David B. Sentelle
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

David Bryan Sentelle (born February 12, 1943) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.


Early life, family and education

David Sentelle was born in
Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...
, North Carolina. His father was a mill worker. David Sentelle was raised in
Candler Candler may refer to: People * Candler (surname) Places * Candler, Florida, an unincorporated town in Marion County * Candler, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Candler, North Carolina, an unincorporated town in Buncombe County * Candler Count ...
, North Carolina. He graduated from Enka High School in 1961, where he was a classmate of
Thomas A. Furness III Thomas A. Furness III is an American inventor, professor, and virtual reality pioneer based in Seattle, Washington. He is a Professor in the University of Washington Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, and the founder of the Human Inte ...
, who is the "Grandfather of Virtual Reality." Sentelle received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1965. He received a
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1968.


Career

Sentelle practiced law as an associate attorney with the firm Uzzell & Dumont in Asheville, North Carolina from 1968 to 1970. He was an
Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...
in Charlotte, North Carolina from 1970 to 1974. Sentelle served as a North Carolina District Court Judge in Mecklenburg Country from 1974 to 1977. He stepped down from the bench in 1977 to become a partner with the law firm of Tucker, Hicks, Sentelle, Moon & Hodge in Charlotte until his appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in 1985. In addition to his practice and judicial service, Sentelle has held several teaching positions. He was a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1977. He was a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1991 to 1992. In 1993, he taught as an adjunct professor at Florida State University College of Law. Sentelle was an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law from 2002 to 2009. Sentelle is also a founding member and was the longtime president of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of the American Inns of Court, one of D.C.'s most prestigious associations of white-collar prosecutors and defense attorneys. He won the 2008 American Inns of Court professionalism award in recognition of his service to the Inn.


Federal judicial service

With support from Senator
Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...
, Sentelle was nominated by President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
on July 25, 1985, to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in case citations, W.D.N.C.) is a federal district court which covers the western third of North Carolina. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are take ...
vacated by Judge
Woodrow W. Jones Woodrow Wilson Jones (January 26, 1914 – November 25, 2002) was a United States representative from North Carolina and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. jones was nom ...
. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 16, 1985, and received his commission on October 17, 1985. His service was terminated on October 19, 1987, due to elevation to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...
. Sentelle was nominated by President Reagan on February 2, 1987, to the seat on the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...
vacated by Judge
Antonin Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectu ...
, who was elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Sentelle was confirmed by the Senate by a 87–0 vote on September 9, 1987. He received his commission on September 11, 1987; and entered into service on October 19, 1987. He served as Chief Judge from 2008 to 2013. He assumed senior status on February 12, 2013. During his time on the D.C. Circuit, Sentelle served with five future Supreme Court justices: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. In addition, many of his law clerks went on to clerk for Supreme Court justices, earning Sentelle a reputation as a "feeder judge." From 1992 to 2006, Sentelle served as the presiding judge of the Division of the D.C. Circuit for the Appointment of Independent Counsel. During his tenure, the division appointed Kenneth Starr to replace
Robert B. Fiske Robert Bishop Fiske Jr. (born December 28, 1930) is an American trial attorney and a partner with the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City. He was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1976 to 1980 ...
who had been appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate the allegations against President Bill Clinton with respect to the Whitewater Affair. Sentelle was appointed to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) on May 19, 2018, and became the presiding judge of that court on May 20, 2020. In addition to his work on the D.C. Circuit and the FISCR, Sentelle served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference from 2008 to 2013, and as the chair of that committee from 2010 to 2013. Several of Sentelle's former law clerks have gone onto become judges themselves.
Neil Gorsuch Neil McGill Gorsuch ( ; born August 29, 1967) is an American lawyer and judge who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on January 31, 2017, and has served since ...
(1991–1992) serves as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Joan Larsen Joan Louise Larsen (born December 1, 1968) is an American attorney serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She previously was an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 20 ...
(1993-1994, 6th Cir.),
Allison Jones Rushing Allison Blair Jones Rushing (born 1982) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit since March 2019. Early life, family, and education Born in Hender ...
(2008-2009, 4th Cir.),
Beth Robinson Beth Robinson (born March 6, 1965) is an American lawyer and judge from Vermont. She is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and is the first openly lesbian judge to serve on any Circuit Court ...
(1989-1990, 2nd Cir.), and Andrew Oldham (2005-2006, 5th Cir.) currently serve as Circuit Court Judges. (President Trump considered nominating both Larsen and Rushing for the Supreme Court seat currently occupied by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, while Robinson is the first openly gay judge on the federal appellate bench.)
Liam P. Hardy Liam Patrick Hardy (born 1973) is an American lawyer who serves as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Education Hardy earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, ''magna cum laude'', in May 1995 from Prince ...
(2010–2011) is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Steven C. Seeger (1997-1998, N.D. Ill.),
Richard E. Myers II Richard Ernest Myers II (born 1967) is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He is a former law professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Ear ...
(1998-1999, E.D.N.C.), and Frank DeArmon Whitney (1988-1989, W.D.N.C.) currently serve as U.S. District Judges. Adam Conrad (2005–2006) serves on the North Carolina Business Court. David E. Jones (1991–1992) formerly served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Other Sentelle clerks have gone on to serve as executive branch officials.
Kristen Silverberg Kristen Silverberg (born 1970) was the United States Ambassador to the European Union from July 2008 until January 2009. She was nominated by President George W. Bush on April 24, 2008 and confirmed by the United States Senate on June 27, 2008. ...
(1998–1999) served as the ambassador to the E.U.
Maureen Ohlhausen Maureen Kraemer Ohlhausen (born April 5, 1962) is an American lawyer who is a former Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, a position she held from April 4, 2012, to September 25, 2018. On January 26, 2017, President Donald Trump desig ...
(1994–1995) served as a member and acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission.


Notable cases

While on the D.C. Circuit, Sentelle was part of two three-judge panels that overturned the convictions of Oliver North and John Poindexter. On the North panel, Sentelle and Judge
Laurence Silberman Laurence Hirsch Silberman (October 12, 1935 – October 2, 2022) was an American lawyer, diplomat, jurist, and government official who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia C ...
voted to overturn North's conviction while Chief Judge Patricia Wald dissented. On the Poindexter panel, Sentelle and Judge
Douglas H. Ginsburg Douglas Howard Ginsburg (born May 25, 1946) is an American jurist and academic who serves as a senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was appointed to that court in October 1986 by President Ro ...
voted to overturn the conviction with Judge
Abner J. Mikva Abner Joseph Mikva (January 21, 1926 – July 4, 2016) was an American politician, federal judge, lawyer and law professor. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Mikva served in the United States House of Representatives representing Illinois ...
dissenting. In Cobell v. Norton, 240 F.3d 1081 (D.C. Cir. 2001), Sentelle (joined by Judges Stephen Williams and Judith Rogers) largely affirmed the District Court's finding that the federal government had mismanaged Indian trust funds. The government ultimately settled the case—one of the largest class actions in history—in 2009. In 2007, in '' Boumediene v. Bush'', 375 U.S. App. D.C. 48, Sentelle concurred with Judge Arthur Raymond Randolph, relying on '' Johnson v. Eisentrager'' to uphold the Military Commissions Act of 2006's suspension of habeas corpus for
enemy combatants Enemy combatant is a person who, either lawfully or unlawfully, engages in hostilities for the other side in an armed conflict. Usually enemy combatants are members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. In the case ...
as constitutional. Judge
Rogers Rogers may refer to: Places Canada *Rogers Pass (British Columbia) *Rogers Island (Nunavut) United States * Rogers, Arkansas, a city * Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement * Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated community ...
dissented. That decision was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2004, New York Times reporter Judith Miller refused to comply with a grand jury subpoena seeking documents and testimony about her conversations with a confidential source. Because of her noncompliance, the District Court held Miller in civil contempt and she spent 85 days in jail. In In re Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, 397 F.3d 964 (D.C. Cir. 2005), Sentelle (joined by Judges Karen Henderson and
David Tatel David S. Tatel (born March 16, 1942) is an American lawyer who serves as a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Education and career Tatel received his Bachelor of Arts ...
) affirmed Miller's conviction, though the three judges disagreed about the existence and scope of a reporter's common-law privilege to resist grand jury subpoenas. In National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, Sentelle (with Judges Henderson and Thomas Griffith) held that President Obama's extensive use of recess appointments violated the Constitution, clarifying the President's limited Article II authority to fill judicial and executive appointments during inter-session recesses. The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed, though a majority of justices declined to adopt Sentelle's precise constitutional rationale.https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/12-1281_mc8p.pdf


Personal

Sentelle served as a delegate to the 1984 Republican National Convention. He previously published several works of crime fiction under the pseudonym Clyde Haywood.


Publications

* Sentelle, David B. (2002). '' Judge Dave and the Rainbow People''. Green Bag Press, Washington D.C.


References


Sources

* * Judge Sentelle's Complete Oral History: https://dcchs.org/sb_pdf/complete-oral-history-sentelle/ * Transcript of Judge Sentelle's D.C. Circuit Portrait Presentation Ceremony: https://dcchs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Judge-Sentelle-Portrait-Transcript.pdf


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sentelle, David B. 1943 births Living people 20th-century American judges Assistant United States Attorneys Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina Judges of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review North Carolina state court judges People from Canton, North Carolina United States court of appeals judges appointed by Ronald Reagan United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty University of North Carolina at Charlotte faculty University of North Carolina School of Law alumni