Charles R. Breyer

Charles R. Breyer
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Incumbent
Assumed office December 31, 2011
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
In office November 12, 1997 – December 31, 2011
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	D. Lowell Jensen
Succeeded by	William H. Orrick, III
Personal details
Born	1941 (age 82–83) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Relations	Justice Stephen Breyer (brother)
Alma mater	Harvard University (A.B.) UC Berkeley School of Law (J.D.)

Charles R. Breyer (born 1941) is a Senior United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Judge Charles Breyer's official portrait for the U.S. District Court was painted by Scott Wallace Johnston

Early life and career

Born in San Francisco, California, Breyer received an Artium Baccalaureus from Harvard College in 1963 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law in 1966. He was a law clerk to Judge Oliver Carter of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California from 1966 to 1967. He was a Counsel, Legal Aid Society of San Francisco, California in 1967, and was then an assistant district attorney for the City & County of San Francisco, California from 1967 to 1973.

Breyer was an assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force from 1973 to 1974, and then entered private practice in San Francisco, California from 1974 to 1997, interrupted by a brief stint as chief assistant district attorney of the City and County of San Francisco in 1979.

Federal judicial service

On July 24, 1997, Breyer was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by D. Lowell Jensen. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 8, 1997, and received his commission on November 12, 1997. He took senior status on December 31, 2011.

Notable cases

Breyer presided over the Ed Rosenthal trial in 2007, in Rosenthal's federal prosecution for distribution of marijuana for medical use. He also presided over the stock-options backdating trial of Brocade Communications Systems CEO Gregory Reyes in 2007.

In 2014, he ruled against the City of San Francisco's legislation to protect tenants from Ellis Act evictions. He presided over the 2014 criminal case involving San Francisco police theft and racist texting, in which his court order was blamed for the delay in releasing information.

Personal life

Breyer is the brother of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Justice Breyer has recused himself from appeals of cases tried by his brother: Olympic Airways v. Husain, Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker, United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Co-op, Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farm, Amgen, Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds and City and County of San Francisco v. Sheehan.

References

• Charles R. Breyer at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

Legal offices
Preceded by D. Lowell Jensen	Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California 1997–2011	Succeeded by William H. Orrick, III