Judge Mark J. Bennett
Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Mark Jeremy Bennett was born in February 1953 in New York City, New York. He earned an undergraduate degree from Union College, New York, and received his Juris Doctor from Cornell University. He clerked for the chief judge of the U.S. District Court of Hawaii.
Bennett became the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and then for the District of Hawaii. He went into private practice and also worked pro bono for the attorney general’s office. He taught at a law school and later became the Attorney General of Hawaii.
Bennett was nominated for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Donald Trump in February 2018. After a cloture vote, his nomination was confirmed by the Senate, and he received his commission in July 2018.
In the News…
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, consisting of Judges Mark Bennett, Jacqueline Nguyen, and Daniel Collins, determined that the No Vigilantes Act, passed by the California legislature and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last year, violates the Constitution’s supremacy clause. The law sought to require federal immigration enforcement officers to wear visible identification.
Judge Bennet wrote the unanimous opinion, which stated, “We conclude that [section 10] of the No Vigilantes Act attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions. The Supremacy Clause forbids the State from enforcing such legislation.”
The opinion continued, “The United States is therefore likely to succeed on the merits of its Supremacy Clause claim, and the other preliminary injunction factors also weigh in its favor.“
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Bennet today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Mark Bennet
Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
The James R. Browning U.S. Courthouse
95 7th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
