William Canby

William Cameron Canby, Jr. is currently a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sitting in Phoenix, Arizona. He was born on May 22, 1931, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Canby earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University in 1953 on an ROTC scholarship, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He then earned an LL.B. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1956, graduating Order of the Coif before clerking for Associate Justice Charles Evans Whittaker on the United States Supreme Court. As both a professor at Arizona State University College of Law and a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Canby has become known as an expert in American Indian Law. He has authored law review articles, a major textbook, and the West Nutshell Series primer on the subject. While still a professor at ASU, Canby successfully argued the case of Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, in which the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment allows lawyers to advertize in a manner that is not misleading to members of the general public.

[edit] Notable Rulings

In 1995, Canby held that the Tenth Amendment was not violated by provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that required local and state law enforcement officials to conduct background checks of handgun buyers. The Supreme Court reversed in Printz v. United States.

In 2001, Canby wrote a unanimous panel decision holding that the Americans with Disabilities Act required the Professional Golfers Association to allow disabled golfer Casey Martin to use a golf cart when competing. The opinion was affirmed by the Supreme Court in PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin.

Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Nominated by President Carter on April 2, 1980, to a seat vacated by Ozell Miller Trask.
Confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 21, 1980, and received commission on May 23, 1980.
Assumed senior status on May 23, 1996.

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant, JAG Corps, 1956-1958
Law clerk, Associate Justice Charles Evans Whittaker, Supreme Court of the United States, 1958-1959
Private practice, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1959-1962
Associate director, U.S. Peace Corps / Ethiopia, 1962-1963
Deputy director, U.S. Peace Corps / Ethiopia, 1963-1964
Director, U.S. Peace Corps / Uganda, 1964-1966
Special assistant, Sen. Walter F. Mondale, Washington, D.C., 1966
Special assistant, President Harris Wofford, State University of New York at Old Westbury, 1967
Professor of law, Arizona State University College of Law, 1967-1980
Director, Office of Indian Law, Arizona State University College of Law
Visiting Fulbright professor of law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, 1970-1971