Stephen Roy Reinhardt (born Stephen Roy Shapiro;
March 27, 1931 – March 29, 2018) was a
United States circuit judge
In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
, with chambers in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. He was the last federal appeals court judge in active service to have been appointed by President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
.
In 2020, after Judge Reinhardt's death, a staff attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in Durham, North Carolina testified before the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet that Judge Reinhardt had sexually harassed her while she worked for him as a law clerk; her testimony described her efforts to report the harassment.
Early life, education, and practice
Reinhardt was born Stephen Roy Shapiro into a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in New York City, to lawyer Samuel Shapiro, and Silvia Handelsman.
Reinhardt changed his name after his mother divorced his father and married film director and producer
Gottfried Reinhardt
Gottfried Reinhardt (20 March 1913 – 19 July 1994) was an Austrian-born American film director and producer.
Biography
Reinhardt was born in Berlin, the son of the Austrian theater director Max Reinhardt (until 1904: Max Goldmann), manage ...
.
Reinhardt graduated from
University High School in Los Angeles. He enrolled in
Pomona College
Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...
and graduated three years later with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree in Government in 1951. In 1954, he received a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
.
After law school, Reinhardt worked at the legal counsel's office for the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
as a lieutenant in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Two years later, he clerked for United States District Judge
Luther Youngdahl
Luther Wallace Youngdahl (May 29, 1896 – June 21, 1978) was an American judge and politician who served as the 27th governor of Minnesota and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Edu ...
, a former governor of
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, of the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...
. He then entered private practice, working for the law firm
O'Melveny & Myers
O'Melveny & Myers LLP is an American multinational law firm founded in Los Angeles, California in 1885. The firm employs approximately 740 lawyers and has offices in California, Washington, D.C., New York City, Beijing, Brussels, Hong Kong, Lon ...
from 1958 to 1959 practicing
entertainment law
Entertainment law, also referred to as media law, is legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services in entertainment law overlap with intellectual property law. Intellectual property has many moving parts that include tradema ...
. After two years at O'Melveny, he began working at a small firm in Los Angeles that became Fogel, Julber, Reinhardt, Rothschild & Feldman, specializing in
labor law
Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...
.
Reinhardt served as a member of the
United States Commission on Civil Rights
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility fo ...
, California Advisory Committee from 1962 to 1974 and was its vice chairman from 1969 to 1974. He also served as member of the
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
and as an unpaid advisor to former Los Angeles mayor
Tom Bradley and
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
governor
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
. In 1975, he was appointed to the Los Angeles Police Commission, which he chaired from 1978 until his judicial confirmation in 1980.
Federal judicial service
Reinhardt was nominated by President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
on November 30, 1979, to the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
, to a new seat authorized by 92 Stat. 1629. He was 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 pow ...
on September 11, 1980, and received his commission on September 11, 1980. His service terminated on March 29, 2018, due to his death.
Other service
Reinhardt continued his public service as Secretary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Amateur Athletic Foundation.
Reinhardt administered the oath of office to former Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...
on July 1, 2005.
Personal life
Reinhardt's mother divorced his father and married movie director
Gottfried Reinhardt
Gottfried Reinhardt (20 March 1913 – 19 July 1994) was an Austrian-born American film director and producer.
Biography
Reinhardt was born in Berlin, the son of the Austrian theater director Max Reinhardt (until 1904: Max Goldmann), manage ...
, the son of director
Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he i ...
. Stephen Reinhardt's first wife was Mary Wainwright, whom he married in 1956 and with whom he had three children. They divorced after nearly 25 years. His second wife was Maureen Kindel, who was president of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works in the 1980s. Later Reinhardt married
Ramona Ripston, who was Executive Director of the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
of
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
until her February 2011 retirement. They remained married until his death.
Death
Reinhardt died in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on March 29, 2018, from a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
.
Chief Judge
Sidney Runyan Thomas
Sidney Runyan Thomas (born August 14, 1953) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a 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. H ...
issued the following statement upon learning of Reinhardt's death:
All of us here at the Ninth Circuit are shocked and deeply saddened by Judge Reinhardt’s death. We have lost a great friend and colleague. As a judge, he was deeply principled, fiercely passionate about the law and fearless in his decisions. He will be remembered as one of the giants of the federal bench. He had a great life that ended much too soon.
Posthumous judicial opinion controversy
Reinhardt was involved in a controversy after he died. Eleven judges of the Ninth Circuit heard oral argument in the case of ''Yovino v. Rizo''. Reinhardt wrote an opinion on behalf of himself and five other judges, which was issued by the court 11 days after he died. A footnote at the beginning of the opinion stated: “Prior to his death, Judge Reinhardt fully participated in this case and authored this opinion. The majority opinion and all concurrences were final, and voting was completed by the en banc court prior to his death.”
The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which vacated Reinhardt's opinion. The Supreme Court stated:
As for judicial practice, we are not aware of any rule or decision of the Ninth Circuit that renders judges’ votes and opinions immutable at some point in time prior to their public release. And it is generally understood that a judge may change his or her position up to the very moment when a decision is released. . . . Because Judge Reinhardt was no longer a judge at the time when the en banc decision in this case was filed, the Ninth Circuit erred in counting him as a member of the majority. That practice effectively allowed a deceased judge to exercise the judicial power of the United States after his death. But federal judges are appointed for life, not for eternity.
The Supreme Court remanded the case for further proceedings.
Judicial philosophy
Reinhardt was known as one of the most liberal judges on the courts of appeals. His decisions were "reversed more often than most" judges before the Supreme Court. In 2003, Reinhardt admitted that he "was a liberal from a very young age." "I think I was born that way", he said.
[Blum, Bill (2003-02]
The Last Liberal
''California Lawyer'' However, he did not believe that a Supreme Court reversal meant that his opinion was wrong or that he did not follow the law. "The Supreme Court changes the law regularly. And this Supreme Court - which is the most activist Court there has ever been - is constantly changing the law. So if you really are faithful to the law, you're likely to get reversed because it
he Court
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
has cut back on rights."
When pressed on the issue of his high reversal rate, he once stated "They can't catch 'em all".
His reversal rate did not affect his status as a
feeder judge In the United States, feeder judges are prominent judges in the American federal judiciary whose law clerks are frequently selected to become law clerks for the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Feeder judges are able to place comparatively many ...
—between 2009 and 2013, he placed six of his clerks on the Supreme Court, tied for the tenth highest number during the same time period.
One of Reinhardt's former clerks,
Cornell
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
law professor
Michael Dorf, said that when Reinhardt "believes himself clearly bound by Supreme Court precedent with which he disagrees, he states his disagreement but follows the precedent." Dorf accounts for Reinhardt's reversal rate by stating that "Reinhardt resolves cases under existing precedent as he believes those precedents should be read, without regard to whether five or more Justices of the Supreme Court are likely to reverse him."
Reinhardt rejected
originalism
In the context of United States law, originalism is a theory of constitutional interpretation that asserts that all statements in the Constitution must be interpreted based on the original understanding "at the time it was adopted". This conc ...
, and believed the Constitution could bring justice to everyone, especially the underprivileged. Reinhardt was also a cynic and a pragmatist as well as a liberal. In May 2017, in the legal opinion of Magana Ortiz v. Sessions, Reinhardt admitted he could not stop a deportation, and said he had to allow it as a judge, although he would not as a citizen. Reinhardt also criticized the Trump administration in the opinion.
Examples of opinions that reversed Reinhardt's opinions are:
''
Garland v. Dai'', No. 19-1155, 2021 WL 2194837 (2021)
* ''
Gonzales v. Carhart
''Gonzales v. Carhart'', 550 U.S. 124 (2007), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. The case reached the high court after U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, appealed a rul ...
'', 127 S.Ct. 1610 (2007)
* ''
Garcetti v. Ceballos
''Garcetti v. Ceballos'', 547 U.S. 410 (2006), is a U.S. Supreme Court decision involving First Amendment free speech protections for government employees. The plaintiff in the case was a district attorney who claimed that he had been passed up fo ...
'', 126 S.Ct. 1951 (2006)
* ''
Washington v. Glucksberg'', 521 U.S. 702 (1997)
Notable opinions
The following are some of his more notable judicial opinions:
* ''Cardoza-Fonseca v. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service'', 767 F.2d 1448 (9th Cir. 1985).
::*The INS had conflated two different routes for seeking asylum and had improperly rejected an application made under one route based on the requirements of the second. This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court.
* ''Coleman v. Risley'', 839 F.2d 434 (9th Cir. 1988).
::*Standard to obtain asylum.
* ''Yniguez v. Arizonans for Official English'', 939 F.2d 727 (9th Cir. 1991), adopted en banc, 69 F.3d 920 (9th Cir 1995).
::*The English-only provision in the Arizona constitution was overly broad and violated the First Amendment right of free speech. This decision was vacated by the Supreme Court as moot because plaintiff Yniguez had voluntarily left the employment of the State of Arizona the day after the appeal was filed. 520 US 43. Justice Ginsburg's unanimous opinion for the Court also took a swipe at the Ninth Circuit for failing to certify this question to the state courts, holding that "A more cautious approach was in order. In addition, footnote 11 of Justice Ginsburg's opinion chided the Ninth Circuit for failing to recognize that state courts are not bound by decisions of federal courts (except the Supreme Court), even on questions of federal law.
* ''Sanders v. Ratelle'', 21 F.3d 1446 (9th Cir. 1994).
:*The Sixth Amendment right to counsel can be infringed if counsel has a conflict of interest, even if the defendant has waived the conflict.
* ''Compassion in Dying v. Washington'', 79 F.3d 790 (9th Cir. 1996) (en banc).
::*A statute prohibiting doctors from prescribing life-ending medication for the terminally ill violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit in ''
Washington v. Glucksberg'' (1997).
* ''Ma v. Reno'', 208 F.3d 815 (9th Cir. 2000).
::*An alien cannot be held indefinitely in detention in the absence of a repatriation agreement with his or her country of origin.
* ''
Silveira v. Lockyer
''Silveira v. Lockyer,'' 312 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 2002), is a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution did not guarantee individuals the right to bear arm ...
'', 312 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 2002).
::*The right to bear arms is a collective right, not an individual right. This ruling was overruled by the Supreme Court in ''
D.C. v. Heller
''District of Columbia v. Heller'', 554 U.S. 570 (2008), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's r ...
'' (2008).
* ''
United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins
''United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins'' (520 F.3d 976) is a 2008 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concerning civil forfeiture in admiralty law. Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for a three-j ...
'' (9th Cir. 2008)
::*Forfeiture of the shark fins was denied on the grounds that, although according to the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000, any shark fins found aboard a fishing vessel without a corresponding shark carcass may be deemed the product of illegal harvesting, the vessel from which the fins were seized was not in fact a fishing vessel within the meaning of the act. The fins had been harvested by, and bought from, other vessels.
* ''In The Matter of Brad Levenson'' (2009)
::*In his role as Chair of the Ninth Circuit’s Standing Committee on Federal Public Defenders, Reinhardt ruled that the application of the
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marr ...
in denying health insurance benefits to Levenson's same-sex spouse violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
* ''
Perry v. Brown
''Hollingsworth v. Perry'' was a series of United States federal court cases that re-legalized same-sex marriage in the state of California. The case began in 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which found that ...
'' (2012)
::*Writing for the majority, Reinhardt held that
Proposition 8
Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in cou ...
violated the
Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...
because California had no rational basis for withdrawing the right to marry from homosexual men and women.
* ''Cooper v. Brown'', 565 F.3d 581 (2009). Reinhardt wrote a dissenting opinion, where he suggested the Ninth Circuit disclose the names of judges who vote for and against en banc rehearing of cases.
* ''Hernandez v. Chappell'' (December 29, 2017): Reinhardt ruled that Hernandez was mentally ill and therefore could not be executed.
Awards
Reinhardt received the following awards:
* 1987 Appellate Judge of the Year by the California Trial Lawyers Association
* 1993 St. Thomas More Medallion Award by Loyola Law School
* 1993 Donald Wright Award by the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
* 1995 Appellate Justice of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
* 1998 Champion of Justice: Legal Award by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
* 2004 Award for Judicial Excellence by the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
* 2004 Meritorious Service Award by the University of Oregon Law School
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinhardt, Stephen
1931 births
2018 deaths
Lawyers from Los Angeles
Lawyers from New York City
Military personnel from New York City
California Democrats
20th-century American judges
Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
20th-century American Jews
United States court of appeals judges appointed by Jimmy Carter
University High School (Los Angeles) alumni
Pomona College alumni
Yale Law School alumni
People associated with O'Melveny & Myers
21st-century American Jews