James C. Mahan
James C. Mahan (born 1943) is a United States federal judge.
Born in El Paso, Texas, Mahan received a B.A. from the University of Charleston in 1965 and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1973. He was in the United States Navy from 1966 to 1969. He was a United States Navy Reserve from 1970 to 1972. He was in private practice in Nevada from 1973 to 1999. He was a District Judge, Eight Judicial District Court, State of Nevada from 1999 to 2002.
Mahan is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Mahan was nominated by President George W. Bush on September 10, 2001, to a new seat created by 114 Stat. 2762. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 25, 2002, and received his commission on January 30, 2002.
In 2006, Mahan was investigated by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals after it became known that he had awarded a total of nearly $5 million in court awards and fees to individuals with whom he had personal and business relationships.[1] These individuals included his formal judicial campaign treasurer as well as a former law partner, who was at that time providing free legal services to Mahan's wife and Mahan's judicial assistant.[2] The relationships were uncovered by the Los Angeles Times and were not disclosed by Mahan, who denied wrongdoing.[3]
On October 9, 2014, Judge Mahan issued an injunction barring enforcement of Nevada's ban on same-sex marriage. A different judge of the Nevada District Court upheld Nevada's same-sex marriage ban in 2012, but was reversed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and remanded. The judge recused himself and the case was assigned to Mahan, who promptly issued the injunction.
References
Sources
- James C. Mahan at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
Legal offices | ||
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Preceded by new seat |
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada 2002–present |
Incumbent |
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