James Cameron Mahan (born December 16, 1943) is a senior

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Nevada 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 f ...

Education and career

Born in

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

, Texas, Mahan received 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 ...

degree from

Morris Harvey College The University of Charleston (UC) is a private non-profit university with its main campus in Charleston, West Virginia. The university also has a location in Beckley, West Virginia, known as UC-Beckley. History The school was founded in 1888 ...

in 1965 and a Juris Doctor from

Vanderbilt University Law School Vanderbilt University Law School (also known as Vanderbilt Law School or VLS) is a graduate school of Vanderbilt University. Established in 1874, it is one of the oldest law schools in the southern United States. Vanderbilt Law School has consiste ...

in 1973. He was in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1966 to 1969. He was in the United States Navy Reserve from 1970 to 1972. He was in private practice in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

from 1973 to 1999. He was a District Judge in the Eighth Judicial District Court for the State of Nevada (which covers Clark County, Nevada) from 1999 to 2002.

District Court Service

Mahan is a United States District Judge of the

. Mahan was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on September 10, 2001, to a new seat created by 114 Stat. 2762. 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 January 25, 2002, and received his commission on January 30, 2002. He 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 June 29, 2018. In 2006, Mahan was investigated by the

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals 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 ...

after it became known that he had awarded a total of nearly $5 million in court awards and fees to individuals with whom he had personal and business relationships. The Ninth Circuit's special committee unanimously recommended that the complaint be dismissed, finding no misconduct.

Notable cases

Nevada same-sex marriage ban

On October 9, 2014, Judge Mahan issued an injunction barring enforcement of Nevada's ban on same-sex marriage. A different judge of the Nevada District Court upheld Nevada's same-sex marriage ban in 2012, but was reversed by the

and remanded. The judge recused himself and the case was assigned to Mahan, who promptly issued the injunction.

Attempted assassination of Donald Trump

On June 18, 2016, an attempt was made to assassinate the presumptive

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee for the

2016 United States presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

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 ...

, in the final weeks of the Republican presidential primaries by Michael Steven Sandford, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

national. Sandford was

arraigned Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdi ...

on July 7, 2016, pleading not guilty. His trial was set for August 22, 2016. On September 13, 2016, Sandford pled guilty in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada to charges of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting an official function. Before his trial, Sandford had signed a plea agreement that reduced his maximum sentence from 20 years to 27 months. A third charge of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm was dropped. Sandford apologized for his actions, saying "I know saying sorry is not enough. I do feel awful about what I did. I wish there was some way to make things better. I have cost taxpayers so much money. I feel terrible." Sandford subsequently claimed to have no memory of the assassination attempt. Sandford was sentenced on December 13, 2016, receiving 12 months and 1 day's imprisonment. He will be eligible for release in April 2017, at which time he will be deported. The sentencing judge, James C. Mahan, acknowledged Sandford's mental health issues, stating "I don't think you harbored malice in your heart...You have a medical problem...I don't see you as evil or a sociopath". In January 2017, Sandford's mother expressed concerns that President Trump would seek to extend Sandford's sentence, and claimed that Sandford was being harassed by "Trump-supporting guards and inmates". Sandford was released from prison and deported on May 5, 2017 and has been permanently removed from the U.S.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahan, James C. 1943 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Nevada state court judges Nevada lawyers United States Navy sailors Lawyers from El Paso, Texas Morris Harvey College alumni Vanderbilt University Law School alumni United States Navy reservists