Bruce M. Selya

Bruce Marshall Selya (born May 27, 1934) is a senior federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and former chief judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review who is known for his distinctive writing style.

Career

Judge Selya received an A.B. degree from Harvard University in 1955. He received his LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1958.

From 1958 to 1960, Selya served as a law clerk to Edward W. Day, who was then Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. He then entered into the private practice of law in Providence, Rhode Island. From 1965 to 1972, he also served as a probate judge in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

In 1982, Selya was nominated to be a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, filling a seat formerly held by Judge Raymond J. Pettine. President Reagan elevated Judge Selya to a newly created seat on the First Circuit in 1986.

In 2000, Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed Selya to the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, a position Selya held until 2004. In 2005, Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Selya to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, and in 2008 Selya was appointed by United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts to the chief judgeship of the Court of Review. As the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is not an adversarial court and (with few exceptions) only hears argument from the United States government, the Court of Review solely hears appeals from that court when the government is denied a warrant for wiretap surveillance of suspected terrorists or spies.