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Derrick Kahala Watson (born September 9, 1966) is an American lawyer who serves as the Chief United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the District of Hawaii The United States District Court for the District of Hawaii (in case citations, D. Haw.) is the principal trial court of the United States Federal Court System in the state of Hawaii. The court's territorial jurisdiction encompasses the stat ...
. A native of Hawaii, he graduated from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class i ...
before entering private practice in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. He served as a federal prosecutor for some years in California and then Hawaii, rising to become chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii. He was appointed to the federal bench in 2013 by President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and unanimously confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...
in 2013. Watson is the fourth
Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...
federal judge in U.S. history, and the only one currently serving. Watson acted against the
Trump travel ban The Trump travel ban (labeled the "Muslim ban" by critics) denotes a series of executive actions taken by Donald Trump as President of the United States. On January 20, 2021, newly-inaugurated president Joe Biden issued a proclamation revok ...
in 2017.


Early life and education

Derrick Kahala Watson was born in 1966, in
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
,Nomination Questionnaire for Derrick K. Watson
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, ...
.
to a Honolulu police officer and a worker at a local bank.Alexander Burns
From a Placid Judge, a Cutting Rejection of Trump's Travel Ban
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' (March 16, 2017).
He graduated from the
Kamehameha Schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal memb ...
in 1984 and received his Bachelor of Arts, ''cum laude'' from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in 1988.President Obama Nominates Seven to the United States District Courts
White House Office of the Press Secretary The White House Office of the Press Secretary, or the Press Office, is responsible for gathering and disseminating information to three principal groups: the President, the White House staff, and the media. The Office is headed by the White House ...
(November 14, 2012).
Watson was the first in his family to graduate college. Watson received his
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 ...
from
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class i ...
in 1991, and was admitted to practice law in California the same year.
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and Neil M. Gorsuch were members of his graduating class.


Legal career and service in Army Reserves

He began his career as an associate at the law firm of Landels, Ripley & Diamond in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, California, where he worked from 1991 to 1995. He served as 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 the Northern District of California from 1995 to 2000, serving as Deputy Chief of the Civil Division from 1999 to 2000. In 2000, Watson returned to private practice, joining the law firm of Farella Braun + Martel LLP, where he worked on
product liability Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause. Although the word "product" has bro ...
,
toxic tort A toxic tort claim is a specific type of personal injury lawsuit in which the plaintiff claims that exposure to a chemical or dangerous substance caused the plaintiff's injury or disease. Place of exposure People may be exposed to toxic chemic ...
, and environmental cost recovery litigation. Watson became a partner at the firm in 2003. While in private practice, Watson conducted substantial pro bono work on behalf of the San Francisco Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, he also did pro bono work involving
human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
and wage and hour claims. Watson served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Hawaii from 2007 to 2013 and served as Chief of the Civil Division from 2009 to 2013. From 1998 to 2006, Watson served in the
United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020, ...
in the
Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judg ...
, with the rank of captain. He was honorably discharged.


Federal judicial service

On November 14, 2012, President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
nominated Watson to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, to the seat vacated by Judge David Alan Ezra, who assumed
senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at least ...
on June 27, 2012. On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the ''
sine die In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is oppo ...
'' adjournment of the Senate. He was renominated to the same office the next day."President Obama Re-nominates Thirty-Three to Federal Judgeships
White House Office of the Press Secretary (January 3, 2013).
Watson was rated "well qualified" by a substantial majority of the
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acade ...
's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. Watson encountered no opposition in the
Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, ...
, which reported his nomination to the Senate floor on February 14, 2013, by
voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...
. Watson's nomination was confirmed by a 94–0 vote on April 18, 2013. He received his commission on April 23, 2013. Watson is the fourth
Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...
to serve on the federal bench, and the only currently serving Native Hawaiian judge. Watson became chief judge on November 6, 2022.


Travel ban case

On March 15, 2017, Watson granted a temporary restraining order blocking President Trump's revised executive order banning entry of nationals of six majority-Muslim countries into the United States from going into effect. Watson held that the order would violate the
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
's
Establishment Clause In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...
in that "a reasonable, objective observer ... would conclude that the Executive Order was issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion." Watson justified his opinion by contending that because the intent of Trump's executive order disfavored foreign Muslims, it by extension disfavored domestic Muslims thus violating their First Amendment rights as well. On March 29, Watson converted the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction. On June 12, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the majority of the injunction, unanimously determining that Trump had "exceeded the scope of authority delegated to the president" under the
Immigration and Nationality Act The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act may refer to one of several acts including: * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 * Immigration Act of 1990 See also * List of United States immigration legislat ...
. The
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
granted Trump's request to hear the case, setting
arguments An argument is a statement or group of statements called premises intended to determine the degree of truth or acceptability of another statement called conclusion. Arguments can be studied from three main perspectives: the logical, the dialectic ...
for October 2017; in the meantime, the Court partially reinstated Trump's executive order for a travel ban on June 26, 2017; the Court "prohibited the government from enforcing the ban against any 'foreign nationals who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States,' but they allowed the government to enforce it against travelers who lack such a relationship." Initially, the Trump administration excluded grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relations from the exceptions to the travel ban, arguing that they were not "close" relatives. The State of Hawaii filed an emergency motion to clarify the scope of "close familial relationships" under the terms of the injunction and Supreme Court decision narrowing it, asking the district court to rule "that the federal government may not enforce the controversial bans against fiances, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins of people currently living in the United States." On July 6, Watson denied the motion, writing that " is Court will not upset the Supreme Court's careful balancing and equitable judgment" and that the State should seek guidance from the Supreme Court. State Attorney General Doug Chin described Watson's action as "procedural" rather than a decision on the merits. Subsequently, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Watson "had the authority to interpret the Supreme Court's order and block any violation of it" and the issue returned to him. On July 13 Watson issued a ruling expanding the class of exemptions from the travel ban. He ordered that the definition of "close family members" be expanded to include grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins in the United States. Watson also ruled that refugees who have a formal promise of placement from a U.S. resettlement agency are exempt from the ban. The following day,
U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's C ...
Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne Tillerson (born March 23, 1952) is an American engineer and energy executive who served as the 69th U.S. secretary of state from February 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, under President Donald Trump. Prior to joining the Trump administ ...
sent out a
diplomatic cable A diplomatic cable, also known as a diplomatic telegram (DipTel) or embassy cable, is a confidential text-based message exchanged between a diplomatic mission, like an embassy or a consulate, and the foreign ministry of its parent country.Defi ...
to all U.S. diplomatic posts reflecting Watson's ruling; the cable "reversed the State Department's previous, narrow definition of close family and stated that 'grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, and cousins' are eligible for visas." On October 17, 2017, Watson again issued a temporary restraining order preventing a later revision of Trump's travel ban from going into effect. In his decision, Watson prevented the blocking of citizens of
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...
,
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
,
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and sha ...
,
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
, and Chad from traveling to the United States, while leaving intact the restrictions for North Korean citizens and some Venezuelan officials. He argued that the revised ban "suffers from precisely the same maladies as its predecessor". On June 26, 2018, in '' Trump v. Hawaii'' the Supreme Court reversed this decision in a 5–4 decision, ruling that plaintiffs did not have a "likelihood of success on the merits" on either their INA or their Establishment Clause claims. The court vacated the injunction and remanded the case to lower courts for further proceedings.


Personal life

Watson described himself to the ''
Honolulu Star-Advertiser The ''Honolulu Star-Advertiser'' is the largest daily newspaper in Hawaii, formed in 2010 with the merger of ''The Honolulu Advertiser ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ce ...
'' as a political
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...
.


See also

*
List of Asian American jurists Research history Studies led by California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu (2017) and the Center for American Progress (2019) Full report: provided in-depth statistics into the issue. Judicial officers This is a dynamic list of Asian Ameri ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Derrick 1966 births Living people 21st-century American judges American jurists of Asian descent American people of Native Hawaiian descent Assistant United States Attorneys Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii Kamehameha Schools alumni Law in the San Francisco Bay Area Native Hawaiian people People from Honolulu United States Army reservists United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama