Benitez was confirmed despite overwhelming opposition from the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary,which rates the qualifications of judicial nominees.[8][9] A substantial majority of the committee rated Benitez "not qualified" and a minority rated him as "qualified." In 2004 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee,the ABA committee investigator reported that,"Interviewees repeatedly told me that Judge Benitez displays inappropriate judicial temperament with lawyers,litigants,and judicial colleagues;that all too frequently,while on the bench,Judge Benitez is arrogant,pompous,condescending,impatient,short-tempered,rude,insulting,bullying,unnecessarily mean,and altogether lacking in people skills."[9] Benitez's nomination was nevertheless supported by both of California's senators and was the outcome of a bipartisan commission established by Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.[4]
On May 1,2024,the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit publicly disciplined Benitez for judicial misconduct because he had unlawfully ordered a teenage girl to be shackled during her father’s sentencing hearing:“First,the shackling of a spectator at a hearing who is not engaged in threatening or disorderly behavior exceeds the authority of a district judge. Second,creating a spectacle out of a minor child in the courtroom chills the desire of friends,family members,and members of the public to support loved ones at sentencing.”[10]
Benitez is known for his opinions striking down several California gun control laws.[3]
In 2019, Benitez granted summary judgment in a lawsuit (initially Duncan v. Becerra, later Duncan v. Bonta) in which plaintiffs challenged California's ban on high-capacity magazines. California Attorney GeneralXavier Becerra appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit. In 2020, a three-judge panel affirmed Benitez's grant of summary judgment in a 2–1 decision authored by Judge Kenneth Lee.[11] However, the Ninth Circuit granted a petition for rehearing en banc review and vacated the panel decision.[12][13] In November 2021, following en banc review, the Ninth Circuit reversed Benitez's decision.[14][15] On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the 9th circuit court of appeals en banc decision and remanded it for reconsideration in light of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen ruling. On September 23, 2022, the en banc panel vacated its opinion and remanded it back to Benitez.[citation needed]
In Rhode v. Becerra, Benitez issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of California's 2016 Proposition 63 law requiring background checks for ammunition sales, ruling in favor of the California Rifle & Pistol Association; he deemed the law "constitutionally defective."[16][17] The Ninth Circuit stayed Benitez's ruling pending appeal.[17] The Ninth Circuit eventually vacated his injunction and remanded it back to Benitez, only for him to strike down the ammunition restrictions the second time on January 30, 2024.[18]
Benitez presided over the lawsuit Miller v. Bonta in 2021; the case challenged California's assault weapons ban.[19] Following a trial, Benitez overturned the 32-year-old state law, ruling that "the state's definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states"; he issued a permanent injunction, but stayed it for 30 days to give state Attorney General Rob Bonta time to appeal.[20][21] Benitez opened his opinion by stating, "Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle, the AR-15 is the kind of versatile gun that lies at the intersection of the kinds of firearms protected under District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) and United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939)."[22] In Heller, the Supreme Court decision that struck down a District of Columbia handgun ban, associate justice Antonin Scalia held that the Second Amendment gives citizens a right to own weapons "in common use", but explained its limitations by citing "the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of 'dangerous and unusual weapons'," such as "weapons that are most useful in military service – M-16 rifles and the like."[23][24] Benitez held that the AR-15 passed the Heller test, stating that "The overwhelming majority of citizens who own and keep the popular AR-15 rifle and its many variants do so for lawful purposes, including self-defense at home."[22] Benitez vocalized his disapproval of the measure in his ruling and expressed doubt that it had assisted in reducing the number of deaths inflicted by AR-15 variants, stating "More people have died from the Covid-19 vaccine than mass shootings in California."[25] A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of Benitez's ruling on June 21, 2021, leaving the ban in place as appeals were litigated.[26][27]
On December 19, 2022, Benitez declared the fee-shifting provision of SB 1327 unconstitutional.[28][29]
On February 28, 2023, a complaint was filed against Benitez over his handling of a hearing in which he ordered the defendant's 13-year-old daughter to be handcuffed.[30][31]
On September 14, 2023, Benitez granted a preliminary injunction against school district policies that bar teachers from discussing students' gender identities with the latter's parents.[32]
On September 22, 2023, Benitez overturned the State of California's "High Capacity Magazine" Ban in the Duncan v. Bonta lawsuit, citing the unconstitutionality of this law in his ruling.[33] This marked the second time Benitez had issued a similar opinion, having previously presided over Duncan v. Becerra and ruling in favor of the plaintiff(s) in 2019.[34] Unlike in his 2019 ruling, Benitez issued a 10-day stay on his second opinion in order to allow the State of California adequate time to appeal, which it promptly did later that same day. The appeal was assigned to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which, in an unprecedented manner, called for an en-banc review of the State of California's appeal to Benitez's ruling in Duncan v. Bonta, opting out of the traditional three-judge panel review process of previous appeals. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a post on the social media platform "X" following the ruling, in which, amongst other statements, he expressed his disagreement with Benitez's opinion and called him an "Extremist, Right-Wing Zealot with no regard for human life."[13]
On October 19, 2023, Judge Roger Benitez delivered a decision on the remanded case in the United States District Court Southern District of California. In this decision he ruled the California assault weapons ban unconstitutional for the second time in that it violated the defendants' Second Amendment rights and granted a permanent injunction on the enforcement of the California statute. A 10 day stay on this ruling was also issued by Judge Benitez in anticipation of an appeal to the Ninth Circuit.[35]
On February 23, 2024, Judge Roger Benitez, who had originally upheld California's ban on "billies",[36] struck it down using the Bruen standard.[37]
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts:
Marsha Lee Berzon is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
William Alan Fletcher is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, Fletcher was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1998. Fletcher is a Professor (Emeritus) at the UC Berkeley School of Law, where he still teaches federal courts.
Ronald Murray Gould is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1999.
Sidney Runyan Thomas is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1996. He served as the Ninth Circuit's chief judge from 2014 to 2021. His chambers are located in Billings, Montana.
Milan Dale Smith, Jr. is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Smith's brother, Gordon H. Smith, was a Republican U.S. Senator from 1997 to 2009. Milan Smith is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, and he considers himself to be a political independent.
Sandra Segal Ikuta is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
David Ryan Stras is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He is a former justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Kimberly Jo Mueller is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, in the Sacramento division. She is the first female district judge to serve in the Eastern District.
Gun laws in California regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of California in the United States.
Cormac Joseph Carney is an inactive senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Barbara M. G. Lynn is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, with chambers in Dallas, Texas.
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.
Peruta v. San Diego, 824 F.3d 919, was a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit pertaining to the legality of San Diego County's restrictive policy regarding requiring documentation of "good cause" that "distinguish[es] the applicant from the mainstream and places the applicant in harm's way" before issuing a concealed carry permit.
The 2016 Proposition 63, titled Firearms and Ammunition Sales, is a California ballot proposition that passed on the November 8, 2016 ballot. It requires a background check and California Department of Justice authorization to purchase ammunition, prohibits possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines over ten rounds, levies fines for failing to report when guns are stolen or lost, establishes procedures for enforcing laws prohibiting firearm possession by specified persons, and requires California Department of Justice's participation in the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
Trump v. Hawaii, No. 17-965, 585 U.S. 667 (2018), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case involving Presidential Proclamation 9645 signed by President Donald Trump, which restricted travel into the United States by people from several nations, or by refugees without valid travel documents. Hawaii and several other states and groups challenged the Proclamation and two predecessor executive orders also issued by Trump on statutory and constitutional grounds. Citing a variety of statements by Trump and administration officials, they argued that the proclamation and its predecessor orders were motivated by anti-Muslim animus.
Lawrence James Christopher VanDyke is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a former solicitor general of Nevada and Montana.
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), abbreviated NYSRPA v. Bruen and also known as NYSRPA II or Bruen to distinguish it from the 2020 case, is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court related to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The case concerned the constitutionality of the 1911 Sullivan Act, a New York State law requiring applicants for a pistol concealed carry license to show "proper cause", or a special need distinguishable from that of the general public, in their application.
Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta, 141 S.Ct. 2373 (2021), is a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the disclosure of donors to non-profit organizations. The case challenged California's requirement that non-profit organizations disclose the identity of their donors to the state's Attorney General as a precondition of soliciting donations in the state. The case was consolidated with Thomas More Law Center v. Bonta. In July 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6–3 decision that California's requirement burdened the donors' First Amendment rights, was not narrowly tailored, and was constitutionally invalid.
Miller v. Bonta is a pending court case before Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California concerning California's assault weapon ban, the Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 (AWCA). Judge Roger Benitez struck down the ban in a ruling on June 5, 2021. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit issued a stay of the ruling on June 21, 2021, which left the ban in place as appeals were litigated. The panel then vacated Judge Benitez's ruling and remanded it back down after was decided. The case was known as Miller v. Becerra before Rob Bonta succeeded Xavier Becerra as Attorney General of California in April 2021.
↑ CDC (February 11, 2020). "COVID-19 Vaccination". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
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