Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers

Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers
Official portrait, 2014
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 1, 2026
Preceded byRichard Seeborg
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 21, 2011
Appointed byBarack Obama
Preceded byVaughn Walker
Personal details
BornMaria Yvonne Gonzalez
(1965-02-01) February 1, 1965
Houston, Texas, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
SpouseMatthew Rogers
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
University of Texas, Austin (JD)
Signature

Maria Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (born February 1, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Appointed in 2011 by President Barack Obama, she was previously a California state judge on the Alameda County Superior Court from 2008 to 2011.

Early life and education

Rogers was born Maria Yvonne Gonzalez in 1965 in Houston.[1] She graduated from Princeton University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude. From 1987 to 1988, she worked as a legal researcher at a law firm in New Haven, Connecticut. She then attended the University of Texas School of Law, graduating in 1991 with a Juris Doctor.[2][3]

Career

From 1991 until 2003, Rogers worked as a litigator in private practice in San Francisco at the law firm of Cooley Godward LLP (now Cooley LLP).[2] She was an equity partner at the firm from 1999 until 2001. Rogers was a member of the civil grand jury in Alameda County, California from 2005 until 2007, and served as foreperson from 2006 until 2007.[2][3]

Judicial career

State court judicial service

Rogers served as a pro tem judge in Alameda County, California from 2007 until 2008.[2] In 2008, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Rogers, a Democrat, to the Alameda County Superior Court.[4] She replaced Judge Carlos G. Ynostroza on the bench.[4][3]

Federal judicial service

Earlier photo of Judge Rogers

On May 4, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Rogers to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California that had been vacated by Judge Vaughn Walker, who retired at the end of 2010.[5] The Senate confirmed her on November 15, 2011, by an 89–6 vote.[6] She received her commission on November 21, 2011.[3] She is the first Latina to serve as a federal judge in the Northern District of California.[7] She became chief judge of the court in 2026.[3][8]

Notable cases

Rogers has adjudicated various cases against Apple. In 2012, Rogers dismissed a class action lawsuit with prejudice, upholding Apple's defense that the "Illinois Brick doctrine" from the Supreme Court case Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431 U.S. 720 (1977) applied, as only the developers of apps could be damaged by Apple's policies, and consumers did not have statutory standing to bring suit on the developers' behalf. The Court specifically noted that the 30% fee Apple collects is "a cost passed-on to consumers by independent software developers".[9] The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed her decision, and the Court of Appeals was upheld by the Supreme Court in Apple Inc. v. Pepper.[10]

In December 2014, Rogers presided over a jury trial against Apple, in which plaintiffs claimed digital rights management (DRM) on Apple iTunes violated antitrust laws. On December 16, 2014, the jury reached a verdict in favor of Apple.[11]

Rogers presided over the Epic Games v. Apple case.[12] On August 24, 2020, Rogers issued an order granting a temporary restraining order for Epic's Unreal Engine, finding that the termination of Epic's developer account could result in the inability to "save all the projects by third-party developers relying on the engine that were shelved while support was unavailable." However, Rogers refused to grant a temporary restraining order with respect to Epic's apps, including Fortnite, citing that Epic's current predicament "appears of its own making."[13]

Rogers presided over Musk v. Altman.[14] She is now presiding over the bribery and corruption case against former Oakland mayor Sheng Thao.[15]

Rogers is presiding over the trial of Meta where Meta is accused of harming children with addictive technology and violating federal laws on child privacy and consumer protection with their algorithms and data collection. She is also set the rule on the case with the help of an eight person advisory jury.[16][17]

Notable activities

Rogers was elected to the American Law Institute in 1990 and was elected to the ALI Council in 2009.[18] She currently chairs the ALI's Membership Committee and serves as an Adviser on ALI's Principles of Election Law: Resolution of Election Disputes project.[19]

Personal life

Rogers' husband, Matthew C. Rogers, served in various positions in the Obama administration.[7][20] The couple live in Piedmont, California.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (May 2, 2011). "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 The White House: Office of the Press Secretary (May 4, 2011). "President Obama Nominates Six Judges to United States District Courts". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved July 9, 2011 – via National Archives.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  4. 1 2 "Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Thirty Superior Court Judges". Imperial Valley News. July 21, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  5. ↑ The White House: Office of the Press Secretary (May 4, 2011). "Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved July 9, 2011 – via National Archives.
  6. ↑ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, of California, to be U.S. District Judge)". www.senate.gov.
  7. 1 2 3 Mintz, Howard (May 5, 2011). "White House nominates East Bay judge to federal bench". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Gonzalez Rogers is named chief judge of northern district". Daily Journal. July 3, 2026. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  9. ↑ In re Apple iPhone Antitrust Litig., No. 11-cv-06714-YGR (N.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2013).
  10. ↑ Apple, Inc. v. Pepper, 587 U.S. ___ (2019).
  11. ↑ Elmer DeWitt, Philip (Dec 16, 2014). "Apple wins a unanimous victory in the iTunes antitrust case". Fortune. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  12. ↑ Needleman, Tim Higgins and Sarah E. (2021-05-25). "In Apple Antitrust Trial, Judge Signals Interest in Railroad, Credit-Card Monopoly Cases". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  13. ↑ Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple, Inc., No. 4:20-cv-05640-YGR (N.D. Cal. Aug. 24, 2020).
  14. ↑ Belanger, Ashley (2026-05-13). "Altman forced to confront claims at OpenAI trial that he's a prolific liar". Ars Technica.
  15. ↑ "Federal judge limits prosecution exhibits against former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao". ABC7 San Francisco. 2026-08-15. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  16. ↑ Kang, Cecilia; Tan, Eli; Martin, Emmy (2026-08-18). "Meta to Stand Trial Over Claims It Addicted Children to Social Media". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  17. ↑ Duffy, Clare (2026-08-18). "Meta is back in the courtroom to face its biggest social media addiction trial yet | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  18. ↑ American Law Institute – List of Officers and Council Archived September 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ Principles of Election Law: Resolution of Election Disputes – List of Project Participants Archived April 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ Romano, Benjamin (February 17, 2010). "With $37bn to give away, meet Mr Popular in Washington". Recharge News. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.