David Charles Nye (born October 10, 1958) is an American lawyer and jurist who is the Chief United States district judge of the

U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. He was a state court judge for

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

's Sixth District Court from 2007 to 2017, and before that spent twenty years in private practice in Idaho.

Early life and education

Nye was born in 1958 in

Lynwood, California Lynwood is a city in Los Angeles County, California. At the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 69,772, down from 69,845 at the 2000 census. Lynwood is located near South Gate and Compton in the central portion of the Los Angeles ...

. He graduated from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(BYU) in 1982 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 year ...

in English literature. He worked for

Swire Swire Group () is a Hong Kong- and London-based British conglomerate. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and mainland China. Within Asia, ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

bottling plant in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, then attended BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School, graduating in 1986 with a Juris Doctor degree.

Career

Nye began his legal career in 1986 in Burley, Idaho as a law clerk to Judge George G. Granata of the state's Fifth District Court. The following year, he joined the law firm of Merrill & Merrill in

Pocatello Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the P ...

as an associate. He became a partner in 1989, specialized in

medical malpractice Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, deviates from standards in their profession, thereby causing injury or death to a patient. The neglige ...

and

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

law, and stayed with the firm until 2007. In 2007, Nye became a judge in the Sixth Judicial District and presided over civil and criminal matters for ten years.

Federal judicial service

Expired nomination under Obama

On the recommendation of

U.S. Senators 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 powe ...

Mike Crapo Michael Dean Crapo ( ; born May 20, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Idaho, a seat he has held since 1999. A member of the Republican Party, Crapo previously served as the U.S. repres ...

and

Jim Risch James Elroy Risch ( ; born May 3, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Idaho since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as lieutenant governor of Idaho under governors Dirk Kem ...

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 ...

nominated Nye on April 5, 2016, to serve as a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho. Nye was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge Edward Lodge, 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 leas ...

on July 3, 2015. 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 ...

held a hearing on his nomination on June 21, 2016, and his nomination was reported out of committee 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 ...

on July 14. The nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the 114th Congress. Shortly after the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

election, Senators Crapo and Risch indicated that if Nye was not confirmed by year's end, they would recommend him to incoming 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 P ...

for renomination in the 115th Congress.

Renomination under Trump

On Thursday, April 27, 2017, Senators Crapo and Risch indicated that President Trump had signed off on renominating Nye for the same post, and his renomination was announced on May 8. Nye was unanimously rated as "well qualified" by 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 aca ...

, as he had been during his prior nomination in 2016. On June 15, his nomination was reported out of committee by a

. On July 10, 2017, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 97–0 vote. On July 12, 2017, his nomination was confirmed by a 100–0 vote. Nye was commissioned the same day. He was sworn in on August 1, 2017 in a private ceremony. He became Chief Judge on January 2, 2019, succeeding B. Lynn Winmill."Chief Judges to step down as the chiefs after a combined 33 years of service", United States District Court for the District of Idaho, December 21, 2018
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References

External links

*
Biography at District of Idaho
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nye, David 1958 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Idaho lawyers Idaho state court judges J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Idaho Latter Day Saints from Idaho People from Lynwood, California United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump