Christopher F. Droney

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Christopher F. Droney
Droney Christopher PRINT-3x4 HI-RES (1).jpg
portrait of Droney Christopher
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office
June 30, 2019 – January 2, 2020
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office
December 1, 2011 – June 30, 2019
Appointed byBarack Obama
Preceded byGuido Calabresi
Succeeded byWilliam J. Nardini
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
In office
September 18, 1997 – December 1, 2011
Appointed byBill Clinton
Preceded byAlan Harris Nevas
Succeeded byMichael P. Shea
United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut
In office
1993–1997
Appointed byBill Clinton
Preceded by
Succeeded byStephen C. Robinson
Personal details
Born (1954-06-22) June 22, 1954 (age 67)
Hartford, Connecticut
EducationCollege of the Holy Cross (BA)
University of Connecticut School of Law (JD)

Christopher Fitzgerald Droney (born June 22, 1954) is a former United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and former Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Early life and education[]

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Droney received a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from the College of the Holy Cross in 1976 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1979. While at law school, Droney was an editor of the Connecticut Law Review. He was in private practice in Hartford, Connecticut from 1979 to 1993, and was also deputy mayor of West Hartford from 1983 to 1985, and then Mayor of West Hartford from 1985 to 1989. He was the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 1993 to 1997.[1] While U.S. Attorney, Droney gave a presentation to the President and Attorney General in the East Room of the White House on strategies to reduce gang violence.

Federal judicial service[]

On June 5, 1997, Droney was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut vacated by Alan H. Nevas. Droney was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on September 11, 1997, and received his commission on September 18, 1997.

On May 4, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Droney to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to replace Judge Guido Calabresi who took senior status in 2009. On November 28, 2011, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by a vote of 88–0.[2] He received his commission on December 1, 2011.[3]

On April 15, 2019, Droney announced that he would take senior status, beginning June 30, 2019.[4] In August 2019, Droney announced that he would retire from the bench in January 2020, and resume private practice with the firm of Day Pitney.

Notable cases[]

While on the Court of Appeals, Droney authored the Ragbir opinion,[5] which held that immigrants could not be deported in retaliation for their protected First Amendment speech, and Littlejohn v. City of New York,[6] which eased the pleading standard for federal employment discrimination claims. He also provided the deciding vote for the Second Circuit in Windsor v. United States,[7] which held that the Equal Protection Clause guaranteed the right of same-sex couples to marry, which was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. He also dissented from the denial of en banc in the Microsoft email case, arguing that federal prosecutors could obtain emails of Microsoft customers that were stored abroad. Droney also joined in the Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump opinion,[8] which held that the President's Twitter account was a First Amendment-protected public forum and the President could not block unfavorable comments from that account, the panel opinion in CREW v. Trump,[9] which held that the suit could proceed against President Trump for violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause for his profits from his hotels and restaurants, as well as the Vance v. Trump opinion,[10] which held that the President's personal tax returns were not immune from production in response to a state grand jury subpoena. He also joined the opinion which required the disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein court documents.[11]

As a United States District Judge Droney presided over such matters as a multi-district class action involving RICO and fraud charges in the national food service industry,[12] the first sex trafficking criminal jury trial under the then-new federal child sex trafficking statutes,[13] and the return of the famous television puppet Howdy Doody from private parties to the museum at the Detroit Institute of Arts.[14]

References[]

  1. ^ "Senate Questionnaire" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
  2. ^ "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 112th Congress - 1st Session".
  3. ^ "Droney, Christopher Fitzgerald - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  4. ^ "Connecticut's Judge Christopher Droney to retire, creating vacancy for President Trump to fill on Second Circuit Court of Appeals". courant.com. Hartford Courant.
  5. ^ Ragbir v. Homan, 923 F.3d 53 (2d Cir. 2019).
  6. ^ 795 F.3d 297(2d Cir. 2015),
  7. ^ United States v. Windsor, 699 F.3d 168 (2d Cir. 2012), aff'd, 570 U.S. 744 (2013)
  8. ^ 928 F.3d 226 (2d Cir. 2019).
  9. ^ 953 F.3d 178 (2d Cir. 2019),
  10. ^ 941 F.3d 631 (2d Cir. 2019), aff'd, 140 S.Ct (2020).
  11. ^ Brown v. Maxwell, 929 F.3d 41 (2d Cir. 2019).
  12. ^ In re Foodservice Pricing Litigation, No. 3:07-md-1894, 2011 WL 6013551(D. Conn. 2011), aff'd, 729 F.3d 108 (2d Cir. 2013).
  13. ^ United States v. Martinez, 621 F. 3d 101 (2d Cir. 2010).
  14. ^ Detroit Inst. of Arts v Rose, 127 F.Supp. 2d 117(D. Conn. 2001).

External links[]

Legal offices
Preceded by
Stanley Twardy 		United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut
1993–1997 		Succeeded by
Stephen C. Robinson
Preceded by
Alan Harris Nevas 		Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
1997–2011 		Succeeded by
Michael P. Shea
Preceded by
Guido Calabresi 		Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
2011–2019 		Succeeded by
William J. Nardini
Retrieved from ""