Judge Rudolph Contreras
District of Columbia U.S. District Court
Rudolph “Rudy” Contreras was born in December 1962 in Miami, Florida. He earned an undergraduate degree from Florida State University and received his Juris Doctor from University of Pennsylvania Law School. He engaged in the private practice of law.
He served six years as the Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia.
He was nominated by President Barack Obama to fill a vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote and received his commission in March 2012.
In April 2016, Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court appointed Contreras to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court for a term that began May 2016. Last year, Contreras was named Presiding Judge of the FISA court.
In the News…
During his first days in office, President Biden signed an executive order that paused new permissions on oil and gas drilling. Thirteen states that rely heavily on oil and gas industries filed a lawsuit and, after a judge blocked the administration’s order, the sale went through in November that netted almost $192 million.
Several environmental groups then sued over the sale, saying it was conducted under flawed assumptions.,
U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras agreed, saying the lease sale was invalid because an analysis by the Department of the Interior did not fully take into consideration how the leases will impact the climate. His decision effectively cancels 1.7 million acres of leases. Judge Contreras found that the president’s administration used outdated modeling from the prior administration when it looked at the climate-warming impact of the lease sale.
As part of the ruling, the Interior Department must fix its environmental analysis and greenhouse gas modeling.
An appeal is under consideration.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Contreras today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Rudolph Contreras
U.S. District Court for the D.C. Circuit
E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse
333 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001
