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William J. Kayatta Jr.
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office October 31, 2024
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
In office February 14, 2013 – October 31, 2024
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Kermit Lipez
Succeeded by	vacant
Personal details
Born	William Joseph Kayatta Jr (1953-10-27) October 27, 1953 (age 71) Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S.
Education	Amherst College (BA) Harvard University (JD)

William Joseph Kayatta Jr. (born October 27, 1953) is an American lawyer who has served as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Early life and education

Kayatta was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1953. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976 from Amherst College and then earned a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, in 1979 from Harvard Law School. After law school, he served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Frank M. Coffin of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1979 to 1980.

Professional career

In 1980, Kayatta joined the Portland, Maine, law firm Pierce Atwood LLP as an associate. He became partner in 1986 and has focused his practice on complex trial and appellate litigation. He also has argued two cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2010, he served as the lead investigator for the American Bar Association committee that reviewed the qualifications of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. In April 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States appointed him to serve as special master in an interstate water-rights dispute, Kansas v. Nebraska and Colorado. Approximately four years later, after he had become a judge, the United States Supreme Court adopted his Special Master's Report in full.

He has served as president of the Maine Bar Foundation. In 2010, the Maine Bar Foundation presented him with the Howard H. Dana Award for his career-long pro bono efforts on behalf of low-income Maine citizens. He has also received special recognition awards from the Disability Rights Center of Maine, the Maine Equal Justice Partners, and the Maine Children's Alliance for his pro bono representation of disabled Maine children. Kayatta is also a former Chair of the Professional Ethics Commission for Maine lawyers.

Federal judicial service

On January 23, 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Kayatta to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Kayatta nominated to a seat vacated by Judge Kermit Lipez, who assumed senior status at the end of 2011. He received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 14, 2012, and his nomination was reported to the floor on April 19, 2012, by voice vote, with Senator Sessions and Senator Lee recorded as voting no.

Kayatta's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee was uncontroversial. His nomination needed only confirmation by the full Senate, but the process was stalled by GOP filibusters for a series of tactical reasons, such as to block the consideration of another of President Obama's judicial appointments, Robert E. Bacharach. With the adjournment of the Senate session on January 2, 2013, the nomination expired.

On January 3, 2013, he was renominated to the same judgeship. On February 7, 2013, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported his nomination to the floor by voice vote, with Senator Jeff Sessions recorded as a no vote. The Senate confirmed his nomination on February 13, 2013, by a 88–12 vote. He received his commission on February 14, 2013. Kayatta assumed senior status on October 31, 2024.

Notable cases

In August 2017, Kayatta wrote for the divided en banc circuit when it rejected a lawsuit seeking to give Puerto Ricans the right to vote, over the dissents of Judges Lipez, Juan R. Torruella, and O. Rogeriee Thompson.

In April 2020, Kayatta wrote for the unanimous panel when it found that the Board of Immigration Appeals had erred in denying asylum in the United States to a domestic abuse survivor without considering her particular allegations.

In July 2020, Kayatta was part of an appellate court decision that tossed out the death sentence and overturned three of the firearm convictions of Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The court cited errors in the sentencing proceedings that found Dzhokhar guilty and condemned him to death.

References

1. ^ White House: "President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the US Court of Appeals," January 23, 2012, accessed June 5, 2012
2. Bangor Daily News: Judy Harrison, "Judge, lawmaker Frank Coffin dies," December 8, 2009, accessed June 5, 2012
3. Portland Press Herald: Trevor Maxwell, "Portland lawyer leads panel reviewing Kagan," July 3, 2010, accessed June 5, 2012
4. Maine News Simply: Supreme Court Appoints Attorney William J. Kayatta Jr. as Special Master," April 5, 2011, accessed June 5, 2012
5. Maine News Direct: Pierce Atwood's Kayatta Elected President," April 15, 2004, accessed June 5, 2012
6. Portland Press Herald: Trevor Maxwell, "Lawyers told volunteering to help poor more critical," February 26, 2010, accessed June 5, 2012
7. Maine Forecaster: Amy Anderson, "Obama picks southern Maine lawyer for federal appeals court," January 24, 2012, accessed June 5, 2012
8. Portland Press Herald: "Maine on the Hill: Signs favorable for Cape Elizabeth nominee to appeals court," March 11, 2012, accessed June 5, 2012
9. Portland Press Herald: "U.S. circuit-court nominee's hearing goes 'very smoothly'," March 15, 2012, accessed June 5, 2012
10. Portland Press Herald: Ann S. Kim, "Senate panel endorses Kayatta for judgeship," April 20, 2012, accessed June 5, 2012
11. Riskind, Jonathan (15 March 2012). "U.S. circuit-court nominee's hearing goes 'very smoothly'". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
12. Lisa, Mascaro (30 July 2012). "Senate GOP blocks popular judicial nominee, halts confirmations". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
13. "President Obama Re-nominates Thirty-Three to Federal Judgeships, January 3, 2013". whitehouse.gov. 3 January 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2013 – via National Archives.
14. "Kayatta judicial nomination bound for Senate floor vote". The Forecaster (Maine). February 7, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
15. "On the Nomination (Confirmation William J. Kayatta, Jr., of Maine, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First Circuit)". Senate.gov. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
16. William J. Kayatta Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
17. Note, Recent Case: First Circuit Denies En Banc Petition's Claim of Nonapportionment to Puerto Rico, 131 Harv. L. Rev. 1155 (2018).
18. Igartúa v. Trump, 868 F.3d 24 (1st Cir. 2017) (mem.).
19. Note, Recent Case: First Circuit Indicates Receptiveness to Gender Per Se Social Groups, 134 Harv. L. Rev. 2574 (2021).
20. De Pena-Paniagua v. Barr, 957 F.3d 88 (1st Cir. 2020).
21. "Federal appeals court vacates Tsarnaev death sentence, orders new penalty-phase trial". The Boston Globe.
22. "New death sentence trial for Tsarnaev 'punch to the stomach'". Bostonherald.com. 31 July 2020.
23. "Read the federal appeals court ruling vacating Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death sentence". The Boston Globe.

External links

• William J. Kayatta Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court from the Oyez Project
• William J. Kayatta Jr. at Ballotpedia

• 1953 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American judges
• Amherst College alumni
• Harvard Law School alumni
• Maine lawyers
• People from Pawtucket, Rhode Island
• Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• United States court of appeals judges appointed by Barack Obama