22 Facts About Diarmuid O'Scannlain

Diarmuid Fionntain O'Scannlain is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain was in the United States Army Reserve, JAG Corps from 1955 to 1978.

In September 1960, O'Scannlain attended the founding conference of Young Americans for Freedom, held at William F Buckley Jr.

At that conference Diarmuid O'Scannlain was elected to serve on YAF's original Board of Directors.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain was a tax attorney for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and New York City from 1963 to 1965, and in private practice in Portland, Oregon, from 1965 to 1969.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain was a deputy state attorney general in the Oregon Department of Justice from 1969 to 1971, then an Oregon public utility commissioner from 1971 to 1973, and finally Director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality from 1973 to 1974.

In 1974, Diarmuid O'Scannlain was the Republican candidate for the United States House of Representatives representing Oregon's 1st congressional district, but lost to Democrat Les AuCoin, the first time the district had ever elected a Democrat.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain returned to private practice in Portland from 1975 to 1986, working as a consultant to the Office of the President-Elect of the United States from 1980 to 1981, and as a team leader for the President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control from 1982 to 1983.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain chaired an advisory panel for the United States Secretary of Energy from 1983 to 1985.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25,1986, and received his commission on September 26,1986.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain continued to be involved in the politics of the federal court system after assuming senior status.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain is a strong supporter of splitting the Ninth Circuit.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain testified in 2017, before the US Senate Judiciary Committee in support of breaking up the 9th Circuit.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain was joined on a panel by his former clerk, Brian Fitzpatrick, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain supported the nomination of Ryan Bounds, another former clerk, to the 9th Circuit Court vacancy created by his taking senior status.

On February 13,2014, O'Scannlain wrote the majority opinion in the case of Peruta v San Diego, and issued a ruling that stated California's may-issue concealed carry rules, as implemented by the County of San Diego, in combination with a ban on open carry in most areas of the state, violate the Second Amendment, because they together deny law-abiding citizens the right to bear arms in public for the lawful purpose of self-defense.

In Spokeo, Inc v Robins, O'Scannlain found that under the Fair Credit Reporting Act a plaintiff had standing to sue an allegedly inaccurate website.

On July 24,2018, O'Scannlain wrote the majority opinion in the case of Young v Hawaii, which said that the Second Amendment protects the right to open carry in public.

On February 10,2020, O'Scannlain wrote an opinion respecting the denial of en banc hearing in Edmo v Corizon.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain explained that as a judge in senior status, he cannot vote on these petitions, but he can issue statements respecting the denial of en banc.

In September 2020, Diarmuid O'Scannlain wrote for the majority when it found that a robocall defendant could not force the plaintiff into arbitration based on a customer agreement the plaintiff had signed with a separate company several years before it had been acquired by the holding company that now owned the defendant.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain concurred separately to argue that even if the Federal Arbitration Act had preempted state law limitation on absurdity in contracts, it still did not require arbitration of claims wholly unrelated to the original contract.