| David S. Tatel | |
| Office: | Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit |
| Term Start: | May 16, 2022 |
| Term End: | January 16, 2024 |
| Office1: | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit |
| Appointer1: | Bill Clinton |
| Term Start1: | October 7, 1994 |
| Term End1: | May 16, 2022 |
| Predecessor1: | Ruth Bader Ginsburg |
| Successor1: | J. Michelle Childs |
| Birth Name: | David Stephen Tatel |
| Birth Date: | 16 March 1942 |
| Birth Place: | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education: | University of Michigan (BA) University of Chicago (JD) |
David Stephen Tatel (born March 16, 1942) is an American lawyer who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Tatel received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 1963. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1966 with a Juris Doctor.[1]
After graduating from law school, he served as an instructor at the University of Michigan Law School before joining Sidley Austin in Chicago. He served as founding director of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Director of the National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Director of the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare during the Carter Administration.
In 1979, Tatel joined the law firm Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells), where he founded and headed the firm's education practice until his appointment to the D.C. Circuit.[2] While on sabbatical from Hogan & Hartson, Tatel spent a year as a lecturer at Stanford Law School. He also previously served as Acting General Counsel for the Legal Services Corporation.[3]
Tatel was nominated by President Bill Clinton on June 20, 1994, to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated by Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 6, 1994, by a voice vote, and received commission on October 7, 1994. He announced his intent to assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor on February 12, 2021.[4] Tatel assumed senior status on May 16, 2022. He announced his plans to retire from the bench in September 2023 to return to a law firm where he worked before he became a federal judge.[5] [6] He retired from judicial service on January 16, 2024.
Environment
In 1999, Tatel dissented in American Trucking v. United States EPA, a case about the EPA's power to set emission standards under the Clean Air Act. Tatel rejected the majority's invocation of the "nondelegation doctrine," arguing that the agency's actions were permissible.[7] In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court eventually reversed the majority's opinion, liberally adopting the reasoning of Tatel's dissent.[8]
In 2005, Tatel was assigned to Massachusetts v. EPA, a case that centered on whether the Clean Air Act allowed the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. In a dissenting opinion, Tatel sided with the EPA, finding that Congress had clearly given the agency authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.[9] The Supreme Court again agreed with Tatel, vacating the D.C. Circuit's opinion in a 5-4 decision.[10]
In April 2020, Tatel wrote for the unanimous panel when it invalidated as arbitrary and capricious a directive by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt attempting to prohibit scientists who had received EPA research grants from serving on its advisory panels.[11]
Voting Rights
In 2008, Tatel authored the majority opinion in Northwest Austin Mun. Util. Dist. One v. Mukasey, which held that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is constitutional.[12] Less than four years later, Tatel also wrote the majority opinion in Shelby County v. Holder, again upholding the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights. In a landmark voting rights decision, the Supreme Court eventually reversed his opinion by a 5-4 vote.[13]
Privilege
Tatel dissented in two important attorney-client privilege cases. In 1997, he wrote the dissenting opinion in Swidler & Berlin v. United States, explaining that the notes from conversations between Vincent Foster and his attorney were protected by the attorney-client privilege even after Foster’s death. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, later sided with Tatel and ruled to protect the notes.[14] The following year, Tatel concurred in part and dissented in part in In Re: Bruce Lindsey, a case involving whether Special Counsel Ken Starr could seek grand jury testimony about Monica Lewinsky from deputy White House counsel Bruce Lindsey. Tatel argued that presidents should enjoy attorney-client privilege in their communications with White House Counsel.[15]
First Amendment
In 2005, Tatel authored a concurring opinion in In Re: Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, a case about whether the First Amendment allows reporters to refuse to disclose their sources to a grand jury. Tatel agreed with the majority that the First Amendment did not protect Judith Miller in the case, but he wrote separately to argue that federal courts should recognize a "reporter's privilege."[16]
In 2020, Tatel authored the unanimous opinion in Karem v. Trump, which upheld a judge's order restoring a White House press pass to a reporter who got into an argument with one of President Donald Trump's supporters.[17] [18]
Guantanamo Bay
Tatel heard several appeals from prisoners held in the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp. In 2017, Tatel, along with Judges Rogers and Griffith, wrote a per curiam opinion vacating a decision of a military judge against Khalid Sheikh Mohammad because of biased statements made by the judge against the defendant.[19] In 2019, Tatel also wrote a majority opinion vacating decisions against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, finding that the military judge wrongly hid his pursuit of a job with the government while presiding over al-Nashiri's case.[20] Tatel dissented in a 2011 case involving Adnan Farhad Abd Al Latif, Al Latif v. Obama. Tatel would have upheld a district court decision ordering Al Latif's release under Boumediene v. Bush.[21]
Disability
In 2019, Tatel authored the majority opinion in D.L. v. District of Columbia, a class action lawsuit filed by the parents of D.C. children. Tatel found that the District violated the "Child Find" requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by failing to provide adequate special education services to D.C. children.[22] [23]
Other Issues
In June 2017, Tatel found the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act did not prevent the survivors of a Holocaust victim from suing to recover art stolen by Nazi plunderers, over the partial dissent of Senior Judge A. Raymond Randolph.[24]
In October 2019, Tatel filed the majority opinion in Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, finding that the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform had the authority to compel Mazars, via subpoena, to produce documents relating to the personal financial information of President Donald Trump, including several years' worth of income tax returns.[25] That decision was vacated and remanded, 7–2, by the Supreme Court in an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts on July 9, 2020.[26]
Tatel serves as co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Science, Technology, and Law. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society[27] and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He serves on the Trustee Board of the Foundation Fighting Blindness. He chaired the Board of The Spencer Foundation from 1990 to 1997 and the Board of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching from 2005 to 2009.
Tatel and his wife, Edie, have four children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.[28]
Tatel has been blind since the 1970s due to retinitis pigmentosa.[29] His guide dog, Vixen, is a German Shepherd.[30]
In 2006, Tatel received an Alumni Medal from the University of Chicago.[31] He holds honorary degrees from Macalaster College (2004) and Georgetown University (2010).[32] [33] In 2019, the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights granted its Legal Champion Award to Tatel.[34] A year later, he was awarded the 2020 Henry Allen Moe Prize from the American Philosophical Society.[35] Tatel also received the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award in 2023 and Legal Aid DC's Servant of Justice Award in 2024.[36] [37]