Justin R. Walker

Justin Reed Walker (born 1982) is a United States District Judge of the Western District of Kentucky and a United States Circuit Judge–Designate of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Walker received a "Well Qualified" rating from the American Bar Association (ABA) in connection with his nomination to the D.C. Circuit, after previously receiving a "Not Qualified" rating in connection with his nomination to the district court.

Justin R. Walker
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Designate
Assuming office
September 1, 2020
Appointed byDonald Trump
SucceedingThomas B. Griffith
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
Assumed office
October 25, 2019
Appointed byDonald Trump
Preceded byJoseph H. McKinley Jr.
Personal details
Born
Justin Reed Walker

1982 (age 37–38)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Spouse(s)Anne
Children1
EducationDuke University (BA)
Harvard Law School (JD)

Early life, family, and education

Walker was raised in Louisville and attended St. Xavier High School.[1] He was named after Justin Hayward, the front man for the musical group The Moody Blues.[2] His father is Terry Martin Walker, a real estate appraiser. His mother, Deborah, and father divorced in 1985 after nine years of marriage. Walker says that he was raised by a "a single working mom" who "made indescribable sacrifices to provide me, the first in my family to graduate from college, with the opportunities she didn’t have herself."[2] His step-grandfather, Norton Cohen, was president of the Acme Paper Stock Company and a prominent member of Louisville's Jewish community, while his maternal grandfather, Frank R. Metts, was a millionaire real estate broker who the New York Times characterized as a "power broker in Kentucky."[2]

Walker grew up in a Democratic household, though his mother had supported Republican Mitch McConnell when Walker was 8 years old.[2][3] Walker became active in Republican politics at an early age. While in high school, Walker's step-grandfather arranged to have Walker interview Mitch McConnell for a class paper.[2] In 2002, while he was a college student, Walker interned for McConnell.[2]

Walker earned his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Duke University in 2004 and his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2009, where he served as Notes Editor on the Harvard Law Review.[4][5] While at Harvard, now-Associate Justice Elena Kagan, then dean of Harvard Law School, recommended him for a clerkship with Justice Anthony Kennedy.[2] In 2004, he worked on the re-election campaign of George W. Bush.[2] Walker later worked as a speechwriter for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in the Bush Administration.[6]

Upon graduating from law school, Walker served as a law clerk to then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He then clerked for Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court of the United States.[7][8][9] During the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court, Walker gave 119 interviews to the media defending Kavanaugh, and gave several paid speeches to the Federalist Society.[2]

He has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2006.[9][10]

From 2015–2019, Walker served as an associate professor at the University of Louisville School of Law, where he taught legal writing.[11] In July 2018, Walker had a paper published in The George Washington Law Review reflecting on President Trump's dismissal of FBI Director James Comey and arguing, "calls for an independent F.B.I. are misguided and dangerous... the F.B.I. must not operate as an independent agency. It must be accountable to the President."[2]

Federal judicial service

District court

On June 19, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Walker to serve as a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Walker was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr., who took senior status on June 9, 2019.[12] The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Walker "not qualified," saying that Walker "has a very substantial gap, namely the absence of any significant trial experience."[13] In a letter, the chairman of the ABA committee said "it has no questions about Walker's temperament or integrity and that it believes he has great potential to serve as a federal judge."[14]

On June 24, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. On July 31, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[15] On October 17, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[16] On October 24, 2019, the Senate voted 50–39 to invoke cloture on his nomination[17] and later that day his nomination was confirmed by a vote of 50–41.[18] He received his judicial commission on October 25, 2019.

In April 2020, Walker blocked Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer from implementing an order preventing drive-in church services on Easter to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Walker compared the order to "the pages of a dystopian novel", and said that Fischer "criminalized the communal celebration of Easter".[3]

D.C. Circuit

On April 3, 2020, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Walker to serve as Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[19] On May 4, 2020, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Walker to the seat being vacated by Judge Thomas B. Griffith, who will retire on September 1, 2020.[20] On May 6, 2020, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[21] On June 4, 2020, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[22] On June 17, 2020, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a vote of 52–46. On June 18, 2020, the Senate confirmed his nomination by a vote of 51–42.[23] He is currently awaiting his judicial commission.

According to The New York Times, Walker's nomination was handpicked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.[2] Walker has been described as McConnell's protege.[3] In early March 2020, McConnell flew to Kentucky to participate in an investiture ceremony for Walker.[3] At the time of his nomination, Walker had no trial experience and had less than 6 months of experience as a judge.[2] On May 5, 2020, the American Bar Association rated Walker as "Well-Qualified" to serve on the Circuit Court. The ABA sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee explaining their rating after deeming Walker "Not Qualified" when he was nominated for his district court judgeship. The letter said "the Standing Committee believes that Judge Walker possesses a keen intellect, and his writing ability is exemplary. Judge Walker also has significant appellate experience, having clerked for both the D.C. Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. Additionally, since our last rating, Judge Walker has served as a federal trial judge."[24][3][25]

Personal life

Walker is married to Anne Walker and has one child.[26]

References
  1. "Walker confirmed as federal judge for Western District of Kentucky". The Lane Report. October 29, 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  2. Williamson, Elizabeth; Ruiz, Rebecca R. (2020-05-05). "Young McConnell Protégé Faces Scrutiny as He Seeks Powerful Judgeship". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  3. "McConnell, GOP move swiftly on Trump's judicial nominee, angering Democrats pressing for focus on coronavirus". The Washington Post. 2020.
  4. "List of staff, 2008–2009". Harvard Law Review. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  5. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees and United States Attorney Nominee". The White House.
  6. "Trump nominates former Brett Kavanaugh clerk for federal judge in Kentucky". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  7. "30 Under 30: Law and Policy: Justin Walker, Law clerk, U.S. Supreme Court, 29". Forbes. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  8. Scarcella, Mike (June 19, 2019). "Ex-Kavanaugh Clerk Justin Walker Gets Trump Nod for Kentucky Court". Law.com. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  9. "Justin Walker is a litigation lawyer in Dinsmore's Louisville office". Dinsmore & Shohl LLP. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  10. "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Justin Reed Walker" (PDF).
  11. "Professor Justin Walker confirmed to federal bench". Louis D. Brandeis School of Law. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  12. "Thirteen Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate". The White House.
  13. Carney, Jordain. "Senate confirms Trump judicial pick labeled 'not qualified' by American Bar Association". www.thehill.com. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  14. Wolfson, Andrew (July 31, 2019). "Bar association panel finds Trump's Kentucky judicial nominee Justin Walker unqualified". Louisville Courier-Journal. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  15. "Nominations | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov.
  16. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – October 17, 2019, Senate Judiciary Committee" (PDF).
  17. "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Justin Reed Walker to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Kentucky)". United States Senate. October 24, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  18. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Justin Reed Walker, of Kentucky, to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Kentucky )". United States Senate. October 24, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  19. Mali, Meghashyam (2020-04-03). "Trump nominates former Kavanaugh clerk for influential appeals court". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  20. "Thirty Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate". The White House.
  21. Record, Walker Responses to Questions for the. "Nominations | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov.
  22. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – June 4, 2020, Senate Judiciary Committee" (PDF).
  23. On the Nomination (Confirmation: Justin Reed Walker, of Kentucky, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit) United States Senate, June 21, 2020
  24. "Re: Nomination of Justin Reed Walker to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit" (PDF). May 5, 2020.
  25. "American Bar Association: Trump court pick now 'Well Qualified'". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  26. Hitchcock, Paul (July 31, 2019). "Majority Leader McConnell Introduces Kentuckian at Judicial Nomination Hearing". WMKY. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Joseph H. McKinley Jr.		 Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
2019–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Thomas B. Griffith		 Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
(Designate)
2020–present		 Incumbent
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