R. Gary Klausner

Robert Gary Klausner (born August 4, 1941) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

R. Gary Klausner
Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
Assumed office
November 15, 2002
Appointed byGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byWilliam Duffy Keller
Personal details
Born
Robert Gary Klausner

(1941-08-04) August 4, 1941
Los Angeles, California
EducationUniversity of Notre Dame (BA, BS)
Loyola Law School (JD)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1967–1969
RankCaptain
Battles/warsVietnam War

Early life and education

Klausner was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1941.[1] He graduated from Loyola High School.[2] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree (1963) and Bachelor of Science degree (1964) from the University of Notre Dame.[1] He received his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in 1967.[2]

Military and state judicial career

He served in the United States Army from 1967 to 1969,[1] serving during the Vietnam War as a captain.[2] He then was a deputy district attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office from 1969 to 1974.[2][1]

He served as a court commissioner of the Pasadena Municipal Court from 1974 to 1980. Governor Jerry Brown appointed him as a judge on the Pasadena Municipal Court in 1980. In 1985, Governor George Deukmejian elevated Klausner to the Los Angeles Superior Court bench, where he served until 2002.[2] Klausner became supervising judge of the Criminal Departments in 1991 and assistant presiding judge in 1993; he was presiding judge from 1995 to 1996.[2] In this role, Klausner opposed a merger of the municipal and superior courts.[3]

Federal judicial service

Klausner was nominated by President George W. Bush on July 18, 2002, to be a Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California to the seat vacated by William Duffy Keller.[2] Klausner, a Republican, was recommended for the post by a unanimous vote of a local bipartisan committee that screens potential judicial nominees, and his nomination was uncontroversial.[3] Klausner was rated "well qualified" by a substantial majority of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.[4] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 14, 2002, by voice vote,[5] and received his commission the following day.[2]

Notable rulings

In 2006, Klausner presided over United States v. Ancheta, the federal prosecution of Jeanson James Ancheta of Downey, California, the first botnet-related prosecution in U.S history. Following Ancheta's guilty plea, Klausner sentenced Ancheta to 57 months in prison for various botnet-related crimes.[6] In 2016, Klausner presided over a copyright case filed by the estate of Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe against Led Zeppelin founders Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. The estate of Wolfe alleged that Wolfe was entitled to a writing credit for the song "Stairway to Heaven"; Klausner ruled in April 2016 that a jury could find "substantial similarity" between the elements of the two songs.[7] In another copyright case arising from the Star Trek fan film Prelude to Axanar, Klausner rejected various motions by both parties in January 2017, setting the stage for a civil trial on the matter to go forward.[8][9] The parties settled the suit.[10] In August 2017, Klausner dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed by boxing fans who contended that the 2015 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao boxing match was deceptively marketed because Pacquiao failed to disclose a shoulder injury that affected his performance. Klausner ruled that fans of sporting events have no right to have the event meet their expectations for excitement.[11] In October 2017, Klausner ruled in favor of the plaintiff Coachella Music Festival in a lawsuit against the fledgling "Filmchella" film festival, finding that the names were likely to cause consumer confusion.[12]

On May 1, 2020, Klausner rejected a lawsuit by the United States women's national soccer team's for equal pay, ruling there was no genuine issue of material fact that they were discriminated against in pay.[13][14][15]

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References
  1. Biography from the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges of the Federal Judicial Center.
  2. Kenneth Ofgang, Senate Confirms R. Gary Klausner as Judge of U.S. District Court, Metropolitan News-Enterprise (November 18, 2002).
  3. David Rosenweig, 2 L.A. Superior Court Judges Picked for U.S. Court, Los Angeles Times (July 23, 2002).
  4. Ratings of Article III Judicial Nominees, 107th Congress(2001-2002), American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.
  5. PN1982 — Robert G. Klausner — The Judiciary, 107th Congress (2001-2002), Congress.gov.
  6. "21-year-old hacker sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison". Orange County Register. May 9, 2006.
  7. "Stairway to Heaven in copyright trial". BBC News. April 12, 2016.
  8. Farivar, Cyrus (January 5, 2017). "Axanar isn't fair use, judge finds, setting stage for Star Trek copyright trial". Ars Technica.
  9. Gardner, Eriq (January 4, 2017). "'Star Trek' Fan Film Dispute Goes to Jury Trial in Big Ruling". The Hollywood Reporter.
  10. "Paramount, CBS Settle 'Star Trek' Fan Film Lawsuit". 20 January 2017.
  11. Ritter, Ken (August 25, 2017). "Judge KO's class-action case from Mayweather-Pacquiao fight". Associated Press.
  12. Chapple, Jon (October 12, 2017). "Court sides with Coachella in Filmchella dispute". IQ Magazine.
  13. Das, Andrew (May 1, 2020). "U.S. Women's Soccer Team's Equal Pay Demands Are Dismissed by Judge". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 2, 2020.
  14. Hays, Graham (May 1, 2020). "Judge sides with U.S. Soccer in USWNT's equal pay lawsuit". ESPN. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  15. Bachman, Rachel (May 1, 2020). "Judge Rejects U.S. Women's Soccer Players' Pay-Discrimination Claim". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
Legal offices
Preceded by
William Duffy Keller		 Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
2002–present		 Incumbent
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