Brantley Starr
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Assumed office
August 6, 2019
Appointed byDonald Trump
Preceded bySidney A. Fitzwater
Deputy First Assistant Attorney General of Texas
In office
2016–2019
Personal details
Born1979 (age 44–45)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
EducationAbilene Christian University (BA)
University of Texas (JD)

Brantley David Starr (born 1979)[1] is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Biography

Starr received his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Abilene Christian University, and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law. After graduating from law school, he was a law clerk to then-Justice Don Willett of the Supreme Court of Texas. Starr then served as a staff attorney to Justice Eva Guzman of the Supreme Court of Texas, and then worked as an Assistant Attorney General, Assistant Solicitor General, and Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel, all in the office of the Attorney General of Texas. From 2016 to 2019 he served as the Deputy First Assistant Attorney General of Texas, under Jeff Mateer.[2]

He is the nephew of former solicitor general, appellate judge, and special counsel Ken Starr.[3]

Federal judicial service

Starr in 2022

On March 8, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Starr to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.[2] On March 11, 2019, President Trump nominated Starr to the seat vacated by Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater, who assumed senior status on September 22, 2018.[4] On April 10, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[5] On May 9, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[6] On July 30, 2019, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–37 vote.[7] On July 31, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 51–39 vote.[8] He received his judicial commission on August 6, 2019.[9]

In May 2023, Starr banned lawyers from submitting AI-generated case filings that have not been reviewed by a human, noting that:[10][11]

[Generative artificial intelligence] platforms in their current states are prone to hallucinations and bias. On hallucinations, they make stuff up—even quotes and citations. Another issue is reliability or bias. While attorneys swear an oath to set aside their personal prejudices, biases, and beliefs to faithfully uphold the law and represent their clients, generative artificial intelligence is the product of programming devised by humans who did not have to swear such an oath. As such, these systems hold no allegiance to any client, the rule of law, or the laws and Constitution of the United States (or, as addressed above, the truth). Unbound by any sense of duty, honor, or justice, such programs act according to computer code rather than conviction, based on programming rather than principle.

In August 2023, Starr ordered three Southwest Airlines lawyers to attend religious-liberty training by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).[12] The ADF is a conservative Christian legal advocacy group which is "committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life."[13] It opposes abortion, same-sex marriage, and the decriminalization of same-sex sexual activity. The Southern Poverty Law Center designates ADF as an anti-LGBT hate group.[14]

Memberships

He has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2005.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Brantley Starr
  2. 1 2 "President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees". whitehouse.gov. March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via National Archives. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ↑ Jordan, Jason (2021-02-04). "NDTX Judge Starr: A Famous Uncle, a Ragtop Beetle and a Career of Public Service". The Texas Lawbook. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  4. ↑ "Ten Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, March 11, 2019
  5. ↑ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for April 10, 2019
  6. ↑ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – May 9, 2019" (PDF). Senate Judiciary Committee.
  7. ↑ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Brantley Starr, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas)". United States Senate. July 30, 2019.
  8. ↑ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Brantley Starr, of Texas, to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas)". United States Senate. July 31, 2019.
  9. ↑ Brantley Starr at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  10. ↑ Brodkin, Jon (31 May 2023). "Federal judge: No AI in my courtroom unless a human verifies its accuracy". Ars Technica.
  11. ↑ "Judge Brantley Starr | Northern District of Texas | United States District Court". www.txnd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  12. ↑ Cole, Devan (August 8, 2023). "Federal judge orders Southwest Airlines attorneys to attend 'religious-liberty training' from conservative group". CNN. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  13. ↑ "Who We Are". 8 January 2020.
  14. ↑ "Alliance Defending Freedom". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
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