Marsha Siegel Berzon

Marsha Siegel Berzon is a senior United States circuit judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 2000, she served as an active‑service judge for more than two decades before assuming senior status in early 2022. Over the course of her career she has been recognized for her work as a law clerk to both a federal appellate judge and a Supreme Court justice, for a private‑practice litigation practice that included several landmark cases before the nation’s highest court, and for a judicial record that reflects extensive involvement in civil‑rights, employment‑law, immigration, and constitutional matters.

Early life and legal career

Marsha Lee Berzon was born in 1945. She earned her undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts, from Radcliffe College of Harvard University in 1966. Continuing her education on the West Coast, she received a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1973, where she contributed to the California Law Review. Following graduation, Berzon entered the federal judiciary as a clerk for Judge James R. Browning of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, serving from 1973 until 1974. She subsequently became the first female law clerk for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the United States Supreme Court, an experience that placed her at the center of the nation’s most consequential legal deliberations.

After completing her clerkships, Berzon moved into private practice. From 1975 to 1977 she worked in Washington, D.C., before relocating to San Francisco, California, where she practiced law from 1978 until her judicial appointment in 2000. Her litigation portfolio during this period was distinguished by a focus on Supreme Court advocacy; among the cases she argued before the Court was *UAW v. Johnson Controls* (1991), a decision that addressed gender‑based discrimination in employment. In addition to her practice, Berzon contributed to legal education as a lecturer at UC Berkeley in 1992 and later as a practitioner‑in‑residence at Cornell Law School in 1994.

Federal appellate service

President William J. Clinton nominated Berzon to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on January 27, 1998, to fill the vacancy created when Judge John T. Noonan assumed senior status on December 27, 1996. After an initial nomination that did not result in confirmation, Clinton renominated her on January 26, 1999. The United States Senate confirmed Berzon by a vote of 64–34 on March 9, 2000, and she received her commission a week later, on March 16, 2000. During her tenure as an active‑service judge, she participated in hundreds of panels and authored opinions across a broad spectrum of federal law.

In April 2021 Berzon announced her intention to take senior status once a successor was confirmed. She formally assumed senior status on January 23, 2022, thereby continuing to hear cases while creating a vacancy for a new full‑time judge on the Ninth Circuit.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Berzon’s judicial work is marked by frequent engagement with issues of civil liberties, equal protection, and immigration. Early in her appellate career she dissented from an en banc denial in 2003 when a panel rejected a Washington State Patrol cadet’s claim that he was forced to resign because the agency failed to accommodate his religious practices. Her dissent highlighted concerns about the adequacy of religious‑accommodation protections under federal law.

In the disability‑rights arena, Berzon warned in a 2008 opinion—*Molski v. Evergreen Dynasty Corp.*—that the majority’s reasoning could undermine enforcement of civil‑rights statutes. A year later she addressed an Establishment Clause challenge involving a San Francisco resolution condemning the Vatican; while concurring that the resolution aligned with prevailing jurisprudence, she expressed unease about its proximity to anti‑Catholic sentiment.

Berzon has repeatedly taken positions supportive of immigrant rights. In 2009 she dissented in *Abebe v. Holder*, arguing that deporting a lawful permanent resident without adequate protection violated equal‑protection principles. Her advocacy continued with a 2016 concurrence affirming that recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program could not be denied driver’s licenses, reinforcing the circuit’s stance on state‑level benefits for DACA beneficiaries.

On reproductive rights, Berzon authored a 2013 decision blocking Arizona’s twenty‑week abortion ban, finding it more restrictive than the federal Partial‑Birth Abortion Ban and therefore unconstitutional. In the same period she contributed to the Ninth Circuit’s recognition that bans on same‑sex marriage in Idaho and Nevada violated the Constitution; her concurring opinion framed those prohibitions as a form of gender discrimination subject to heightened scrutiny.

Berzon’s opinions have also addressed employment equality. She joined a 2018 panel, led by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, holding that prior salary history may not be used to determine an employee’s compensation because doing so perpetuates the gender wage gap under the Equal Protection Clause. The decision was later reaffirmed after Reinhardt’s retirement.

In criminal‑law contexts, Berzon dissented in a 2017 en banc case (*United States v. Martinez‑Lopez*) that permitted multiple convictions for a single drug offense, arguing that California law required each distinct substance to be named and that stacking convictions violated statutory limits. Her dissent was joined by Judges Stephen Reinhardt and Sidney Runyan Thomas.

Berzon’s concern for humane treatment extended to the rights of detained migrants. In August 2019 she authored a unanimous opinion requiring detention facilities to provide soap, sleep, and clean water to migrant children, emphasizing that these basic necessities are essential to safety and dignity. Earlier that year she concurred in a denial of en banc review concerning municipal ordinances criminalizing sleeping or lying in public spaces when no alternative shelter existed, noting the potential Eighth Amendment implications.

Her engagement with national security issues includes a 2020 ruling that declared an NSA program monitoring Americans’ cell phones illegal, reflecting a judicial willingness to scrutinize governmental surveillance powers. In the same year she dissented in *Ceren v. Barr*, contending that an immigration judge erred by refusing to allow an ill attorney to complete closing arguments, thereby compromising procedural fairness.

More recently, Berzon has participated in debates over Section 230 liability for internet platforms. While initially voting to limit a lawsuit against technology companies alleging responsibility for a terrorist attack, she called for the case to be reheard en banc to reconsider precedent protecting algorithmic functions from civil‑liability claims, and she voted in favor of such an en banc rehearing in early 2022.

Across these varied decisions, Berzon’s jurisprudence exhibits a consistent focus on safeguarding individual rights against governmental overreach, ensuring equal treatment under the law, and promoting fairness in both civil and criminal contexts. Her legacy includes pioneering contributions as the first female clerk to Justice Brennan, a distinguished appellate practice that brought significant cases before the Supreme Court, and a judicial record that has helped shape Ninth Circuit doctrine on issues ranging from reproductive freedom and LGBTQ rights to immigration protection and government surveillance. As a senior judge, she continues to influence the development of federal law while mentoring newer members of the judiciary through her ongoing participation in appellate panels.