Mark Bennett (Hawaii)

Mark J. Bennett

Do you have a photo that could go here? Click here to submit it for this profile!

---

Nonpartisan

United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit

Tenure

2018 - Present

Years in position

6

Prior offices

Attorney General of Hawaii

---

Education

Bachelor's

Union College, 1976

Law

Cornell Law School, 1979

Mark J. Bennett is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. He was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump (R) on February 15, 2018, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 10, 2018, by a vote of 72-27. To see a full list of judges appointed by Donald Trump, click here.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is one of 13 U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the 9th Circuit Court, click here.

At the time of his nomination, Bennett was a director in the Honolulu, Hawaii firm Starn O'Toole Marcus & Fisher.

Bennett was the Republican Attorney General of Hawaii from 2002 until 2010, originally appointed to the position by Governor Linda Lingle on January 3, 2003. He was the first Republican appointed to the statewide political office in forty years.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit

See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

Bennett was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit by President Donald Trump (R) on February 15, 2018. The U.S. Senate confirmed Bennett on July 10, 2018, by a vote of 72-27. He received commission on July 13, 2018. To read more about the federal nomination process, click here.

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Mark Bennett
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 148 days after nomination.
ANominated: February 12, 2018
AABA Rating: Substantial Majority Well Qualified, Minority Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
AHearing: April 11, 2018
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: May 10, 2018
AConfirmed: July 10, 2018
AVote: 72 - 27

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Bennett on July 10, 2018, on a vote of 72-27. To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Mark Bennett confirmation vote (July 10, 2018)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	47	0	0
Republican	23	27	1
Independent	2	0	0
Total	72	27	1

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

Bennett had his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 11, 2018. The committee voted to advance Bennett's nomination to the full Senate on May 10, 2018.

Nomination

Bennett was nominated to replace Judge Richard Clifton, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2016.

The American Bar Association rated Bennett well qualified by a substantial majority and qualified by a minority for the position. To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Education

Bennett received his bachelor's degree in political science from Union College in 1976 where he graduated summa cum laude. In 1979 he received his J.D. from Cornell Law School where he graduated magna cum laude. At Cornell, he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served on the board of editors of the Cornell Law Review.

Professional career

• 2018-present: Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
• 2015-2018: Special deputy corporation counsel, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii
• 2011-2018: Private practice, Starn O'Toole Marcus & Fisher
• 2003-2010: Attorney general, State of Hawaii
• 1997-2001, 2011-2018: Special deputy attorney general, State of Hawaii
• 1997-1998: Special prosecuting attorney, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii
• 1991-1993, 2001, 2008: Adjunct professor of law, University of Hawaii
• 1990-2002: Private practice, McCorriston, Miller, Mukai, & Mackinnon, LLP
• 1982-1989: Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Hawaii
• 1980-1982: Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Columbia
• 1979-1980: Law clerk, Hon. Samuel King, United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

Awards

• Special Achievement Award (1986) from the Attorney General of the United States

Noteworthy cases

Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A (2005)

Bennett represented the petitioners in a case against Chevron, one of Hawaii's largest oil companies, that appeared before the United States Supreme Court in 2005. Chevron had originally filed suit against the state of Hawaii in reaction to a law passed by the state legislature that limited the rent oil companies were able to charge dealers leasing company-owned service stations. The energy corporation argued that this law "amounted to an uncompensated taking in violation of the Fifth Amendment, because it did not substantially advance Hawaii's asserted interest in controlling gas prices."

In the unanimous decision delivered on May 23, 2005, the opinion of the Supreme Court, delivered by Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, declared that, while not disturbing any of its prior holdings, course had to be corrected within the Court by clarifying the 'substantially advances' formula used to determine whether a regulation amounted to a Fifth Amendment taking. Any legal challenges to the Takings Clause have to be "based on the severity of the burden that the regulation imposed upon property rights, not the effectivness of the regulation in furthering the governmental interest."

About the court

Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals
Judgeships
Posts: 29
Judges: 29
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Mary Murguia
Active judges: Bridget S. Bade, Mark J. Bennett, Daniel Bress, Patrick J. Bumatay, Consuelo Maria Callahan, Morgan Christen, Daniel P. Collins, Roopali Desai, Danielle Forrest, Michelle T. Friedland, Ronald Gould, Sandra Ikuta, Anthony Johnstone, Lucy H. Koh, Kenneth Kiyul Lee, Sal Mendoza Jr., Eric D. Miller, Mary Murguia, Ryan D. Nelson, Jacqueline Nguyen, John B. Owens, Johnnie Rawlinson, Gabriel Sanchez, Milan Smith, Jennifer Sung, Holly Thomas, Lawrence VanDyke, Kim McLane Wardlaw, Ana I. de Alba Senior judges: Carlos Bea, Marsha Berzon, Jay Bybee, William Canby, Richard Clifton, Ferdinand Francis Fernandez, William Fletcher, Susan Graber, Michael Hawkins, Andrew Hurwitz, Andrew Kleinfeld, Margaret McKeown, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Richard Paez, Mary Schroeder, Barry Silverman, Randy Smith, Richard Tallman, A. Wallace Tashima, Sidney Thomas, Stephen Trott, John Clifford Wallace, Dorothy Wright Nelson

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Ninth Circuit is the largest appellate court with 29 authorized judicial posts. Appeals are heard in the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse in San Francisco, California, the Richard H. Chambers Courthouse in Pasadena, California, the Pioneer Courthouse in Portland, Oregon, and the William K. Nakamura Courthouse in Seattle, Washington.

One judge of the Ninth Circuit went on to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Anthony Kennedy was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan (R).

Map of the Ninth Circuit. Click on a district to find out more about it.

The Ninth Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. Appeals of rulings by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Elena Kagan is the circuit justice for the Ninth Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:

District of Alaska District of Arizona Central District of California Eastern District of California Northern District of California Southern District of California District of Hawaii

District of Idaho District of Montana District of Nevada District of Oregon Eastern District of Washington Western District of Washington

It also has appellate jurisdiction over the following territorial courts:

• United States District Court for the District of Guam
• United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

• The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
• The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

• As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

• After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

• If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
• If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

• The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

• If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
• If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
• Project Vote Smart - Mark Bennett biography

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit 2018-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Attorney General of Hawaii 2003-2010	Succeeded by -