Education and legal training
Berzon graduated with aCareer
Berzon was in private practice inFederal judicial service
On January 27, 1998, Berzon was nominated byNotable cases
Pre-2015
On February 10, 2003, Berzon dissented from denial of en banc after a panel rejected a Washington State Patrol cadet's claim that he was forced to resign due to lack of religious accommodations. In the disability rights case ''Molski v. Evergreen Dynasty Corp.'' (9th Cir. 2008), Berzon warned that the majority's decision could be detrimental to the enforcement of civil rights laws. In a 2009 decision, Berzon wrote that while a San Francisco resolution condemning the Vatican was in line with current Establishment Clause jurisprudence, she was troubled by how close the resolution came to the establishment of an anti-Catholic stance. Also in 2009, Berzon dissented in ''Abebe v. Holder'', an immigration case by a lawful permanent resident seeking protection for deportation. Berzon, joined by several other liberal judges, argued that allowing the deportation of Abebe violates equal protection. On May 21, 2013, Berzon blocked Arizona's 20-week abortion ban, saying it was more restrictive than the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban. In October 2014, Berzon joined an opinion that held same sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada violated the U.S. Constitution. She wrote a concurring opinion concluding that the prohibitions were not only discrimination based upon sexual orientation, but a form of gender discrimination and therefore subject to heightened scrutiny.2016
On April 5, 2016, Berzon wrote a concurrence when the 9th Circuit ruled that DACA dreamers cannot be denied driver's licenses. The majority opinion, which Berzon joined, was written by Harry Pregerson.2017
On July 28, 2017, in ''United States v. Martinez-Lopez,'' Berzon dissented when an ''en banc'' panel allowed multiple convictions for a single offense using multiple drugs. Berzon wrote that a substance must be named, and that multiple convictions for a single offense was a violation of California's multiple convictions code. Berzon was joined by2018
On April 9, 2018, in ''Rizo v. Yovino'', Berzon joined the opinion of2019
On April 1, 2019, Berzon concurred in the denial of ''en banc'' after a panel held that municipal ordinances that criminalize sleeping, sitting, or lying in all public spaces, when no alternative sleeping space is available, violates the 8th Amendment. On May 3, 2019, Berzon joined an opinion ruling for a 14 year old illegal immigrant, saying his deportation would cause him harm. Berzon wrote in a concurrence that the immigrant had shown proof of harm, but she was upset that the court did not mention 5th Amendment rights. Berzon would have ruled that the 5th Amendment guarantees a right of due process for illegal immigrant minors. Richard Paez wrote a similar concurrence also saying that illegal immigrants were entitled to due process under the 5th Amendment, which Berzon and2020
In ''Ceren v. Barr'', decided on March 5, 2020, Berzon dissented, arguing that the Immigration Judge abused their discretion by refusing to allow the defendant's attorney, who was ill, to finish her closing arguments. On September 2, 2020, Berzon ruled that the NSA program that spied on Americans' cell phones is illegal.2021-present
Although Berzon voted to largely bar a lawsuit against big tech companies arguing that they are responsible for a terror attack, she called for the Court to take the case ''en banc'' to reconsider precedent that protects such algorithms from Section 230 liability. On January 3, 2022, Berzon voted to rehear the case en banc, as did Judge Gould (also a member of the panel), but the majority of the Court's active judges voted against rehearing. In ''Lemos v. County of Sonoma'', handed down on July 16, 2021, Berzon wrote a 19-page dissent when the majority barred Gabbi Lemos, from filing an excessive force suit against a police officer. The police officer "threw her to the ground" for allegedly "interfering with their investigation". Berzon dissented from the September 10, 2021, decision ''Brandon Hodges v. Comcast''. Hodges, a former Comcast user, sued Comcast in a class action lawsuit for allegedly collecting data about subscribers' television viewing activity and personal demographic data without their consent. The majority dismissed the lawsuit. In ''United States v. Wilson'' (9th Cir. September 21, 2021), Berzon, writing for a unanimous panel, ruled that the police cannot open someone's email attachments without a warrant. In ''Frahait v. ICE'', decided October 20, 2021, Berzon, in dissent, argued that ICE violated the 5th amendment by its inaction on the medical needs of vulnerable immigrants it had detained. Berzon dissented in the Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit, ''D.D. v. LAUSD'', decided November 19, 2021. The decision was 6-5 on unusual lines; the 5 dissenters were Berzon, 2 other liberals, and 2 textualist conservatives (who wrote their own dissenting opinion). Berzon wrote a 44-page concurring opinion in ''Duncan v. Bonta'', a major 2nd amendment case challenging a law that limits gun magazine capacity to 10 bullets. Berzon's concurrence went through the history of firearms and explained what a judge's role should be. Berzon explained that small sample sizes often create an issue in experiments that judges cite to argue their point, and citing Daniel Kahneman, she explained that "Sample size issues and the drive to draw a single legal conclusion are not the only potential methodological pitfalls for the “text, history, and tradition” test. Cognitive biases ranging from confirmation bias to anchoring bias can cloud a judge’s analysis.2 And very few judges have received formal training on technical elements of historiographical research design, such as the importance of drawing from varied sources and assessing sources to ferret out potential bias imparted by the author." On December 4, 2021, Berzon was one of two judges who declined to halt San Diego Unified School District's requirements that students be vaccinated by December 20. In ''California Chamber of Commerce v. Council for Education and Research on Toxics'', Berzon wrote a strongly worded statement critical of the court's decision to limit access to the courts using the so-called "illegal objective" exception. According to Berzon, the decision "allows a single judge to enjoin potential plaintiffs from filing any sort of lawsuit if the judge predicts that the lawsuits will fail upon a defense grounded in a federal right" and will severely limit enforcement of California's Proposition 65, which aims to reduce toxic chemicals in drinking water. Berzon was joined byPersonal life
Berzon is the mother ofSee also
*References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berzon, Marsha 1945 births Living people 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Lawyers from Cincinnati Radcliffe College alumni United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton UC Berkeley School of Law alumni