Paul G. Cassell

Paul George Cassell
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah
In office
May 15, 2002 – November 5, 2007
Appointed by George W. Bush
Preceded by David Sam
Succeeded by Clark Waddoups
Personal details
Born Paul George Cassell
1959 (age 57–58)
Orange, California
Education Stanford University (B.A.)
Stanford Law School (J.D.)

Paul George Cassell (born 1959) is a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah, who is a professor at the law school of the University of Utah. He is best known as an expert in, and proponent of, victims' rights.

Biography

Born in Orange, California in 1959, Cassell received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in 1979.[1] He later received a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1984 and served as President of the Stanford Law Review. He was also a law clerk for Antonin Scalia, then a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, from 1984 to 1985. He was a law clerk for Chief Justice Warren E. Burger from 1985 to 1986. He was then an associate deputy attorney general in the United States Department of Justice from 1986 to 1988, and an assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia from 1988 to 1991. He was a professor of law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah from 1992 to 2002 and since 2007.

District court service

On September 4, 2001, Cassell was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Utah vacated by David Sam.[2] Cassell was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 13, 2002,[3] and received his commission on May 15, 2002, and served in that capacity until his resignation on November 5, 2007. Cassell then returned to teaching at the S.J. Quinney College of Law.

Cassell is a proponent of capital punishment.[4]

Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 v. United States

Cassell is part of the legal team in an ongoing lawsuit against the United States by several alleged victims of registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in violation of their rights under the Crime Victims' Rights Act.

A December 30, 2014 filing in a federal civil suit in Florida against the United States for violations of the Crime Victims' Rights Act says that the United States, in giving Epstein a plea bargain in 2008, violated his victims' rights under the Crime Victims' Rights Act. The filing accuses Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer who represented Epstein in his 2008 plea deal, of sexually abusing a minor provided by Epstein. The United Kingdom's Prince Andrew is also alleged to have had sex with underage girls provided by Epstein. Both have denied the charges.[5][6][7] On January 3, 2015, Epstein's lawyer Alan Dershowitz said he would initiate disbarment proceedings against Cassell and another lawyer on the alleged victims' legal team, claiming they lied deliberately in some of their accusations.[8] Cassell has countered: "We have been informed of Mr. Dershowitz's threats based on the factual allegations we have made in our recent filing. We carefully investigate all of the allegations in our pleadings before presenting them. We have also tried to depose Mr. Dershowitz on these subjects, although he has avoided those deposition requests."[9]

Articles

References

  1. ↑ "Cassell, Paul G. - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  2. ↑ David G. Savage (September 29, 2007). "Judges seek leeway in prison sentences". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 4, 2015. "The worst aspect is the utter irrationality of the system," said U.S. District Judge Paul G. Cassell from Utah, an appointee of President Bush and former law clerk to Antonin Scalia before Scalia joined the Supreme Court.
  3. ↑ "Biography: Paul G. Cassell". Deseret News. July 11, 2004. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  4. ↑ Brendan Pierson (January 6, 2015). "Top U.S. lawyer Dershowitz: can his accusers in sex abuse case be disbarred?". Reuters. Retrieved January 6, 2015. Cassell, who left his post as federal judge in 2007, describes himself as an advocate for crime victims. He has championed the death penalty - and unsuccessfully pushed to overturn the 1966 Supreme Court decision requiring police to read detainees their rights.
  5. ↑ "Woman who sued convicted billionaire over sex abuse levels claims at his friends".
  6. ↑ Daniel Woodruff (January 3, 2015). "Utah attorney involved in lawsuit claiming sex abuse by Prince Andrew". KUTV. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ Erin Fuchs (January 5, 2015). "How A Famous Harvard Professor Got Caught Up In A Financier's Sex Abuse Scandal". Business Insider. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  8. ↑ Emma G. Fitzsimmons (January 3, 2015). "Prince Andrew and Alan Dershowitz Are Mentioned in Suit Alleging Sex With Minor". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  9. ↑ Pat Reavy (January 5, 2015). "Dershowitz denies sex allegation, calls for U. professor to be disbarred". KSL. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
Legal offices
Preceded by
David Sam		 Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah
2002–2007 		Succeeded by
Clark Waddoups
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