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Amir Ali (judge)

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Amir Ali
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 22, 2024
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byBeryl Howell
Personal details
Born
Amir Hatem Mahdy Ali

1985 (age 38–39)
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
EducationUniversity of Waterloo (BSE)
Harvard University (JD)

Amir Hatem Mahdy Ali (born 1985)[1] is a Canadian-American lawyer and academic who is serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[2]

Education

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Ali received a Bachelor of Software Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada in 2008 and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2011.[3]

Career

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After graduating, Ali served as a law clerk for Judge Raymond C. Fisher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2011 to 2012 and for Justice Marshall Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada from 2012 to 2013.[4] From 2013 to 2017, Ali practiced at the law firm Jenner & Block.[5] He also argued and won a case before the U.S. Supreme Court as a fifth-year associate.[6] From 2021 to 2024, Ali was the executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center,[7][8] a nonprofit law firm founded by businessman and philanthropist J. Roderick MacArthur. Since 2018, Ali has been a professor at Harvard Law School, where he directs the law school's criminal justice appellate clinic.[7][4] Ali has also served as an adjunct professor of litigation and constitutional law at the University of District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law and Georgetown Law School.[9][10] He served on the board of directors of the Appellate Project.[11][12]

Federal judicial service

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On January 10, 2024, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Ali to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[3] On February 1, 2024, President Biden nominated Ali to a seat vacated by Judge Beryl Howell, who assumed senior status on February 1, 2024.[13] On February 8, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[14] During his hearing, Senator Lindsey Graham questioned him over his leadership of the MacArthur Center and statements made by the group's previous director, who said in 2020 that advocates for defunding police agencies were part of a "movement toward making police departments obsolete." Ali responded, "I do not believe law enforcement is or should be obsolete, or defunded."[15] On March 7, 2024, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 party-line vote.[16] On November 20, 2024, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 50–48 vote, with Senator Kyrsten Sinema voting against the motion.[17] Later that day, his nomination was confirmed by a 50–49 vote, with Senator Sinema voting against confirmation.[18] He received his judicial commission on November 22, 2024.[19] Ali became the first Muslim and Arab American federal judge to serve in D.C.[20][21][22]

Notable cases

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In 2016, Ali argued for the petitioner in Welch v. United States, obtaining an 7–1 majority opinion that the Supreme Court's prior determination in Johnson v. United States; which determined the Residual Clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act was unconstitutionally vague, constituted a substantive rule change and was therefore retroactive.[23][24][25]

In 2018, Ali represented Louisiana prisoner Corey Williams before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Williams v. Louisiana.[26] Williams had been wrongfully convicted of capital murder in 1998 at the age of 16, and spent over twenty years at Angola Penitentiary.[26] In response to Ali's petition, the District Attorney agreed to the immediate release of Williams.[27]

In 2019, Ali argued for the petitioner in Garza v. Idaho, and obtained a 6–3 majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court establishing that a criminal defendant has the constitutional right to an appeal that has been forfeited by his attorney, even if the defendant's plea agreement states that it waives the right of appeal.[28][29][30]

In 2022, Ali argued for the petitioner in Thompson v. Clark, and obtained a 6–3 majority opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh recognizing a federal cause of action against police officers who pursue false charges against someone.[31][32][33]

References

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  1. ^ "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  2. ^ "Fixes Raised to Shine Light on Supreme Court's 'Shadow Docket'". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "President Biden Names Forty-Fourth Round of Judicial Nominees". The White House. January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  4. ^ a b School, Harvard Law. "Amir Ali | Harvard Law School". Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  5. ^ Jenner and Block Support Letter sent to Senate Judiciary Committee
  6. ^ Lat, David (April 19, 2016). "A Biglaw Associate's Big Supreme Court Victory". Above the Law. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Jagannathan, Meera. "'They get a get-out-of-jail-free card': How qualified immunity protects police and other government officials from civil lawsuits". MarketWatch. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  8. ^ "Amir Ali". MacArthur Justice. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  9. ^ "The Leadership Conference Supports the Confirmation of Amir Ali". The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  10. ^ Dequan (February 5, 2024). "Amir Ali – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia". The Vetting Room. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  11. ^ Mauro, Tony. "'Appellate Project' Aims to Boost Diversity in Specialized Bar". National Law Journal. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  12. ^ "Amir H Ali Bio". The Appellate Project. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  13. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. February 3, 2024.
  14. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. February 7, 2024.
  15. ^ Weiss, Benjamin S. "Senate border skirmish begets breezy hearing for White House court nominees". Courthouse News. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  16. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – March 7, 2024" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  17. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Amir H. Ali to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia)". United States Senate. November 19, 2024. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  18. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Amir H. Ali, of the District of Columbia, to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia)". United States Senate. November 20, 2024. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  19. ^ Amir Ali at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  20. ^ "Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Latest Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judicial Nominations | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov. February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  21. ^ "The Leadership Conference Supports the Confirmation of Amir Ali". The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  22. ^ "MacArthur Justice Center Names Amir Ali as Executive Director". Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center. January 25, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  23. ^ Little, Rory (March 31, 2016). "Argument analysis: A likely decision in favor of retroactivity?". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  24. ^ Nelson, Libby (April 18, 2016). "Welch v. US: a surprise Supreme Court decision will let some federal prisoners out early". Vox. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  25. ^ Cho, Emmy (2023). "Fighting for Dignity and Justice in the Nation's Highest Courts: A Conversation with Amir Ali". Harvard Undergraduate Law Review. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  26. ^ a b Berman, Mark. "He was 16 when Louisiana charged him with murder. Two decades later, he's free". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  27. ^ Dequan (February 5, 2024). "Amir Ali – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia". The Vetting Room. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  28. ^ Dequan (February 5, 2024). "Amir Ali – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia". The Vetting Room. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  29. ^ Lee, Evan (October 31, 2018). "Argument analysis: Court skeptical that a lawyer may unilaterally countermand client's instruction to file a criminal appeal". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  30. ^ Forth, Abigail (October 18, 2018). "SCOTUS Update: Garza v. Idaho". American University Washington College of Law The Criminal Law Practitioner. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  31. ^ "Biden Picks MacArthur Justice Center's Amir Ali for DC District Court Seat". Harvard Law School. January 24, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  32. ^ Wasserman, Howard (October 13, 2021). "Centaurs, Jean Valjean, and a proposed three-sentence ruling on the meaning of favorable termination". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  33. ^ Poggio, Marco (April 8, 2022). "Thompson Ruling Will Shore Up Malicious Prosecution Suits". Law360. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
2024–present 		Incumbent
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