Todd Wallace Robinson (born 1967)United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Todd Robinson
/ref> is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

. He previously 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 ...

for the same district from 1997 to 2003 and again from 2005 to 2020.

Education

Robinson earned his

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 ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and 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 ...

, ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', from the

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

."President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees" White House, September 12, 2019

Career

Robinson began his career as a trial attorney in the

United States Department of Justice Criminal Division United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, where he worked from 1993 to 1997. In 1997, he became 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 ...

for the

Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

. In 2004, Robinson served as an Operations Officer with the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. He then returned to the United States Attorney's Office and was Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section in 2007. From 2008 to 2020, he served as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Criminal Division. He left the Office after becoming a judge.

Federal judicial service

On September 12, 2019, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

announced his intent to nominate Robinson to serve as a

of the

. On November 21, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Robinson to the seat on the

vacated by Judge Marilyn L. Huff, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on September 30, 2016. On January 3, 2020, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of 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 February 13, 2020, his renomination was sent to the Senate. On June 17, 2020, a hearing on his nomination was held before 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, a ...

. On July 23, 2020, his nomination was reported out of committee by a

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 ...

. On September 15, 2020, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 83–13 vote. On September 16, 2020, his nomination was confirmed by a 86–10 vote. He received his judicial commission on September 18, 2020.

References

External links

* 1967 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Assistant United States Attorneys California lawyers Georgetown University Law Center alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Lawyers from Jacksonville, Florida People of the Central Intelligence Agency United States Department of Justice lawyers United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump University of California, Berkeley alumni {{US-federal-judge-stub