Richard Paez

For the Venezuelan football player and manager, see Richard Páez.

Richard Paez
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office March 14, 2000
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Cecil Poole
Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
In office June 16, 1994 – March 14, 2000
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	James Otero
Personal details
Born	(1947-05-05) May 5, 1947 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Alma mater	Brigham Young University UC Berkeley School of Law

Richard Anthony Paez (born May 5, 1947) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Early life and education

Paez hails from Utah. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University in 1969. He attended the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley and graduated in 1972.

He is married to Diane Erickson, with a daughter, Lisa, and son, David.

Career

He served as staff attorney, California Rural Legal Assistance, 1972–1974, followed by staff attorney, Western Center on Law and Poverty, 1974-1976. He joined the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles in 1976 as a senior counsel, was director of litigation 1978-1979 and deputy director for litigation, 1979–1980, then was acting executive director and director of litigation, 1980-1981.

Paez then became a judge on the Los Angeles Municipal Court for the duration 1981-1994.

Following his March 9, 1994, nomination by President Bill Clinton, confirmation by the United States Senate on June 15, 1994, and reception of commission on June 16, 1994, Paez became the second Mexican American to sit on the bench of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, a district that covers Los Angeles.

Paez was confirmed by Senate on March 9, 2000, by a 59-39 vote, more than four years after President Clinton first nominated him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Paez waited 1,506 days to be confirmed, which at that time was the longest wait for a vote by any judicial nominee in U.S. history.

In a 2009 decision, he held that a San Francisco resolution urging the Vatican to withdraw a directive against same-sex adoptions does not violate the Establishment Clause.

In a 2011 decision, he issued the majority opinion upholding a lower court's blocking of the most controversial parts of the Arizona SB 1070 anti-illegal immigration law from taking effect.

Sources

• Richard Paez at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.