John Clifford Wallace (born December 11, 1928) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was appointed to the Ninth Circuit in 1972 by President Richard Nixon and was its chief judge from 1991 to 1996. He was a U.S. district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California from 1970 to 1972.
John Clifford Wallace
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Born 1928 in San Diego, CA
FJC ID: 2484
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 17/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 377/year
California Southern District Court · 1970–1972Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1972–1996
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 1991–1995
Board member · 1988–1991- Private practice, San Diego, California1955–1970
U.S. Navy petty officer second class1946–1949
Appointments
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitChief Judge1972–1996 · Appointed by Richard M. Nixon (Republican)
1970–1972 · Appointed by Richard M. Nixon (Republican)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
- University of California, Berkeley, School of LawLL.B. · 1955
- San Diego State CollegeB.A. · 1952