had been vacated by Judge Pamela Ann Rymer, who died from cancer on September 21, 2011. The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated Watford as a "well-qualified" nominee, the highest possible rating. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Watford's nomination on December 13, 2011. On February 2, 2012, the Judiciary Committee reported Watford's nomination to the floor of the Senate by a 10–6 vote. At the hearing, Senator Patrick Leahy noted that Watford had support "from across the political spectrum," including support from a number of prominent conservative legal figures, including Orin Kerr and Eugene Volokh. On May 17, 2012, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a cloture motion on Watford's nomination, seeking to end debate on the nomination. The vote on the cloture motion had been scheduled for May 21, 2012. However, on May 21, Reid asked that the cloture motion be nullified, and that the Senate move to a straight, up-or-down vote on Watford's nomination, which was scheduled for later that day. The Senate confirmed Watford on May 21, 2012, by a 61–34 vote. He received his commission on May 22, 2012. He announced that he will resign from the bench on May 31, 2023. Notable decisions Watford authored the decision of the Ninth Circuit's en banc decision in City of Los Angeles v. Patel (2014). In that case, the court struck down, 7–4, a Los Angeles city ordinance authorizing police to conduct surprise inspections of hotel and motel guest registries without obtaining the owners' consent or a search warrant. Watford, writing for the court, held that the ordinance violated the Fourth Amendment. The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the decision in a 5–4 vote. On November 15, 2021, Watford dissented when a 2-1 panel on the Ninth Circuit dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the son of a woman who died in police custody. Supreme Court consideration In late 2012, multiple national news organizations mentioned Watford as a possible nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States during Barack Obama's second term. Selected publications See also Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates Joe Biden Supreme Court candidates List of African-American jurists List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 6) References External links 1967 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges African-American judges Assistant United States Attorneys California lawyers Judges of the