David B. Sentelle

Born in Canton, North Carolina, the son of a mill worker, Sentelle grew up in Candler, North Carolina. Sentelle graduated from Enka High School in 1961, where he was a classmate of Thomas A. Furness III, who is the "Grandfather of Virtual Reality." Sentelle received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1965. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1968.

Following Law School, Sentelle practiced law as an associate attorney with the firm Uzzell & Dumont in Asheville, North Carolina from 1968 to 1970.[1] He was an Assistant United States Attorney in Charlotte, North Carolina from 1970 to 1974.

Sentelle served as Carolina District Court Judge in Mecklenburg Country from 1974 to 1977.[2] He stepped down from the bench in 1977 to become a partner with the law firm of Tucker, Hicks, Sentelle, Moon & Hodge in Charlotte until his appointment to Federal Court in 1985.[3]

In addition to his practice and judicial service, Sentelle has held several teaching positions. He was a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1977. He was a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1991 to 1992.[2] In 1993, he taught as an adjunct professor at Florida State University College of Law. [4] Centelle was an Adjunct Professor at the George Mason School of Law from 2002-2009.[4]

As a result of support from Senator Jesse Helms, Sentelle was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on July 25, 1985, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina vacated by Judge Woodrow W. Jones. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 16, 1985, and received commission on October 17, 1985. His service was terminated on October 19, 1987, due to elevation to the District of Columbia Circuit.[2]

With Senator Helms's continued support, Sentelle was nominated by President Reagan on February 2, 1987, to a seat vacated by Judge Antonin Scalia. He was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 87 to 0 on September 9, 1987, and received commission on September 11, 1987. He served as Chief Judge from 2008 to 2013.[2] He took senior status on February 12, 2013.[5]

Sentelle was appointed to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review on May 19, 2018.[6]

While on the D.C. Circuit, Sentelle was part of two three-judge panels that overturned the convictions of Oliver North and John Poindexter. On the North panel, Sentelle and Judge Laurence Silberman voted to overturn North's conviction while Chief Judge Patricia Wald dissented.[7] On the Poindexter panel, Sentelle and Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg voted to overturn the conviction with Judge Abner J. Mikva dissenting. [8]

He also served on the Special Division of the Court which appointed Kenneth Starr under the renewed Independent Counsel statute, replacing Robert B. Fiske, who had been appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate the allegations against President Bill Clinton with respect to the Whitewater Affair.

In 2007, in Boumediene v. Bush, 375 U.S. App. D.C. 48, Sentelle concurred with Judge Arthur Raymond Randolph, relying on Johnson v. Eisentrager, to uphold the Military Commissions Act of 2006's suspension of habeas corpus for enemy combatants as constitutional. Judge Judith Ann Wilson Rogers dissented. That decision was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Sentelle, David B. (2002). Judge Dave and the Rainbow People. Green Bag Press, Washington D.C. ISBN 0-9677568-3-9

• David Bryan Sentelle at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

• Appearances on C-SPAN