John Clifford Wallace


John Clifford Wallace is a Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and previously was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

Education and career

Born in San Diego, California, Wallace received a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University in 1952, and a Bachelor of Laws from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1955. He served in the United States Navy as a Second Class Petty Officer from 1946 to 1949. He was in private practice in San Diego from 1955 to 1970, at the law firm of Gray Carey Ames & Frye.

Federal judicial service

Wallace was nominated by President Richard Nixon on October 7, 1970, to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, to a new seat authorized by 84 Stat. 294. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 13, 1970, and received his commission on October 16, 1970. His service terminated on July 14, 1972, due to his elevation to the Ninth circuit.
Wallace was nominated by President Nixon on May 22, 1972, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Judge James Marshall Carter. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 28, 1972, and received his commission on June 28, 1972. He served as Chief Judge from 1991 to 1996. He assumed senior status on April 8, 1996. As a senior judge, Wallace has a reduced caseload, but he continues to hear cases in the Ninth Circuit, and he sits by designation from time to time as a visiting judge on other federal appellate courts.
On July 31, 2018, Wallace wrote an opinion ruling against the sheriff Joe Arpaio. He was joined by Judges Graber and Berzon. On October 22, 2019, Wallace wrote a 2-1 opinion that prohibited religious exemptions for businesses that did not want to participate in the healthcare system due to support of contraceptives. Wallace was joined by Graber, over the dissent of Kleinfeld.