Stephen Roy Reinhardt

Stephen Roy Reinhardt was a United States circuit judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1980 until his death in 2018. Born in New York City in 1931, he maintained chambers in Los Angeles, California, throughout his nearly four-decade tenure on the federal bench. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, Reinhardt held the distinction of being the last active federal appeals court judge appointed by Carter still serving at the time of his death. His lengthy service on one of the nation's largest and most influential circuit courts made him a significant figure in the federal judiciary during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Early life and legal career

Born Stephen Roy Shapiro on March 27, 1931, in New York City, Reinhardt came from a Jewish family. His father, Samuel Shapiro, practiced law, and his mother was Silvia Handelsman. Following his parents' divorce, his mother married Gottfried Reinhardt, a film director and producer who was himself the son of the renowned director Max Reinhardt. The young Stephen subsequently adopted his stepfather's surname. The family relocated to California, where Reinhardt attended University High School in Los Angeles.

Reinhardt pursued his undergraduate education at Pomona College, completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in government in 1951 after just three years of study. He then attended Yale Law School, earning his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1954. His legal education at one of the nation's most prestigious law schools provided the foundation for what would become a distinguished career in law and public service.

Following his graduation from law school, Reinhardt entered military service, working in the legal counsel's office for the United States Air Force with the rank of lieutenant in Washington, D.C. After completing this service approximately two years later, he secured a clerkship with United States District Judge Luther Youngdahl of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Youngdahl, a former governor of Minnesota, provided Reinhardt with valuable experience in the federal judiciary that would prove formative for his later career.

Reinhardt then transitioned to private legal practice, joining the prominent law firm O'Melveny & Myers in 1958, where he practiced entertainment law. After approximately two years with that firm, he moved to a smaller Los Angeles firm that eventually became known as Fogel, Julber, Reinhardt, Rothschild & Feldman. At this firm, he shifted his focus to labor law, developing expertise in representing workers and unions.

Beyond his private practice, Reinhardt became deeply involved in civil rights and Democratic Party politics. He served on the United States Commission on Civil Rights, California Advisory Committee from 1962 to 1974, holding the position of vice chairman from 1969 until 1974. He also served as a member of the Democratic National Committee and provided unpaid advisory services to prominent California political figures, including Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and California Governor Jerry Brown. In 1975, he received an appointment to the Los Angeles Police Commission, an important civilian oversight body. He chaired this commission from 1978 until his confirmation to the federal bench in 1980, playing a significant role in police governance during a critical period in Los Angeles history.

Federal appellate service

President Jimmy Carter nominated Reinhardt to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on November 30, 1979. The nomination was for a newly created seat authorized by federal statute. Following the nomination process, the United States Senate confirmed Reinhardt on September 11, 1980, and he received his commission the same day. He would serve continuously on the Ninth Circuit until his death, a period spanning nearly thirty-eight years.

The Ninth Circuit, which covers the western United States including California, is the largest of the federal circuit courts by both geography and caseload. Throughout his tenure, Reinhardt maintained his chambers in Los Angeles. His service extended well into the twenty-first century, making him one of the longest-serving judges on the circuit and a senior member of the court for many years before his death.

Beyond his judicial duties, Reinhardt continued to participate in public service activities. He served as Secretary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, contributing to the successful staging of the Summer Olympics in his adopted city. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Amateur Athletic Foundation, which was established with surplus funds from those Olympic Games. In a ceremonial capacity reflecting his standing in the Los Angeles legal and civic community, he administered the oath of office to Antonio Villaraigosa when Villaraigosa became Mayor of Los Angeles on July 1, 2005.

Reinhardt's personal life included three marriages. He married Mary Wainwright in 1956, and they had three children together before divorcing after nearly twenty-five years of marriage. His second wife was Maureen Kindel, who served as president of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works during the 1980s. He later married Ramona Ripston, who had a distinguished career as Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California until her retirement in February 2011. Reinhardt and Ripston remained married until his death.

Reinhardt died in Los Angeles on March 29, 2018, from a heart attack. He was eighty-seven years old, having passed away just two days after his birthday. His death terminated his judicial service after more than three decades on the bench.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Reinhardt developed a reputation as one of the most liberal members of the federal appellate judiciary. He openly acknowledged his political philosophy, stating in 2003 that he had been liberal from a very young age and believed he was born that way. This ideological orientation informed his approach to the law throughout his judicial career, though he maintained that his decisions were grounded in legal principles rather than mere political preference.

His decisions were frequently reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States, and his opinions were reversed at a higher rate than those of many other circuit judges. Reinhardt himself addressed this pattern, expressing the view that Supreme Court reversals did not necessarily indicate that his original opinions were incorrect or failed to follow the law. He noted that the Supreme Court itself regularly changes legal doctrine, suggesting that differences between his rulings and subsequent Supreme Court decisions reflected evolving interpretations of law rather than judicial error on his part.

A significant posthumous controversy arose concerning one of Reinhardt's final cases. He participated in oral argument and authored an opinion in the case of Yovino v. Rizo, which was heard by eleven judges of the Ninth Circuit sitting en banc. The opinion was issued eleven days after his death, with a footnote indicating that Reinhardt had fully participated in the case, authored the opinion, and that all voting had been completed before his death. However, when the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, that Court vacated Reinhardt's opinion. The Supreme Court held that because Reinhardt was no longer a judge when the decision was publicly filed, the Ninth Circuit had erred in counting him as part of the majority. The Court reasoned that allowing a deceased judge's vote to count would effectively permit a judge to exercise federal judicial power after death, contrary to the principle that federal judges are appointed for life, not eternity. The case was remanded for further proceedings.

Following his death, additional controversy emerged when, in 2020, a former law clerk testified before a congressional subcommittee that Reinhardt had sexually harassed her during her clerkship. The staff attorney, then working at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in North Carolina, described her experience and her efforts to report the harassment in testimony before the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.

Chief Judge Sidney Runyan Thomas of the Ninth Circuit issued a statement upon learning of Reinhardt's death, describing the court's shock and sadness at losing a colleague. Thomas characterized Reinhardt as deeply principled, fiercely passionate about the law, and fearless in his decisions, predicting he would be remembered as one of the giants of the federal bench.