Harry Pregerson
Harry Pregerson | |
|---|---|
| File:Pregerson.jpg | |
| Judge on United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | |
| In office 1979–Present | |
| Nominated by | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | None |
Harry Pregerson (born October 13, 1923) serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was appointed to the Ninth Circuit in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. Previous to this he was appointed to the United States District Court for the Central District of California in 1967 by President Lyndon Johnson. He is a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles (1947) and the University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law (1950). Judge Pregerson was also a U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant in World War II, during which he was severely wounded in the Battle of Okinawa.
Federalism
Judge Pregerson is a supporter of federalism and favors restraints on the power of federal government. He wrote the majority decision in the Ninth Circuit panel on Gonzales v. Raich, holding that the Interstate Commerce Clause forbade the federal government to interfere with state laws that permitted the use of medical marijuana.[1] However, the ruling was later overturned by the Supreme Court, which held that it is within Congressional power to regulate intrastate activities that are seen to influence interstate commerce, including using homegrown marijuana for medical purposes.
In the case United States v. Reynard, the circuit court upheld the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000. Pregerson wrote a dissent, arguing that the act was an unconstitutional exercise of federal power.[2]
Honors
In 2002, the California Legislature officially named the giant interchange between Interstate 110 (California) and Interstate 105 (California) the "Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange" in honor of the fact that Pregerson is the longest serving judge in the history of the Ninth Circuit. Furthermore, as a district judge, he supervised the settlement of the federal lawsuit against the Century Freeway, which enabled the interchange to be built. Judge Pregerson's name is now on signs at the interchange.
References
  | This American law–related biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |