Carl J. Nichols Explained

Carl J. Nichols
Image Upright:0.9
Office:Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
Term Start:March 11, 2024
Appointer:John Roberts
Predecessor:Liam O'Grady
Office1:Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Term Start1:June 25, 2019
Appointer1:Donald Trump
Predecessor1:Richard W. Roberts
Birth Date:25 June 1970
Birth Place:Rhinebeck, New York, U.S.[1]
Education:Dartmouth College (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)

Carl John Nichols (born June 25, 1970) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and a judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Biography

Nichols received a Bachelor of Arts in 1992 from Dartmouth College, where he majored in philosophy and graduated with high honors. He spent one year as a paralegal at a law firm before attending the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a member of the University of Chicago Law Review. He graduated in 1996 with a Juris Doctor and Order of the Coif honors.

After law school, Nichols was a law clerk to Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1996 to 1997. He then clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1997 to 1998.[2]

From 1998 to 2005, Nichols was in private practice at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, becoming a partner in 2002. He later joined the United States Department of Justice as a deputy assistant attorney general for the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division, and then as principal deputy associate attorney general. He left the government in 2009 and joined Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, where he worked as a partner until 2019.[3]

Federal judicial service

Nichols was mentioned as a potential judicial nominee in March 2018. On June 7, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Nichols to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[4] On June 18, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Nichols to the seat vacated by Richard W. Roberts, who assumed senior status on March 16, 2016.[5] On August 22, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[6] On October 11, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote.[7]

On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. On January 23, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to renominate Nichols for the same federal judgeship.[8] His nomination was sent to the Senate later that day.[9] On February 7, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[10] On May 21, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 55–42 vote.[11] On May 22, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 55–43 vote.[12] He received his judicial commission on June 25, 2019.

Notable cases

U.S. v. Steve Bannon

Nichols was the judge for the 2022 trial in which Steve Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress.[13] [14]

U.S. v. Miller, no. 21-119 (D.D.C.)

In March 2022, Nichols ruled that Garret Miller, one of the defendants criminally charged in connection with the 2021 U. S. Capitol attack, could not be charged with obstructing Congress’s certification of the 2020 Presidential election without a showing that Miller had tampered with official documents or records as part of the attack.[15] [16] Nichols's ruling is contrary to those of all seven other U.S. District Court judges who had considered the same issue, and may affect up to 275 similar criminal prosecutions.[15] The difference of opinion between Nichols and the other judges may lead to the issue being resolved on appeal, or by petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.[15]

Dominion defamation lawsuits

On August 11, 2021, Nichols denied motions to dismiss lawsuits brought by Dominion Voting Systems alleging that Sidney Powell (1:21-cv-00040 (CJN)), Rudy Giuliani (1:21-cv-00213 (CJN)), and Mike Lindell (1:21-cv-00445 (CJN)) defamed and damaged Dominion by their statements alleging fraud and misconduct in the 2020 presidential election. Those lawsuits therefore were allowed to proceed.[17] [18]

TikTok Inc. v. Trump, no. 20-2658 (D.D.C)

On Sunday, September 27, 2020, Judge Nichols, granting in part the motion of plaintiffs TikTok and ByteDance, issued a preliminary injunction partially enjoining (i.e., temporarily stopping) the Department of Commerce's implementation of President Donald Trump's August 6, 2020, executive order prohibiting certain transactions related to TikTok. The portion of the prohibition that Nichols enjoined would have barred Apple and Google from offering TikTok in their app stores, and would have taken effect just before midnight that night.[19]

On December 7, 2020, Judge Nichols granted a second preliminary injunction requested by TikTok and ByteBance, enjoining the remainder of the Commerce Department's implementation of that executive order.[20] The case (then captioned TikTok v. Biden) was dismissed by joint stipulation of the parties on July 21, 2021, following President Biden's decision to rescind President Trump's August 6, 2020, executive order.[21] [22]

Donald J. Trump v. Committee on Ways and Means, et al, no. 19-2173 (D.D.C.)

On August 1, 2019, Nichols issued a temporary order which barred the State of New York from handing over state tax returns to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means and established a briefing and hearing schedule.[23] The state, through its attorney general and co-defendant Letitia James, promptly asked Nichols to dismiss the lawsuit or transfer it to a federal court in New York, on the ground that it cannot be maintained against them where the defendants neither reside nor act.[24] On November 11, 2019, Nichols dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the court did not have jurisdiction over the New York Attorney General or the commissioner of the New York Department of Taxation and Finance.[25]

Memberships

Nichols has been a member of the Federalist Society; once from 2003 to 2008 and again in 2018.

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Nichols%20SJQ.pdf United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Carl J. Nichols
  2. Web site: Trump Is Expected To Nominate A Seasoned Former Justice Official For A Judgeship After His First Pick Bombed. Zoe. Tillman. March 12, 2018. BuzzFeed. March 13, 2018.
  3. Web site: Carl J. Nichols – WilmerHale. WilmerHale. March 13, 2018.
  4. Web site: President Donald J. Trump Announces Fifteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Fourteenth Wave of United States Attorney Nominees, and Ninth Wave of United States Marshal Nominees. June 7, 2018. June 7, 2018. National Archives. whitehouse.gov.
  5. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/seventeen-nominations-one-withdrawal-sent-senate-today/ "Seventeen Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate Today", White House, June 18, 2018
  6. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/08/22/2018/nominations United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for August 22, 2018
  7. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/10-11-18%20Results%20of%20Executive%20Business%20Meeting1.pdf Results of Executive Business Meeting – October 11, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee
  8. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-intent-nominate-judicial-nominees/ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Judicial Nominees", White House, January 23, 2019
  9. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/nominations-sent-senate-2/ "Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, January 23, 2019
  10. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/02.07.2019%20Results%20of%20Executive%20Business%20Meeting1.pdf Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 7, 2019, Senate Judiciary Committee
  11. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1161/vote_116_1_00121.htm On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Carl J. Nichols to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia)
  12. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=1&vote=00125 On the Nomination (Confirmation Carl J. Nichols, of the District of Columbia, to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia)
  13. Web site: 2021-11-12 . Stephen K. Bannon Indicted for Contempt of Congress . 2022-07-18 . www.justice.gov . en.
  14. Web site: Reilly . Ryan J. . 2022-07-18 . Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress trial begins despite his attempts to delay it . 2022-07-18 . CNBC . en.
  15. News: Hsu . Spencer S. . U.S. judge dismisses lead charge against Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendant . March 8, 2022 . Washington Post . March 8, 2022.
  16. U.S. v. Miller, no. 21-119 (March 7, 2022 D.D.C.), order.
  17. News: Wolfe . Jan . Thomas . David . Trump allies including Giuliani lose bid to dismiss Dominion vote machine lawsuits . 13 August 2021 . Reuters . 12 August 2021 . en.
  18. https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/dominion-1.pdf Order of United States District Court for the District of Columbia (signed by Nichols) reported by Deadline (PDF)
  19. News: Shepardson . David . U.S. judge blocks Trump administration's ban on new TikTok downloads . 28 September 2020 . Reuters . 28 September 2020 . en.
  20. News: Shu . Catherine . Second federal judge rules against Trump administration's TikTok ban . 9 December 2020 . TechCrunch . 7 December 2020.
  21. News: Fung . Brian . TikTok, Biden administration agree to drop litigation over Trump-era app store ban . 13 August 2021 . CNN . 22 July 2021.
  22. Web site: Stipulation of Dismissal – #71 in TIKTOK INC. v. TRUMP (D.D.C., 1:20-cv-02658) . CourtListener . 13 August 2021 . en-us.
  23. Web site: Judge temporarily bars NY from giving Trump's state tax returns to Congress . . August 1, 2019 . August 1, 2019.
  24. News: Polantz . Katelyn . Trump has been clobbered by the courts . 16 October 2019 . CNN . KTVZ . October 13, 2019 . October 16, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191016152109/https://www.ktvz.com/news/politics/trump-has-been-clobbered-by-the-courts/1131792254 . dead .
  25. News: Judge dismisses Trump lawsuit against NY officials, House committee over taxes. Bruggeman. Lucien. November 11, 2019. ABC News. 11 November 2019.