United States Senate before being sworn in on August 8, 1989. The Senate confirmation was considered uneventful and non-contentious. Benson held this post until 1991. Teaching career Benson also held adjunct law school professorships at Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School and the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law, where he taught courses on criminal trial practice and evidence. Judicial career In May 1991, Benson was nominated for a federal judgeship to the United States District Court by President George H. W. Bush. This seat was new for Utah, created by Congress in 1990, along with 84 others throughout the country. Benson was confirmed by the Senate and began serving on September 16, 1991. He held the position of Chief Judge of the District Court from 1999 to 2007. Through his appointment in 2004 to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in Washington, D.C., Benson traveled to the nation's capital every 10 weeks to participate in court sessions. He served in this capacity until 2011 when his seven-year term expired. Mike Lee, Republican U.S. Senator since 2010 from Utah, served as a law clerk to Judge Benson in 1997. Controversial decisions In 2011, Judge Benson sentenced eco-activist Tim DeChristopher to two years in prison for disrupting an oil auction in 2008. Benson had barred DeChristopher's defense team from explaining to the jury why he disrupted the auction. Critics have accused Judge Benson for doling a harsh sentence to DeChristopher. Peter Yarrow, the folk singer, and member of Peter, Paul, and Mary, wrote in an editorial for the Los Angeles Times, that DeChristopher's actions were comparable to leaders of the civil rights movement. In 2012, Judge Benson denied convicted felon Dewey MacKay's request to remain free pending appeal of his guilty verdict. However, Judge Benson, without objection from the Prosecution, did allow MacKay to remain free pending appeal of Benson's denial. MacKay was convicted in August, 2011 of 40 counts related to illegally prescribing pain killers. Between 2005-2009 MacKay prescribed over 3.5 million pills of opiate painkillers. During the appeal hearing, Benson said that the jury's verdict had sufficient evidence, but expressed sympathy towards MacKay and his family and stating that the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence issued by Benson was "too long'. "It's very easy to get almost teary-eyed over the health issue alone," Benson said. "This is so hard for people who love and admire and respect