Amir Ali
EducationUniversity of Waterloo (BSE)
Harvard Law School (JD)

Amir H. Ali is an American attorney and law professor who has argued multiple cases before the U.S. Supreme Court[1][2] and testified before Congress. He is regarded as an expert in constitutional law, civil procedure, and criminal procedure, including issues related to sentencing and habeas corpus, the right to counsel, and government accountability.[3]

Ali is a nominee to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[4]

Education

Ali received his B.S.E. from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada in 2008 and his Juris Doctor Harvard Law School in 2011.

Career

After graduating, Ali served as a law clerk for Judge Raymond C. Fisher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2011 to 2012 and for Justice Marshall Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada from 2012 to 2013.[2] From 2013 to 2017, Ali practiced at the law firm Jenner & Block, where he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court as a fifth-year associate.[5] Since 2021, Ali is the executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center,[6][7] a nonprofit law firm founded by businessman and philanthropist J. Roderick MacArthur. Since 2018, Ali is a professor at Harvard Law School, where he directs the law school's criminal justice appellate clinic.[6][2] He serves on multiple Boards of Directors, including The Appellate Project[8][9] and the Mosaic Theatre Company of D.C.[10]

D.C. District Court nomination

On January 10, 2024, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Ali to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[11]

Notable cases

  • In 2022, Ali argued for the petitioner in Thompson v. Clark, and obtained a 6-3 majority opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh recognizing a federal cause of action against police officers who pursue false charges against someone.
  • In 2019, Ali argued for the petitioner in Garza v. Idaho,[12] and obtained a 6-3 majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court establishing that a criminal defendant has the constitutional right to an appeal that has been forfeited by his attorney, even if the defendant's plea agreement states that it waives the right of appeal.
  • In 2016, Ali argued for the petitioner in Welch v. United States,[13] and obtained a 7-1 majority opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that prisoners who were sentenced to unconstitutional mandatory minimums were retroactively entitled to resentencing or release.[14]
  • In 2015, Ali represented the petitioner in Brumfield v. Cain,[15] in which the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the death sentence of Louisiana death-row prisoner Kevan Brumfield and held that he was categorically ineligible for execution because he had an intellectually disability.[15]
  • Ali represented Louisiana prisoner Corey Williams before the U.S. Supreme Court.[16] Williams had been wrongfully convicted of capital murder at the age of 16, and spent over twenty years at Angola Penitentiary.[16]
  • Ali filed a brief on behalf of the MacArthur Justice Center in Hawaii v. Trump in 2017, documenting President Trump's record of statements about Muslim people.[17] Justice Sonia Sotomayor cited Ali's brief in her dissenting opinion.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Author". The Appeal. June 20, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 School, Harvard Law. "Amir Ali | Harvard Law School". Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  3. ↑ Bokat-Lindell, Spencer (June 2, 2020). "Opinion | The One Police Reform That Both the Left and the Right Support". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Fixes Raised to Shine Light on Supreme Court's 'Shadow Docket'". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  5. ↑ Lat, David (April 19, 2016). "A Biglaw Associate's Big Supreme Court Victory". Above the Law. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Jagannathan, Meera. "'They get a get-out-of-jail-free card': How qualified immunity protects police and other government officials from civil lawsuits". MarketWatch. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Amir Ali". MacArthur Justice. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  8. ↑ June 24, Tony Mauro |; PM, 2020 at 05:02. "'Appellate Project' Aims to Boost Diversity in Specialized Bar". National Law Journal. Retrieved December 5, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ "Amir H Ali Bio". The Appellate Project. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Board of Directors". Mosaic Theater of DC. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  11. ↑ "President Biden Names Forty-Fourth Round of Judicial Nominees".
  12. ↑ "Garza v. Idaho". Oyez. Chicago-Kent College of Law. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Welch v. United States". Oyez.
  14. ↑ "Welch v. United States". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  15. 1 2 "Brumfield v. Cain, 135 S. Ct. 2269 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  16. 1 2 Berman, Mark. "He was 16 when Louisiana charged him with murder. Two decades later, he's free". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  17. ↑ Court document. Travel Ban supremecourt.gov Retrieved May 3, 2023
  18. ↑ Trump v. Hawaii (06/26/2018) supremecourt.gov Retrieved May 3, 2023
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.