Christopher F. Droney

Christopher Fitzgerald Droney (born June 22, 1954) is a former United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and former Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Christopher F. Droney
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office June 30, 2019 – January 2, 2020
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office December 1, 2011 – June 30, 2019
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Guido Calabresi
Succeeded by	William J. Nardini
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
In office September 18, 1997 – December 1, 2011
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Alan Harris Nevas
Succeeded by	Michael P. Shea
United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut
In office 1993–1997
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Stanley Twardy
Succeeded by	Stephen C. Robinson
Personal details
Born	(1954-06-22) June 22, 1954 Hartford, Connecticut
Education	College of the Holy Cross (B.A.) University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D.)

Early life and education

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Droney received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 1976 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1979. While at law school, Droney was an editor of the Connecticut Law Review. He was in private practice in Hartford, Connecticut from 1979 to 1993, and was also deputy mayor of West Hartford from 1983 to 1985, and then Mayor of West Hartford from 1985 to 1989. He was the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 1993 to 1997.[1] While U.S. Attorney, Droney gave a presentation to the President and Attorney General in the East Room of the White House on strategies to reduce gang violence.

Federal judicial service

On June 5, 1997, Droney was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut vacated by Alan H. Nevas. Droney was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on September 11, 1997, and received his commission on September 18, 1997.

On May 4, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Droney to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to replace Judge Guido Calabresi who took senior status in 2009. On November 28, 2011, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by a vote of 88–0.[2] He received his commission on December 1, 2011.[3]

On April 15, 2019, Droney announced that he would take senior status, beginning June 30, 2019.[4] In August 2019, Droney announced that he would retire from the bench in January 2020, and resume private practice with the firm of Day Pitney. Droney indicated personal reasons for his decision to retire.[5] He retired from senior service on January 2, 2020.

Notable cases

While on the Court of Appeals, Droney authored the Ragbir opinion,[6] which held that immigrants could not be deported in retaliation for their protected First Amendment speech, and Force v. Facebook,[7] which held that the matchmaking algorithms of Facebook were protected by a federal immunity statute. He also provided the deciding vote for the panel in Windsor v. United States,[8] which held that the Equal Protection Clause guaranteed the right of same-sex couples to marry. He also dissented from the denial of en banc in the Microsoft email case, arguing that the United States could obtain emails of Microsoft customers that were stored abroad. Droney also joined in the Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump opinion,[9] which held that the President's Twitter account was a First Amendment-protected public forum, as well as the Vance v. Trump opinion,[10] which held that the President's personal tax returns were not immune from production in response to a state grand jury subpoena. He also joined the opinion which required the disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein court documents.[11]

References

1. "Senate Questionnaire" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
2. "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 112th Congress - 1st Session".
3. "Droney, Christopher Fitzgerald - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
4. "Connecticut's Judge Christopher Droney to retire, creating vacancy for President Trump to fill on Second Circuit Court of Appeals". courant.com. Hartford Courant.
5. Mahony, Edmund H. "Federal Judge Christopher Droney to leave U.S. Circuit Court for position with Hartford law firm". courant.com.
6. Ragbir v. Homan, 923 F.3d 53 (2d Cir. 2019)
7. 934 F.3d 53 (2d Cir. 2019)
8. United States v. Windsor, 699 F.3d 168 (2d Cir. 2012), aff'd, 570 U.S. 744 (2013)
9. 928 F.3d 226 (2d Cir. 2019)
10. 941 F.3d 631 (2d Cir. 2019)
11. Brown v. Maxwell, 929 F.3d 41 (2d Cir. 2019)

External links

• Christopher F. Droney at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Christopher Droney at Ballotpedia
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Legal offices
Preceded by Stanley Twardy	United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut 1993–1997	Succeeded by Stephen C. Robinson
Preceded by Alan Harris Nevas	Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut 1997–2011	Succeeded by Michael P. Shea
Preceded by Guido Calabresi	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 2011–2019	Succeeded by William J. Nardini