Jeffrey White

Jeffrey Steven White (born September 2, 1945) is a United States jurist and judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He was appointed to the Federal Bench by President George W. Bush on July 25, 2002, and received commission on November 15, 2002.

Personal

White earned his B.A. from Queens College of the City University of New York in 1967, and his J.D. from the State University of New York in 1970.

Career

Positions

*Attorney, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1970-1971.
*Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Maryland, 1971-1977.
*Attorney, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1977-1978.
*Private practice, San Francisco, California, 1978-2002.
*Judge, Northern District of California, 2002-Present.

Controversies

Global Warming

In 2005, White allowed environment groups and four municipalities to go forward with a lawsuit against federal agencies. The basis for the lawsuit was a claim that the federal government is contributing to global warming by funding various overseas projects.

Wikileaks

In February 2008, White shut down the ISP provider for the American mirror of the Website WikiLeaks. The basis for this action was a claim by the Swiss banking group Julius Baer. On February 18, 2008, White approved an agreement between Dynadot and Baer (an injunction based on stipulation); [ [http://wikileaks.be/wiki/Wikileaks.org_under_injunction Wikileaks.org under injunction - Wikileaks ] ] [ [https://s.p10.hostingprod.com/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/wikileak/censorship_threats_from_lawyers/ California District Court Injunction against Dynadot, the WikiLeakS.org Domain Registrar] ] this action garnered news coverage around the world. [BBC "Whistle blower site taken offline" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7250916.stm Monday, 18 February 2008, 16:20 GMT] [Royal Gazette "Wikileaks shut down" http://www.theroyalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d82a3330030021&sectionId=60 Monday, 18 February 2008, 18:55 GMT]

This order was widely criticized as both improper (prior restraint is generally prohibited by the First Amendment) and ineffective (Wikileaks' web servers are in Sweden, and numerous mirrors exist). [Misguided judge pulls plug on Wikileaks http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_8322372]

White vacated the injunction on February 29, 2008, citing First Amendment concerns and questions about legal jurisdiction. [cite news | author=Philipp Gollner | work=Reuters| title=Judge reverses ruling in Julius Baer leak case | url=http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN2927431720080229 | title=Judge reverses ruling in Julius Baer leak case | date=29 February 2008 | accessdate=2008-03-01] Wikileaks was thus able to bring its site online again. The bank dropped the case on March 5, 2008. [cite web
url=http://www.informationweek.com/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206902154
title=Swiss Bank Abandons Lawsuit Against Wikileaks: The wiki had posted financial documents it said proved tax evasion by Bank Julius Baer's clients
first=Thomas
last=Claburn
publisher=InformationWeek
date=2008-03-06] The judge also denied the bank's request for an order prohibiting the website's publication.

The Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Lucy Dalglish, commented:

"It's not very often a federal judge does a 180 degree turn in a case and dissolves an order. But we're very pleased the judge recognized the constitutional implications in this prior restraint." [http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/01/judge-rethinks-wikileaks Judge reverses Wikileaks injunction - The INQUIRER ] ]

Links

* [http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2973 Official biography]
* [http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8C6HGLO0&show_article=1 "Federal Judge OKs Global Warming Lawsuit"] , David Kravetz, the Associated Press, August 24, 2005
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/us/20wiki.html "Judge Shuts Down Web Site Specializing in Leaks"] from the New York Times

References