John Bates

John Deacon Bates

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the District of Columbia (senior status)

Tenure

2014 - Present

Years in position

10

Prior offices

United States District Court for the District of Columbia

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Education

Bachelor's

Wesleyan University, 1968

Law

University of Maryland School of Law, 1976

Personal

Birthplace

Elizabeth, N.J.

Contact

Official website

John Deacon Bates is a federal judge on senior status with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Bates assumed senior status on October 12, 2014. He joined the court in 2001 after being nominated by President George W. Bush. Bates also served on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from February 22, 2006, until February 21, 2013. On June 11, 2013, Judge Bates was appointed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts as director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. He served as director until January 4, 2015.

Early life and education

Bates graduated from Wesleyan University with his bachelor's degree in 1968 and from the University of Maryland School of Law with his J.D. in 1976.

Military service

Bates served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1971.

Professional career

• 2001-Present: United States District Court for the District of Columbia

• 2014-Present: Senior judge
• 2001-2014: Judge

• 1998-2001: Private practice, Washington, D.C.
• 1995-1997: Deputy counsel, Whitewater investigation
• 1980-1997: Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Columbia
• 1977-1980: Private practice, Washington, D.C.
• 1977: Law clerk, Hon. Roszel Thomsen, United States District Court for the District of Maryland

Judicial career

District of Columbia

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: John D. Bates
Court: United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Progress
Confirmed 174 days after nomination.
ANominated: June 20, 2001
AABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire:
AHearing: October 25, 2001
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: November 29, 2001
AConfirmed: December 11, 2001
AVote: 97-0
AReturned: August 3, 2011

Bates was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by President George W. Bush on June 20, 2001, to a seat vacated by Judge Stanley Harris. The American Bar Association rated Bates Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination. Under Rule XXXI, paragraph six of the standing rules of the Senate, Judge Bates' nomination was returned to the president on August 3, 2001. President Bush resubmitted the nomination on September 4, 2001. Hearings on Bates' nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 25, 2001, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on November 29, 2011. Bates was confirmed on a recorded 97-0 vote of the U.S. Senate on December 11, 2011, and he received his commission on December 14, 2001. Bates elected to take senior status beginning on October 12, 2014.

Noteworthy cases

Bates rules Trump administration must fully restore DACA (2018)

On August 3, 2018, Bates published a 25-page opinion ruling that the Trump administration must fully restore the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Bates said in his ruling that the administration had failed to provide justification for its proposal to end DACA. He delayed the implementation of his ruling for 20 days in order to allow the administration to decide whether it would appeal the ruling and seek a stay pending appeal if they chose to appeal.

Bates rules against Trump administration expansion of association health plans (2019)

On March 28, 2019, Bates published a 43-page opinion vacating a Trump administration rule designed to expand association health plans (AHP). The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rule allowed self-employed people to join associations that provided group health insurance plans like those offered by employers. Bates’ opinion said that the DOL rule used an unreasonable interpretation of federal law that he must set aside under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Chevron doctrine.

The Chevron doctrine is a two-step framework that compels federal judges to defer to agency interpretations of laws in some cases. When judges review agency interpretations of law under Chevron they must first determine whether the law was clear. If the law is ambiguous, then the judge will defer to the agency interpretation unless it is unreasonable. The APA requires judges to invalidate agency actions that are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise contrary to law.

In this case, Judge Bates held that the DOL rule was designed as an end-run around the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that ignored the language and purpose of both the ACA and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Bates held that ERISA defined employer in an ambiguous way, but that the DOL rule’s definition was unreasonable. He wrote that the DOL rule failed at Chevron step two because its definition of employer stretched beyond the limits of ERISA in an unlawful way. He held that Congress did not intend for ERISA to regulate commercial healthcare insurance providers directly or to expand citizen access to healthcare benefits outside of employment relationships. He held that the DOL rule also contradicted the Affordable Care Act. He said Congress did not intend “that fifty-one distinct individuals employing no others could exempt themselves from the individual market’s requirements by loosely affiliating through a so-called ‘bona fide association’ without real employment ties.”

See also

• United States District Court for the District of Columbia
• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

External links

• Judge Bates' biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: Stanley Harris	U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 2001-2014	Succeeded by: NA