Judge William Orrick
Northern California U.S. District Court
William Horsely Orrick III was born in 1953 in San Francisco, California. He earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his Juris Doctor from Boston College. He served as a student attorney for the Boston College Legal Assistance Bureau.
Orrick worked at the Georgia Legal Services Program after graduating from law school, then joined a law firm in San Francisco. He later served in the Department of Justice Civil Division and then became deputy assistant attorney general of the Office of Immigration Litigation.
President Barack Obama nominated him for district judge in June 2012. The Senate returned the nomination to the president and President Obama renominated Orrick in January 2013. The Senate confirmed him, and he received his judicial commission in May 2013. Orrick assumed senior status in May 2023.
In the News…
U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued an injunction against President Trump’s administration to stop the defunding of sanctuary cities. San Francisco and 14 other cities and counties filed suit after President Trump signed an executive order to freeze federal funding to jurisdictions that block the use of local resources to enforce federal immigration laws.
Judge Orrick ruled that President Trump’s executive orders were unconstitutional. He wrote that withholding federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions violates the Constitution’s separation of powers and the Spending Clause in addition to the Fifth and Tenth Amendments.
The judge stated that the orders are “unconstitutionally vague and violate due process” and “impose coercive condition intended to commandeer local officials into enforcing federal immigration practices and law.”
Judge Orrick also wrote that “the threat to withhold funding causes them irreparable injury in the form of budgetary uncertainty, deprivation of constitutional rights, and undermining trust between the Cities and Counties and the communities they serve.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Orrick today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Edward Orrick
Northern California U.S. District Court
Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse
450 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
