Mark J. Bennett
{{Short description|American judge (born 1953)}}
{{Other people|Mark Bennett}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mark J. Bennett
| image = Mark_Jeremy_Bennett.png
| office = Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
| appointer = Donald Trump
| term_start = July 13, 2018
| term_end =
| predecessor = Richard Clifton
| successor =
| office1 = 12th Attorney General of Hawaii
| governor1 = Linda Lingle
| term_start1 = January 3, 2003
| term_end1 = December 6, 2010
| predecessor1 = Earl I. Anzai
| successor1 = David M. Louie
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|02|24}}
| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Union College, New York (BA)
Cornell University (JD)
| party = Republican
}}
Mark Jeremy Bennett (born February 24, 1953) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Career
In 1976, Bennett obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Union College in Schenectady. He attended Cornell Law School in Ithaca where he sat on the Board of Editors of the Cornell Law Review. There, he received his Juris Doctor in 1979. After leaving law school, Bennett became a law clerk to Chief Judge Samuel Pailthorpe King of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii. Completing his clerkship, Bennett served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1980 to 1982 and for the District of Hawaii until 1990. In 1991, Bennett went into private legal practice as a partner at the firm of McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP. At the same time, he worked pro-bono for the attorney general's office and taught at the William S. Richardson School of Law.{{cite web|url=http://hawaii.gov/ag/main/about_us/ag_bio|title=Attorney General Mark J. Bennett|publisher=Hawaii Department of the Attorney General|access-date=April 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004150831/http://hawaii.gov/ag/main/about_us/ag_bio|archive-date=October 4, 2008 |url-status=dead}} He served as Attorney General of Hawaii from 2003 to 2010 in the two-term administration of Republican Governor Linda Lingle.
Bennett served as Acting Governor of Hawaii from August 25 to September 3, 2004, upon the absence of Governor Linda Lingle and lieutenant governor Duke Aiona.{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=32250|title=Profile of Mark J. Bennett|publisher=Project Vote Smart|access-date=December 20, 2010}} The executives left the Hawaiian Islands to attend the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City.
Federal judicial service
On February 12, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Bennett to an undetermined seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On February 15, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. Bennett was nominated for the seat vacated by Judge Richard Clifton, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2016. On April 11, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.{{Cite web|title=Nominations | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/04/11/2018/nominations-1|access-date=2023-01-12|website=www.judiciary.senate.gov|date=April 11, 2018 |language=en}} On May 10, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 18–2 vote.[https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Results%20of%20Executive%20Business%20Meeting%2005-10-18.pdf "Results of Executive Business Meeting – May 10, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee"]. On July 9, 2018, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 72–25 vote.{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=2&vote=00144|title=On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on Mark Jeremy Bennett, of Hawaii, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit)|website=www.senate.gov |access-date=2018-07-10}} On July 10, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by a 72–27 vote.{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1152/vote_115_2_00145.htm|title=On the Nomination (Confirmation Mark Jeremy Bennett, of Hawaii, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit)|website=www.senate.gov |access-date=2018-07-10}} All 27 votes against his confirmation came from Republican Senators due to his defense of Hawaii's restrictive firearms laws in court.{{cite news |last1=Swoyer |first1=Alex |title=27 Republicans vote against Trump pick for 9th Circuit |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/10/27-republicans-vote-against-trumps-judge-9th-circu/ |access-date=15 May 2019 |work=Washington Times |date=July 10, 2018}} He received his judicial commission on July 13, 2018.{{FJC Bio|nid=4908101|inline=yes}}
On August 16, 2019, Bennett was in the majority of a split panel for the Ninth Circuit which blocked new asylum restrictions by the Trump administration within its own jurisdiction but declined to block the new asylum rules across the entire nation.{{cite news |last1=Thomsen |first1=Jacqueline |title=Ninth Circuit Panel Fractures Over National Injunctions With Trump's Latest Asylum Order |url=https://www.law.com/therecorder/2019/08/16/ninth-circuit-panel-fractures-over-national-injunctions-with-trumps-latest-asylum-order/ |access-date=22 August 2019 |publisher=Law.com |date=August 16, 2019}}
In September 2020, Bennett dissented when the panel majority found that a robocall defendant could not use the Federal Arbitration Act to compel enforcement of a customer agreement the plaintiff had signed years earlier with a separate company that had subsequently been acquired by the holding company that now also owned the defendant.{{Bluebook journal |first=|last=Note
|title=Recent Case: Ninth Circuit Refuses to Enforce Infinite Arbitration Agreement
|volume=134
|journal=Harv. L. Rev.
|page=2871
|url=https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/134-Harv.-L.-Rev.-2871.pdf
|year=2021}}{{cite court
|litigants=Revitch v. DIRECTV, LLC
|vol=977
|reporter=F.3d
|opinion=713
|court=9th Cir.
|date=2020
|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12949644032048028028 |accessdate=}}
On December 4, 2021, Bennett was one of two judges who declined to halt San Diego Unified School District's requirements that students be vaccinated by December 20.{{Cite web|url=https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/12/04/21-56259.pdf|title=John Doe v. San Diego Unified School District|website=ca9.uscourts.gov|date=December 4, 2021|access-date=December 5, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/vaccine-mandate-for-san-diego-unified-students-moves-forward-after-federal-court-lifts-injunction/ar-AARuZQ0|title=Vaccine mandate for San Diego Unified students moves forward after federal court lifts injunction|website=MSN|date=December 5, 2021|access-date=December 5, 2021}}
On September 6, 2022, Bennett wrote a concurring opinion in the 9th circuit decision upholding Washington's ban on conversion therapy for minors.{{Cite web|url=https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2022/09/06/21-35815.pdf|title=BRIANTINGLEY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ROBERT W. FERGUSON|website=ca9.uscourts.gov|date=September 6, 2022|access-date=January 21, 2024}} The Supreme Court denied certiorari on December 11, 2023.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/12/11/23889129/supreme-court-conversion-therapy-washington-lgbtq-tingley-ferguson|title=The Supreme Court hands down a small but unexpected victory for LGBTQ people|website=Vox|date=December 11, 2023|access-date=January 21, 2024}}
Personal life
Bennett is married to Honolulu attorney Patricia Tomi Ohara. He has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2016.{{Cite web |title=Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees |url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Bennett%20SJQ13.pdf |access-date=June 30, 2018 |website=judiciary.senate.gov}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{FJC Bio|nid=4908101}}
- [https://www.oyez.org/advocates/mark_j_bennett Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court] from the Oyez Project
- {{Ballotpedia|Mark_Bennett_(Hawaii)|Mark J. Bennett}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=Earl I. Anzai}}
{{s-ttl|title=Attorney General of Hawaii|years=2003–2010}}
{{s-aft|after=David M. Louie}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=Richard Clifton}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit}}|years=2018–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-end}}
{{Attorneys General of Hawaii}}
{{United States courts of appeals judges}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Mark Jeremy}}
Category:20th-century American lawyers
Category:21st-century American lawyers
Category:Assistant United States attorneys
Category:Cornell Law School alumni
Category:Hawaii attorneys general
Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Category:Lawyers from Brooklyn
Category:Union College (New York) alumni
Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by Donald Trump