William Alsup

William Alsup
Senior Judgeof theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of California
Incumbent
Assumed office January 21, 2021
Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of California
In office August 17, 1999 – January 21, 2021
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Thelton Henderson
Succeeded by	Jacqueline Scott Corley
Personal details
Born	William Haskell Alsup (1945-06-27)June 27, 1945 Jackson, Mississippi,U.S.
Education	Mississippi State University(BS) Harvard University(JD,MPP)

William Haskell Alsup(born June 27, 1945) is aseniorUnited States district judgeof theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Early life and career

Born inJackson,Mississippi,Alsup received aBachelor of Sciencedegree inmathematicsfromMississippi State Universityin 1967, aJuris DoctorfromHarvard Law Schoolin 1971, and aMaster of Public PolicyfromHarvard University'sJohn F. Kennedy School of Governmentin 1971.

He was alaw clerkto JusticeWilliam O. Douglasof theSupreme Court of the United Statesfrom 1971 to 1972.Alsup was in private practice inSan Francisco,Californiafrom 1972 to 1978, and was then an Assistant to theUnited States Solicitor Generalin theUnited States Department of Justicefrom 1978 to 1980. He returned to his private practice in San Francisco from 1980 to 1998 withMorrison & Foerster,when he briefly served as a special counsel in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in 1998. He was again in private practice in San Francisco from 1998 to 1999.

Federal judicial service

On March 24, 1999, Alsup was nominated by PresidentBill Clintonto a seat on theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Californiavacated byThelton Henderson.Alsup was confirmed by theUnited States Senateon July 30, 1999, and received his commission on August 17, 1999. He assumedsenior statuson January 21, 2021.

Notable cases

Alsup presided over the 2012 and 2016 jury trials inOracle America, Inc. v. Google, Inc.,which concerns theAPIsofJava SEandAndroid.He drew media attention for his familiarity with programming languages, at one point criticizing Oracle counselDavid Boiesfor arguing that the Java function rangeCheck was novel, saying that he had "written blocks of code like rangeCheck a hundred times or more".Alsup was widely described as having learned Java in order to better understand the case,although a 2017 profile inThe Vergehe stated that he had not learned a significant amount of Java, but had rather applied his knowledge as a longtime hobbyistBASICprogrammer.The Federal Circuit overturned his determination that the Java API was not copyrightable.In 2021 theU.S. Supreme Courtmade no decision on copyrightability but decided that, even if copyright existed, Google's use of theAPIhad beenfair useand so not unlawful.

Alsup was also the presiding judge in what is believed to be the first trial against the U.S.no-fly policy,which is a list of people who cannot use commercial aircraft in the United States. Regarding the removal of people incorrectly included in the list, he ruled that, "[t]he government's administrative remedies fall short of such relief and do not supply sufficient due process."

In August 2020, Judge Alsup sentencedAnthony Levandowskito 18 months in prison for one count of trade secret theft,for stealing technology from Google'sWaymoto foundOtto,a self driving startup, then selling it toUbersix months later for $680 million.In May 2017, Judge Alsup had ordered Levandowski to refrain from working on Otto'sLidarand required Uber to disclose its discussions on the technology.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

See also:Regents of University of California v. United States Department of Homeland Security

In September 2017, Judge Alsup was assigned four cases by parties suing to haltPresident Trump's decision to end theDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivalsprogram created byBarack Obama.On December 20, the Supreme Court unanimously issued an opinion urging Judge Alsup to consider arguments by the Trump administration that ending DACA was within executive authority and is not reviewable by federal courts.

On January 9, 2018, he granted a temporary injunction haltingPresident Trump's rescission of DACA.

Dismissal of Lawsuit Against ExxonMobil

See also:ExxonMobil climate change controversy

On July 27, 2018, Judge Alsup dismissed a lawsuit targeting ExxonMobil on the basis that two California cities, San Francisco and Oakland, could not prove the energy company was responsible for climate change in the state.

Student loans

On November 17, 2022, Alsup ruled in favor of 200,000 student loan borrowers in a class action lawsuit who claim that they were defrauded by for-profit colleges/universities. Alsup calls the program's backlog "an impossible quagmire... As of now, approximately 443,000 borrowers have pending borrower-defense applications. That is a staggering number. If, hypothetically, the Department's Borrower Defense Unit had all 33 of its claim adjudicators working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year (no holidays or vacation), with each claim adjudicator processing two claims per day, it would take the Department more than twenty-five years to get through the backlog." Alsup's ruling was based on borrower defense, which allows students to have their loans forgiven if the university lies to them about their job prospects, credit transferability or likely salary after graduation.

Interest in Sierra hiking and history

Alsup has spent much time in the Sierra Nevada mountains and published a book telling the story of the search for notable mountaineerWalter A Starr, Jr.

Awards and recognition

2013: Tara L. Riedley Barristers Choice Award, Bar Association of San Francisco
2013: Award of recognition fromLewis and Clark Law School.

See also

• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 4)

Sources

• William Alsupat theBiographical Directory of Federal Judges,a publication of theFederal Judicial Center.