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Darrin P. Gayles
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Assumed office
June 19, 2014
Appointed by Barack Obama
Preceded by Patricia A. Seitz
Personal details
Born
Darrin Phillip Gayles

(1966-12-16) December 16, 1966 (age 57) [1]
Peoria, Illinois, U.S.
Education Howard University ( BA)
George Washington University ( JD)

Darrin Phillip Gayles (born December 16, 1966) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and former Florida Circuit Court judge.

Education and legal career

Gayles received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990 from Howard University. He received a Juris Doctor in 1993 from the George Washington University Law School. He began his career as an assistant state attorney in the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office from 1993 to 1997. From 1997 to 1999, he served as an assistant district counsel at the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service. From 1999 to 2004, he served as an assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of Florida. [2] [3]

Judicial career

State judicial service

In 2004, Gayles became a judge, serving as a county judge in Miami-Dade County within the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. From 2011 to 2014, he served as a circuit court judge on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. [2] [3]

Federal judicial service

On February 6, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Gayles to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, to the seat vacated by Judge Patricia A. Seitz, who assumed senior status on November 16, 2012. [4] He received a hearing before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on April 1, 2014. [5] On May 8, 2014, his nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote. [6] On June 16, 2014, the United States Senate invoked cloture by a 55–37 vote. [7] On June 17, 2014, his nomination was confirmed by a 98–0 vote, [8] making him the first openly gay African-American federal judge. [9] [10] He received his judicial commission on June 19, 2014. [3]

Darrin P. Gayles U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

Cases

Sitting with the Eleventh Circuit in July 2020, Gayles dissented when the court upheld an Alabama voter ID law without a trial even though evidence showed that voters of color were twice as likely to lack ID as white voters. Gayles wrote "The majority opinion essentially argues that we should not penalize Alabama’s legislators for Alabama’s past; rather, we should start with a clean slate when reviewing the Photo ID Law. But this is not what the law commands us to do. Alabama’s history of voter suppression is relevant here and provides a wealth of direct and circumstantial evidence that should be considered at trial." [11]

See also

References

  1. ^ BlackPast Darrin Phillip Gayles (1966- )
  2. ^ a b "President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Four to Serve on the United States District Courts". whitehouse.gov. February 5, 2014 – via National Archives.
  3. ^ a b c Darrin P. Gayles at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  4. ^ "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. February 6, 2014 – via National Archives.
  5. ^ "Nominations". United States Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. April 1, 2014.
  6. ^ "Executive Business Meeting" (PDF). United States Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. May 8, 2014.
  7. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of Darrin P. Gayles, of Florida, to be U.S. District Judge)". United States Senate. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  8. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Darrin P. Gayles, of Florida, to be U.S. District Judge)". United States Senate. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  9. ^ Weaver, Jay (June 17, 2014). "Miami's Gayles confirmed as first openly gay black male judge on federal bench". Miami Herald. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  10. ^ "Obama nominates four for federal judgeships, including gay Miami-Dade Judge Darrin Gayles – Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida". miamiherald.typepad.com.
  11. ^ "18-10151 Greater Birmingham Ministries v. Secretary of State for Alabama" (PDF). Justia. July 21, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2021.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
2014–present 		Incumbent
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