George B. Daniels

George Benjamin Daniels^[1] (born 1953) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Background and education

Daniels was born in Allendale, South Carolina. He graduated from Suffield Academy in 1971, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1975. He received a Juris Doctor from the UC Berkeley School of Law in 1978.^[2]

Professional career

Daniels was as a criminal defense attorney for the Legal Aid Society of New York from 1978-1980. Afterwards, he clerked for Chief Justice Rose Bird of the Supreme Court of California from 1980-1981. From 1981 to 1983, he was in private practice with the New York law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Daniels served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York from 1983 to 1989. He was an Adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School from 1988 to 1991.^[2]

Judicial career

In 1989, Daniels was appointed a Judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York by Mayor Ed Koch. He stepped down from the bench in 1990 to serve as Counsel to Mayor David Dinkins, but was re-appointed a Judge of the Criminal Court by Dinkins in 1993. He was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in 1995.

Daniels was nominated by President Bill Clinton on August 5, 1999 to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, vacated by Robert P. Patterson, Jr.. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 24, 2000 by a vote of 98-0, and he received his commission on March 9, 2000.^[2]

Notable cases

On March 9, 2016, Daniels issued a default judgment against Iran, ordering it to pay $7.5 billion in damages to families of victims who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks, as well as $3 billion to insurers such as Chubb Limited that paid out claims resulting from the event. The plaintiffs in the case argued that Iran "provided material support" and training to al Qaeda members, including 9/11 hijackers, through Hezbollah prior to the attacks and was therefore liable. Earlier in 2015, Daniels had ruled that Saudi Arabia had sovereign immunity and dismissed all charges against the kingdom for its alleged role in the attacks.^[3]

On December 21, 2017, Daniels granted the Government's motion to dismiss CREW v. Trump. The lawsuit had challenged President of the United States Donald J. Trump's business activities under the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the United States Constitution.

References

External links

• http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/judge/Daniels Court room contact information
• FJC Bio