Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Robert Leon Wilkins
This is the page about the federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. If you are looking for information on the circuit court judge for the Missouri 23rd Circuit Court, please see Robert Wilkins (Missouri). If you are looking for information on the district court judge for the North Carolina 19B District, please see Robert M. Wilkins
2014 - Present
11
Robert Leon Wilkins is a federal judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In June 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Robert Wilkins for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[1] Wilkins was confirmed by the Senate on January 13, 2014, on a vote of 55-43.[2] He was formally sworn in on September 12, 2014.[3]
Prior to joining the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Wilkins was a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He was nominated to this position on May 20, 2010, and confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 2010.[4]
Education
Wilkins earned his B.S. in 1986 from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and his J.D. in 1989 from Harvard Law School.[5]
Professional career
- 2008-2010 Partner, Venable LLP
- 1996-2008: Attorney, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
- 2007-2008: Vice chair
- 2002-2007: Trustee
- 1996-2000: Chief of special litigation
- 1989-1990: Law clerk for Judge Earl Gilliam of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California[5]
Judicial Career
Possible 2016 SCOTUS nominee
Prior to President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland, Wilkins was mentioned as a possible nominee to replace former United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on February 13, 2016.[6]
District of Columbia Circuit
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Robert Leon Wilkins |
| Court: District of Columbia Circuit |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 223 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: June 4, 2013
|
| ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
|
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: September 11, 2013
|
| QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: October 31, 2013
|
| Confirmed: January 13, 2014
|
| Vote: 55-43
|
On June 4, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Wilkins to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to fill the vacancy left by David Sentelle upon his retirement.[7] Obama commented on the nomination, stating,
| “ | So these three individuals are highly qualified to serve on the D.C. Circuit. They have broad bipartisan support from across the legal community. The nonpartisan American Bar Association have given them -- each of them -- its highest rating. These are no slouches. These are no hacks. There are incredibly accomplished lawyers by all accounts. And there are members of Congress here today who are ready to move forward with these nominations, including the Chairman, Patrick Leahy. So there’s no reason -- aside from politics -- for Republicans to block these individuals from getting an up or down vote.[8][9] | ” |
Wilkins was rated Unanimously Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. His Committee Questionaire can be found here.[10]
On October 31, 2013, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8, along party lines, to advance Wilkins' nomination to the full Senate. Opponents of the nomination in the committee did not address Wilkins or his qualifications but instead focused on the low caseload of the District of Columbia Circuit. [11]
On November 18, 2013, the Senate filibustered Wilkins' confirmation. The 53-38 cloture vote was not enough to end debate, which effectively blocked the nomination. This was the third such filibuster of nominees to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; the other two were Patricia Ann Millett and Cornelia T. L. Pillard. These filibusters spurred Democrats in the Senate to change the filibuster rules to only require a simple majority instead of the 60% majority to close debate on a candidate.[12][13]
Wilkins was the only nominee who was held over by the Senate when nominations were returned on January 3, 2014. Being held over means that Wilkins did not have to start the nomination process over again.[14]
On January 13, 2014, the United States Senate confirmed Wilkins on vote of 55-43.[2]
Reaction to confirmation
| “ | I am pleased that the Senate has confirmed Judge Robert Wilkins to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Wilkins spent a decade as a public defender, providing legal representation to individuals who could not afford an attorney, as well as eight years in private practice.
His accomplishments outside the courtroom include helping to establish the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. In 2010, I nominated Judge Wilkins to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and since being confirmed without opposition by the Senate to that position, he has applied the law with the utmost impartiality and integrity. I am confident that he will continue to do so on the D.C. Circuit. Judge Wilkins is the fourth of my nominees to be confirmed to this important court, which now has a full bench to render justice fairly and swiftly. [9] |
” |
| —President Barack Obama, [15] | ||
District of Columbia
| Nomination Tracker | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate: | Robert Leon Wilkins | |
| Court: | District of Columbia | |
| Progress: | Confirmed 126 days after nomination. | |
| Nominated: | May 20, 2010 |
| ABA Rating: | Unanimously Well Qualified |
| Hearing: | July 28, 2010 |
| Hearing Transcript: | Hearing Transcript |
| Reported: | Sept. 23, 2010 |
| Confirmed: | September 23, 2010 |
| Vote: Voice | ||
On May 20, 2010, Wilkins was nominated by President Obama to serve as a district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He was nominated to fill the seat vacated by James Robertson.[16]
The American Bar Association gave Wilkins a unanimous rating ofWell Qualified.[17]
Wilkins' hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee was on July 28, 2010.[17] His hearing transcript can be found here. On September 23, 2010, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to send Wilkins' nomination to the U.S. Senate for a vote.[17]
Wilkins was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 22, 2010.[4][18]
Awards and associations
- President of the National African American Museum & Cultural Complex
- Founding member of the D.C. Access to Justice Commission
- Named one of the 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years by The Legal Times, 2008[19]
- Served on the D.C. Advisory Commission on Sentencing
- Served on the D.C. Truth-In-Sentencing Commission
- Served on the D.C. Juvenile Justice Advisory Group[5]
Noteworthy cases
In re: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (2020)
In re: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations: On June 11, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied an emergency petition filed by the AFL-CIO. The labor union had sought a court order (a writ of mandamus) to compel the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard for Infectious Diseases (ETS) to protect working people from occupational exposure to COVID-19. The AFL-CIO had first petitioned Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia on March 6, 2020, to issue the ETS, but Scalia did not act on the petition, prompting the AFL-CIO to take the matter before the D.C. Circuit. The labor union cited a federal law requiring issuance of an ETS when "employees are exposed to grave danger from exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or from new hazards." The D.C. Circuit refused to compel action, saying that OSHA is "entitled to considerable deference" and the agency had "reasonably determined that an ETS is not necessary at this time." The per curiam decision was made by Judges Karen Henderson, an appointee of George H.W. Bush (R), Robert Leon Wilkins, an appointee of Barack Obama (D), and Neomi Rao, an appointee of Donald J. Trump (R). AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued a statement the day of the decision, saying, "the court’s action today fell woefully short of fulfilling its duty to ensure that the Occupational Safety and Health Act is enforced.”[20][21][22][23]
D.C. Circuit panel orders judge in Flynn investigation to elaborate on refusal to dismiss the case
On May 7, 2020, the Department of Justice filed a motion to drop charges against Michael Flynn in his case involving investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[24] U.S. District Court judge Emmet Sullivan did not dismiss the case and instead issued an order on May 12, 2020, indicating that he would accept amicus curiae briefs regarding the case.[25]
In response to Sullivan's May 7 order, lawyers representing Flynn filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on May 19, 2020. The appeal requested that the appellate court order the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case and reverse Sullivan's order allowing amicus curiae briefs. The appeal also requested that the district court reassign the case to another judge for any future legal proceedings. Flynn's attorney Sidney Powell wrote, "A district court cannot deny the Government’s motion to dismiss because the judge has 'a disagreement with the prosecution’s exercise of charging authority.' Nor should a court second-guess the Government’s 'conclusion that additional prosecution or punishment would not serve the public interest.'"[26]
On May 21, a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit consisting of Wilkins, along with Karen Henderson and Neomi Rao, ordered Sullivan to respond by June 1 to Flynn's challenge to Sullivan's refusal to dismiss the case.[27]
Articles:
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Blog of Legal Times, "Obama demands action in nominating three for D.C. Circuit," June 4, 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Senate.gov, "U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed January 14, 2014
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Wilkins sworn in as US Appeals Court judge," September 12, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Blog of Legal Times, "Senate Confirms Five Judicial Nominees," December 22, 2010
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 White House, "President Obama Names Three to United States District Court," May 20, 2010
- ↑ San Antonio-Express News, "Senior U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia found dead at West Texas ranch," accessed February 13, 2016
- ↑ White House, "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate," June 4, 2013
- ↑ White House, "Remarks by the President on the Nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit," June 4, 2013
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 113th Congress, "Nomination Materials," accessed October 31, 2013
- ↑ The Blog of Legal Times, "Robert Wilkins Nomination for D.C. Circuit Passes Committee," October 31, 2013
- ↑ Washington Post, "Senate Republicans block another Obama court pick," November 18, 2013
- ↑ New York Times, "Republicans Again Reject Obama Pick for Judiciary," November 12, 2013
- ↑ Legal Times, "Judicial Nominees Start Over in Senate," January 7, 2014
- ↑ Green Bay Press Gazette, "Obama remaking federal judiciary," January 14, 2014
- ↑ White House, "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate," May 20, 2010
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 The Library of Congress, "PN1814-111," accessed November 6, 2015
- ↑ The Metropolitan News-Enterprise, "Senate Confirms Mary Murguia to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals," December 23, 2010
- ↑ Legal Times, "The 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years," May 19, 2008
- ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, "In re: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations: Order," June 11, 2020
- ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, "In re: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations: Emergency Petition," May 18, 2020
- ↑ AFL-CIO, "A Petition to Secretary Scalia for an OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard for Infectious Disease," March 6, 2020
- ↑ AFL-CIO, "By Denying a COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard, the D.C. Circuit Court Is Endangering America’s Workers," June 11, 2020
- ↑ United States v. Flynn, "Motion to Dismiss Case," May 7, 2020
- ↑ Politico, "Judge slows down effort to drop Flynn case," May 12, 2020
- ↑ Washington Post, "Flynn attorneys ask court to order judge to dismiss conviction," May 19, 2020
- ↑ Law.com, "In Flynn Case, Emmet Sullivan Will Brief DC Circuit About Power of Trial Judges," May 21, 2020
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 2014-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
United States District Court for the District of Columbia 2010-2014 |
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 • | ||
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominated | |||
 |
This page is part of Ballotpedia:District of Columbia, a project dedicated to articles related to Washington, D.C.. |
