Bruce Marshall Selya (born May 27, 1934) is a Senior United States circuit judge of 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. Education and career Born in Providence, Rhode Island to a Jewish family, he attended Nathan Bishop middle school and Classical High School in Providence. Selya received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Harvard University in 1955. He received a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1958. He was a law clerk for Judge Edward William Day the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island from 1958 to 1960. He was in private practice of law in Providence from 1960 to 1982. He was a Judge of Probate in Lincoln, Rhode Island from 1965 to 1972. Federal judicial service Selya was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on July 27, 1982, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island vacated by Judge Raymond James Pettine. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 18, 1982, and received commission the same day. His service was terminated on November 24, 1986, due to elevation to the First Circuit. Selya was nominated by President Reagan on September 26, 1986, to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the Senate on October 8, 1986, and received commission on October 14, 1986. In 1996, Selya hired future Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson to a year-long clerkship with the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Providence. 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 John Roberts appointed Selya to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, and in 2008 Selya was appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice 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.