Law School,where he directs the law school's criminal justice appellate clinic. [7] [4] Ali has also served as an adjunct professor of litigation and constitutional law at the University of District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law and Georgetown Law School. [9] [10] He served on the board of directors of the Appellate Project. [11] [12]
On January 10,2024,President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Ali to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. [3] On February 1,2024,President Biden nominated Ali to a seat vacated by Judge Beryl Howell,who assumed senior status on February 1,2024. [13] On February 8,a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. [14] During his hearing,Senator Lindsey Graham questioned him over his leadership of the MacArthur Center and statements made by the group's previous director,who said in 2020 that advocates for defunding police agencies were part of a "movement toward making police departments obsolete." Ali responded,"I do not believe law enforcement is or should be obsolete,or defunded." [15] On March 7,2024,his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 party-line vote. [16] On November 20,2024,the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 50–48 vote,with Senator Kyrsten Sinema voting against the motion. [17] Later that day,his nomination was confirmed by a 50–49 vote,with Senator Sinema voting against confirmation. [18] He received his judicial commission on November 22,2024. [19] Ali became the first Muslim and Arab American federal judge to serve in D.C. [20] [21] [22]
In 2016,Ali argued for the petitioner in Welch v. United States ,obtaining an 7–1 majority opinion that the Supreme Court's prior determination in Johnson v. United States ;which determined the Residual Clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act was unconstitutionally vague,constituted a substantive rule change and was therefore retroactive. [23] [24] [25]
In 2018,Ali represented Louisiana prisoner Corey Williams before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Williams v. Louisiana. [26] Williams had been wrongfully convicted of capital murder in 1998 at the age of 16,and spent over twenty years at Angola Penitentiary. [26] In response to Ali's petition,the District Attorney agreed to the immediate release of Williams. [27]
In 2019,Ali argued for the petitioner in Garza v. Idaho ,and obtained a 6–3 majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court establishing that a criminal defendant has the constitutional right to an appeal that has been forfeited by his attorney,even if the defendant's plea agreement states that it waives the right of appeal. [28] [29] [30]
In 2022,Ali argued for the petitioner in Thompson v. Clark ,and obtained a 6–3 majority opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh recognizing a federal cause of action against police officers who pursue false charges against someone. [31] [32] [33]
The Judiciary Act of 1789 was a United States federal statute enacted on September 24,1789,during the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the federal judiciary of the United States. Article III,Section 1 of the Constitution prescribed that the "judicial power of the United States,shall be vested in one Supreme Court,and such inferior Courts" as Congress saw fit to establish. It made no provision for the composition or procedures of any of the courts,leaving this to Congress to decide.
Kurt Damian Engelhardt is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Previously,he was the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Patricia Ann Millett is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2013 as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She formerly headed the Supreme Court practice at the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer &Feld. Millett also was a longtime former assistant to the United States Solicitor General and served as an occasional blogger for SCOTUSblog. At the time of her confirmation to the D.C. Circuit,she had argued 32 cases before the United States Supreme Court—once the record for a female lawyer. In February 2016,The New York Times identified her as a potential nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia.
Julianna Michelle Childs is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was previously a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina from 2010 to 2022 and a judge of the South Carolina Circuit Court from 2006 to 2010.
Lucy Haeran Koh is an American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Koh previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 2010 to 2021. She also served as a California state court judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court from 2008 to 2010. She is the first Korean American woman to serve on a federal appellate court in the United States.
Richard Gary Taranto is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Pamela Ann Harris is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining the federal bench,she was an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School,and visiting professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and executive director of its Supreme Court Institute.
Florence Yu Pan is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia from 2021 to 2022 and a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 2009 to 2021.
Kevin Christopher Newsom is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Gregory George Katsas is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2017 as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before becoming a federal judge,Katsas served as Deputy White House Counsel to President Donald Trump,as an Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice,and as a partner at the law firm Jones Day.
Andrew Stephen Oldham is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2018 as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He previously was the general counsel to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Maurice Miller Baker is a United States judge of the United States Court of International Trade.
Eric David Miller is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Michael Hun Park is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was a law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito. Prior to becoming a judge,Park was a named partner at Consovoy McCarthy,a prominent law firm in the conservative legal movement. While at the firm,Park represented the state of Kansas in its efforts to cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. Judge Park was appointed by President Trump and is a member of the Federalist Society.
Patrick Joseph Bumatay is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Stephen Patrick McGlynn is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
Benjamin Joel Beaton is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
Veronica Sophia Rossman is a Russian-born American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Loren Linn AliKhan is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia since 2023. She previously served as an associate judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals from 2022 to 2023 as well as the solicitor general of the District of Columbia from 2018 to 2022.
President Joe Biden began his presidency with fewer vacancies to fill than his predecessor. He pledged to nominate people with diverse backgrounds and professional experience;further he pledged to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States.