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Dabney Friedrich
2017 - Present
7
Dabney Langhorne Friedrich is a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump (R) on June 7, 2017, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 27, 2017, by a vote of 97-3.[1][2] To see a full list of judges appointed by Donald Trump, click here.
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.
Friedrich previously served as assistant U.S. attorney from 1995-2002. She also served as commissioner for the United States Sentencing Commission from 2006-2017.
Judicial nominations and appointments
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump
Friedrich was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump (R) on June 7, 2017. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 27, 2017, by a vote of 97-3.[1] She received commission on December 1, 2017.[3] To read more about the federal nomination process, click here.
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| Nominee Information |
| Name: Dabney Langhorne Friedrich |
| Court: United States District Court for the District of Columbia |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 173 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: June 7, 2017
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| ABA Rating: Substantial Majority Well Qualified, Minority Qualified
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| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: July 25, 2017
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| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: September 14, 2017
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| Confirmed: November 27, 2017
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| Vote: 97-3
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Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Friedrich on November 27, 2017, on a vote of 97-3.[4] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.
| Dabney Friedrich confirmation vote (November 27, 2017) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Yea | Nay | No vote | ||||||
 Democratic |
44 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
 Republican |
52 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
 Independent |
1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 97 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
Friedrich had her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 25, 2017. The committee voted to advance Friedrich's nomination to the full Senate on September 14, 2017.[5]
Nomination
Dabney was nominated to replace Judge Reggie Walton, who assumed senior status in 2015.
The American Bar Association unanimously rated Nalbandian well-qualified for the position.[6] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.
Education
Friedrich earned her bachelor's degree in economics from Trinity University in 1988 and her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1992. She obtained a diploma in legal studies from Oxford University in 1989.[2][7]
Professional career
- 2017-present: Judge, United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- 2006-2017: Commissioner, U.S. Sentencing Commission
- 2003-2006: Associate counsel, The White House
- 2002-2003: Counsel to the chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
- 1995-2002: Assistant U.S. attorney
- 1998-2002: Eastern District of Virginia
- 1995-1998: Southern District of California
- 1994-1995: Private practice, San Diego, Calif.
- 1992-1994: Law clerk, Hon. Thomas F. Hogan, United States District Court for the District of Columbia[2]
Noteworthy cases
Alabama Association of Realtors v. United States Department of Health and Human Services (2021)
On May 5, 2021, Friedrich issued an opinion in Alabama Association of Realtors v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, ruling that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not possess the legal authority to extend the existing nationwide eviction moratorium.[8]
“The pandemic has triggered difficult policy decisions that have had enormous real-world consequences. The nationwide eviction moratorium is one such decision. It is the role of the political branches, and not the courts, to assess the merits of policy measures designed to combat the spread of disease, even during a global pandemic. The question for the Court is a narrow one: Does the Public Health Service Act grant the CDC the legal authority to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium? It does not,” Friedrich wrote in her opinion.[8]
The eviction moratorium ordered by the CDC took effect on September 4, 2020, and was initially set to expire on December 31, 2020. In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress extended the CDC’s order until January 13, 2021. The CDC extended the moratorium again through March 31, 2021. The CDC’s extension was set to expire on June 30, 2021.[9]
Immediately following Friedrich's ruling, the U.S. Justice Department appealed Friedrich's ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On May 14, Friedrich agreed to a temporary stay on her earlier ruling, writing in her opinion that DHHS made a “sufficiently strong showing” that pausing the eviction moratorium would be detrimental to public health.[10]
On June 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled to leave Friedrich's stay in place.[11] President Joe Biden (D) announced on June 24 that the moratorium would be extended by one month and would expire on July 31, 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 on June 29 to leave the moratorium in place until its expiration on July 31.[12]
About the court
| District of Columbia |
|---|
| District of Columbia Circuit |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 15 |
| Judges: 15 |
| Vacancies: 0 |
| Judges |
| Chief: James E. Boasberg |
| Active judges: Amir Ali, Loren AliKhan, James E. Boasberg, Tanya S. Chutkan, Jia Cobb, Rudolph Contreras, Christopher Reid Cooper, Dabney Friedrich, Timothy J. Kelly, Trevor McFadden, Amit Priyavadan Mehta, Randolph D. Moss, Carl Nichols, Ana C. Reyes, Sparkle Sooknanan Senior judges: |
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is one of 94 United States district courts. Cases dealing with the laws of the District of Columbia are heard by this court only under the same circumstances that would cause a case under state law to come before a federal court. Appeals from this court are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The court sits in the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse located on Constitution Avenue NW. The District has no local district attorney or equivalent, and so prosecutorial matters fall under the jurisdiction of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The District Court for the District of Columbia has original jurisdiction over cases filed in the District of Columbia. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. The D.C. District Court hears federal cases within the District of Columbia. Its appellate court is the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
To read opinions published by this court, click here.
The federal nomination process
Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:
- The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
- The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.
- As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.
- After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.
- If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
- If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.
- The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
- If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
- If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.
See also
- United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
- Friedrich's biography from the White House archives
- United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The White House, "President Donald J. Trump announces judicial candidate nominations," June 7, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Federal Judicial Center, "Friedrich, Dabney Langhorne," accessed September 25, 2018
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 587 — Dabney Langhorne Friedrich — The Judiciary," accessed November 27, 2017
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 587 — Dabney Langhorne Friedrich — The Judiciary," accessed November 27, 2017
- ↑ Congress.gov "PN587 -Dabney Friedrich-The Judiciary," accessed April 20, 2020.
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III and Article IV judicial nominees," accessed April 15, 2020
- ↑ White House Archives, "Dabney Friedrich," accessed May 8, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Axios, "Federal judge overturns CDC's eviction moratorium," May 5, 2021
- ↑ [https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN11516#:
- text=The%20CDC%20eviction%20moratorium%20took,moratorium%20until%20June%2030%2C%202021 Congressional Research Service, "Federal eviction moratoriums in response to the COVID-19 pandemic," accessed May 5, 2021]
- ↑ Spectrum Local News, "Judge agrees to temporarily keep eviction moratorium in place," May 14, 2021
- ↑ SCOTUS Blog, "Divided court leaves eviction ban in place," June 29, 2021
- ↑ AP News, "Supreme Court leaves CDC eviction moratorium in place," June 29, 2021
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
United States District Court for the District of Columbia 2017-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Active judges |
Chief Judge: James E. BoasbergChief Judge: Rudolph Contreras • Christopher Reid Cooper • Tanya S. Chutkan • Randolph D. Moss • Amit Priyavadan Mehta • Dabney Friedrich • Timothy J. Kelly (District of Columbia) • Trevor McFadden • Carl Nichols • Katherine E. Oler • Jia Cobb • Loren AliKhan • Ana Reyes • Judith Pipe • Amir Ali • Sparkle Sooknanan | ||
| Senior judges |
Barbara Rothstein • Royce Lamberth • Thomas Hogan • Emmet Sullivan • Henry Kennedy • Richard Roberts (District of Columbia) • Ellen Huvelle • Rosemary Collyer • Reggie Walton • John Bates • Richard Leon • Paul Friedman • Joyce Green (District of Columbia) • Amy B. Jackson • Beryl A. Howell • | ||
| Magistrate judges | G. Michael Harvey • Zia Faruqui • | ||
| Former Article III judges |
Michael Boudin • Thomas Anderson (District of Columbia) • William Matthew Merrick • David Kellogg Cartter • George Purnell Fisher • Abram Baldwin Olin • Andrew Wylie • David Campbell Humphreys • Arthur MacArthur • Walter Smith Cox • Alexander Burton Hagner • Charles Pinckney James • Edward Franklin Bingham • Martin Montgomery • Andrew Coyle Bradley • Charles Cleaves Cole • Louis Emory McComas • Thomas H. Anderson • Job Barnard • Harry Clabaugh • Ashley Mulgrave Gould • Jeter Connelly Pritchard • Wendell Phillips Stafford • Daniel Thew Wright (District of Columbia) • Thomas Jennings Bailey • James Harry Covington • William Hitz • Walter Irving McCoy • Frederick Lincoln Siddons • Adolph Hoehling • Peyton Gordon • Louis Oberdorfer • Gladys Kessler • James Robertson (District of Columbia) • Ricardo Urbina • Colleen Kollar-Kotelly • Harold Leventhal • Alfred Adams Wheat • Jesse Corcoran Adkins • Joseph Winston Cox • Oscar Raymond Luhring • Fred Dickinson Letts • Daniel William O'Donoghue • James McPherson Proctor (Federal judge) • Bolitha Laws • Thomas Goldsborough • James W. Morris (Federal judge) • Thomas Penfield Jackson • Walter Bastian • Edward Tamm • William Bryant • Howard Corcoran • Edward Curran • Edward Eicher • Thomas Flannery • Oliver Gasch • Gerhard Gesell • June Green • Harold Greene • Stanley Harris • George Hart • Norma Johnson • Alexander Holtzoff • William Jones (District of Columbia) • Richmond Keech • James Kirkland • Burnita Matthews • Joseph McGarraghy • Matthew McGuire • Charles McLaughlin • John Penn • David Pine • John Pratt • George Revercomb • Charles Richey • Aubrey Robinson • Spottswood Robinson • Henry Schweinhaut • John Sirica • John Lewis Smith (United States District Court for the District of Columbia judge) • Stanley Sporkin • Joseph Waddy • Leonard Walsh • Luther Youngdahl • Barrington Daniels Parker, Sr. • Florence Pan • Robert Leon Wilkins • Ketanji Brown Jackson • | ||
| Former Chief judges |
David Kellogg Cartter • Edward Franklin Bingham • Harry Clabaugh • James Harry Covington • Walter Irving McCoy • Royce Lamberth • Thomas Hogan • Alfred Adams Wheat • Fred Dickinson Letts • Bolitha Laws • William Bryant • Edward Curran • Edward Eicher • George Hart • Norma Johnson • William Jones (District of Columbia) • Richmond Keech • Matthew McGuire • John Penn • David Pine • Aubrey Robinson • John Sirica • John Lewis Smith (United States District Court for the District of Columbia judge) • Beryl A. Howell • | ||
