Marilyn L. Huff (born March 6, 1951) is a senior United States district judge 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 ...

Education and career

Huff was born in Ann Arbor,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. She 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 Calvin College in 1972 and a Juris Doctor from the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...

in 1976. She was in private practice of law in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, from 1976 to 1991.

Federal judicial service

Huff was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on March 12, 1991, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge William Benner Enright. She 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 May 9, 1991, and received her commission on May 14, 1991. She served as Chief Judge from 1998 to 2005. She 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 September 30, 2016. As a judge, she has gained a reputation in the field of intellectual property, speaking around the country on the topic.

Notable cases

''Lucent Technologies v. Microsoft''

This case involved one of the largest awards for a computer code patent infringement in history. The original award was for $368 million. Microsoft made a motion for The final amount awarded with interest was $512 million. The case involved a patent claim involving selecting a date from a pop-up calendar and the use of a stylus.

''Cooper v. Brown''

After a panel of the Ninth Circuit affirmed Judge Huff's ruling in a death penalty case, the court declined to hear the case en banc over strenuous dissents. In a concurrence, Judge

Pamela Ann Rymer Pamela Ann Rymer (January 6, 1941 - September 21, 2011) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District o ...

praised Judge Huff's "thoughtful 159-page ruling" and "meticulous detail." Eleven judges vigorously dissented. In unusually strong language, the mild mannered and respected jurist Judge William Fletcher wrote: "There is no way to say this politely. The district court failed to provide Cooper a fair hearing."

''Sergeant Gary A. Stein v. United States of America''

This case involved a Marine seeking a temporary restraining order against the Marine Corps. Stein stated that the Marine Corps did not follow their own procedures and the timing and content of the administrative separation proceedings were a deliberate attempt to "railroad" Stein by denying him time to prepare a defense or the ability to seek legal counsel. The majority of the complaint was ignored and the motion was denied on the basis that the panel's decision was not a "sure thing" and that Stein was unable to demonstrate irreparable harm.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huff, Marilyn L. 1951 births Living people Lawyers from Ann Arbor, Michigan Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush 20th-century American judges University of Michigan Law School alumni 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges