Bruce M. Selya

Bruce Marshall Selya (born May 27, 1934) is a Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and former chief judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review who is known for his distinctive writing style.[1][2]

Bruce Selya
Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
In office
May 19, 2008 – May 19, 2012
Appointed byJohn Roberts
Preceded byEdward Leavy
Succeeded byMorris S. Arnold
Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
In office
October 8, 2005 – May 19, 2008
Appointed byJohn Roberts
Preceded byEdward Leavy
Succeeded byMorris S. Arnold
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Assumed office
December 31, 2006
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
In office
October 14, 1986 – December 31, 2006
Appointed byRonald Reagan
Preceded bySeat established by 98 Stat. 333
Succeeded byOjetta Rogeriee Thompson
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island
In office
August 18, 1982 – November 24, 1986
Appointed byRonald Reagan
Preceded byRaymond James Pettine
Succeeded byErnest C. Torres
Personal details
Born
Bruce Marshall Selya

(1934-05-27) May 27, 1934
Providence, Rhode Island
EducationHarvard University (AB)
Harvard Law School (LLB)

Education and career

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Selya received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Harvard University in 1955. He received a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1958. He was a law clerk for Judge Edward William Day the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island from 1958 to 1960. He was in private practice of law in Providence from 1960 to 1982. He was a Judge of Probate in Lincoln, Rhode Island from 1965 to 1972.[3]

Federal judicial service

Selya was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on July 27, 1982, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island vacated by Judge Raymond James Pettine. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 18, 1982, and received commission the same day. His service was terminated on November 24, 1986, due to elevation to the First Circuit.[3]

Selya was nominated by President Reagan on September 26, 1986, to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the Senate on October 8, 1986, and received commission on October 14, 1986. He assumed senior status on December 31, 2006.[3]

In 2000, Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed Selya to the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, a position Selya held until 2004. In 2005, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Selya to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, and in 2008 Selya was appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts to the chief judgeship of the Court of Review.[4] As the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is not an adversarial court and (with few exceptions) only hears argument from the United States government, the Court of Review solely hears appeals from that court when the government is denied a warrant for wiretap surveillance of suspected terrorists or spies.[5]

Judge Selya assumed senior status at the end of 2006.[6] Then Senator Lincoln Chafee recommended that former Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Robert G. Flanders, Jr. be nominated to replace Selya.[7] President George W. Bush interviewed Flanders, U.S. District Judge William E. Smith, and Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Paul A. Suttell for the position,[8] before selecting Judge Smith as the nominee.[9] Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse asserted that, due to the President's failure to work with Whitehouse and fellow Democratic senator Jack Reed in selecting a consensus candidate, the vacancy left by Selya's departure would not be filled during Bush's tenure.[10] On October 6, 2009, Obama formally nominated Ojetta Thompson to Selya's seat on the First Circuit.[11] She was confirmed by the Senate in a 98-0 vote on March 17, 2010.[12]

Writing style

As a private practitioner, Selya was often lulled to sleep by the legalese and boilerplate rhetoric in judicial opinions, a matter he has sought to remedy since ascending to the bench: "I made a commitment to myself that I would attempt to prove that sound jurisprudence and interesting prose are not mutually exclusive."[13] Selya disclaims "lexiphanicism for its own sake." For Selya, precision is a precondition for his use of a word, and "[i]f it does not fit, I won't submit."[13]

Selya aspires toward readability by using uncommon words in contexts that make the words' meanings clear;[13] and apart from his vocabulary, Selya's prose is notable for its readability and its avoidance of clotted or formulaic legal rhetoric. It is clear that Selya is widely read by his colleagues. Over the years 1998–2000, Selya numbered as the fourth most cited federal judge outside of the Supreme Court, as measured by the number of citations to his opinions from outside of his own circuit.[14] Occupying the three positions above Selya were Judges Richard Posner, Frank Easterbrook, and Sandra Lynch.

Selya's writing style is not without its critics. Boston attorney Harvey A. Silverglate has written that his opinions are "well known" for their "remarkably judgmental but politically naive language," and that "[i]t is not unusual to see Selya gratuitously criticize, in sarcastic and sometimes grandiloquent fashion, a party or witness. He has earned a reputation for tossing around both his power and trademark one-hundred-dollar words."[15]

Notable opinions

One of Selya's recent opinions, Ungar v. PLO,[16] has been singled out by The Green Bag as a notable example of good judicial writing.[17] A representative sampling of recent opinions includes Aguilar v. ICE, 510 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2007) (immigration law and federal jurisdiction);[18] Havlik v. Johnson & Wales University, 509 F.3d 25 (1st Cir. 2007) (education law);[19] Alexander v. Brigham & Women's Physicians Org., 513 F.3d 37 (1st Cir. 2008) (employee benefits);[20] United States v. Martin, 520 F.3d 87 (1st Cir. 2008) (federal sentencing guidelines);[21] Connectu LLC v. Zuckerberg, 522 F.3d 82 (1st Cir. 2008) (civil procedure);[22] Rio Mar Assocs., LP, SE v. UHS of Puerto Rico, Inc., 522 F.3d 159 (1st Cir. 2008) (tort law);[23] and Morales v. Sociedad Espanola de Auxilio Mutuo y Benificencia, 2008 U.S. App. 2380 (administrative and medical law).[24]

References
  1. Abel, David (December 10, 2006). "The sesquipedalian septuagenarian". Boston Globe. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
  2. Bernan Press; Federal Judicial Center (2001). Biographical Directory of the Federal Judiciary. Bernan Press. ISBN 9780890592588. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  3. "Selya, Bruce Marshall - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  4. Fitzpatrick, Edward (April 14, 2008). "Selya Is Named Top Judge on U.S. Wiretap Court". Providence Journal. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
  5. "Federal Appeals Judge in Boston Named Top Judge of Wiretap Court" Boston.com, April 14, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Peoples, Steve (March 17, 2006). "Chafee Taps Flanders for Appeals Court Vacancy". Providence Journal. Archived from the original on July 11, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
  8. Fitzpatrick, Edward (November 20, 2006). "Fate of Flander's Judgeship Uncertain". Providence Journal. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
  9. Mulligan, John (December 7, 2007). "Bush Selects Smith for U.S. Appeals Court". Providence Journal. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
  10. Fitzpatrick, Edward (September 24, 2007). "Federal court vacancies yet to be filled". The Providence Journal. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
  11. President Obama Nominates Judge Denny Chin for United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson for United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Archived October 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, whitehouse.gov (October 6, 2009).
  12. Congressional Record March 17, 2010
  13. "How Appealing's 20 Questions: Bruce M. Selya". HowAppealing.law.com. March 8, 2004. Archived from the original on October 4, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
  14. Choi, Stephen; et al. "Mr. Justice Posner? Unpacking the Statistics" (PDF). 61 N.Y.U. Ann. Surv. Am. L. 19, 28 (2005). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2007.
  15. Silverglate, Harvey (June 24, 2005) Finneran's Wake Archived October 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Boston Phoenix
  16. "Ungar v. PLO, 402 F.3d 274 (1st Cir. 2005)". United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Archived from the original on August 29, 2007. Retrieved October 13, 2007.
  17. "Green Bag: Recommended Reading" (PDF). Green Bag Almanac & Reader 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 9, 2006. Retrieved October 13, 2007.
  18. "FindLaw's United States First Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw.
  19. "FindLaw's United States First Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw.
  20. "FindLaw's United States First Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw.
  21. "FindLaw's United States First Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw.
  22. "FindLaw's United States First Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw.
  23. "FindLaw's United States First Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw.
  24. "FindLaw's United States First Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw.

Sources
Legal offices
Preceded by
Raymond James Pettine		 Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island
1982–1986		 Succeeded by
Ernest C. Torres
Preceded by
Seat established[1]		 Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
1986–2006		 Succeeded by
Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson
Preceded by
Edward Leavy		 Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
2005–2008		 Succeeded by
Morris S. Arnold
Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
2008–2012
  1. Seat established by 98 Stat. 333, §201(a)(1).
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