Paul Steven Diamond (born January 2, 1953) is 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 Eastern District of Pennsylvania and a former federal judicial nominee to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He was appointed a federal judge by

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 ...

in 2004.

Education

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Diamond 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 years ...

degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1974 and a

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 ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

in 1977.

Career

Diamond was an assistant district attorney in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

's Office from 1977–1979. In 1980 he served as a law clerk to Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Bruce W. Kauffman, who would later also be appointed as a judge on the Eastern District by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

). Diamond returned to the District Attorney's Office from 1981 to 1983. He worked in private practice in Philadelphia from 1983 to 2004, when he was appointed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

to the Eastern District. Diamond also has worked as an adjunct professor of law at Temple University Beasley School of Law from 1990–1992. From 1993 until 1995, Diamond worked as the treasurer and as the counsel for the failed 1996 presidential campaign of United States Senator Arlen Specter.

District court service

On January 20, 2004, President

nominated Diamond to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vacated by Herbert J. Hutton. Diamond 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 June 16, 2004 by a vote of 97-0, and received his commission on June 22, 2004.

Third Circuit nomination under Bush

On July 2, 2008, the ''Legal Intelligencer'' reported that as part of a package of judicial nominees, President Bush had agreed to withdraw his then nominee to the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * East ...

, Gene E. K. Pratter and replace her with Diamond. On July 24, 2008, President Bush formally nominated Diamond to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in conjunction with Pratter's withdrawal. Since Diamond was nominated after July 1, 2008, the unofficial start date of the Thurmond Rule during a presidential election year, no hearings were scheduled on his nomination, and the nomination was returned to Bush at the end of his term.

Presidential election cases

In 2016, Judge Diamond rejected Jill Stein's request for a recount of Donald Trump's victory in Pennsylvania. During the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

, Judge Diamond heard arguments from the Trump campaign who were seeking to stop Philadelphia's election board from counting remaining ballots. He advised the two parties to reach an agreement and he then dismissed the case without prejudice.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond, Paul Steven 1953 births Living people Columbia College (New York) alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush 21st-century American judges People from Brooklyn Temple University faculty