In 2001, Benitez was appointed by the
United States District Court for the Southern District of California to serve as a
United States magistrate judge. On May 1, 2003, he was nominated by President
George W. Bush to a new seat on the Southern District of California created by 116 Stat. 1758. Benitez was confirmed by the
United States Senate on June 17, 2004, by a 98–1 vote. The only vote in opposition came from
Dick Durbin of Illinois. Benitez received his commission on June 21, 2004. A substantial majority of the committee rated Benitez "not qualified" and a minority rated him as "qualified." In 2004 testimony to the
Senate Judiciary Committee, the ABA committee investigator reported that, "Interviewees repeatedly told me that Judge Benitez displays inappropriate judicial temperament with lawyers, litigants, and judicial colleagues; that all too frequently, while on the bench, Judge Benitez is arrogant, pompous, condescending, impatient, short-tempered, rude, insulting, bullying, unnecessarily mean, and altogether lacking in people skills."
Notable opinions and rulings Benitez is known for his opinions striking down several California gun control laws. However, the Ninth Circuit granted a petition for rehearing
en banc review and vacated the panel decision. In November 2021, following
en banc review, the Ninth Circuit reversed Benitez's decision. On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the 9th circuit court of appeals en banc decision and remanded it for reconsideration in light of the
New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen ruling. On September 23, 2022, the en banc panel vacated its opinion and remanded it back to Benitez. In
Rhode v. Becerra, Benitez issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of California's
2016 Proposition 63 law requiring background checks for ammunition sales, ruling in favor of the California Rifle & Pistol Association; he deemed the law "constitutionally defective." The Ninth Circuit stayed Benitez's ruling pending appeal. Benitez presided over the lawsuit
Miller v. Bonta in 2021; the case challenged California's assault weapons ban. Following a trial, Benitez overturned the 32-year-old state law, ruling that "the state's definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states"; he issued a
permanent injunction, but stayed it for 30 days to give state Attorney General
Rob Bonta time to appeal. Benitez opened his opinion by stating, "Like the
Swiss Army Knife, the popular
AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle, the AR-15 is the kind of versatile gun that lies at the intersection of the kinds of firearms protected under
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) and
United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939)." In
Heller, the Supreme Court decision that struck down a District of Columbia handgun ban, associate justice
Antonin Scalia held that the Second Amendment gives citizens a right to own weapons "in common use", but explained its limitations by citing "the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of 'dangerous and unusual weapons'," such as "weapons that are most useful in military service –
M-16 rifles and the like." Benitez held that the AR-15 passed the
Heller test, stating that "The overwhelming majority of citizens who own and keep the popular AR-15 rifle and its many variants do so for lawful purposes, including self-defense at home." A three-judge panel of the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a
stay of Benitez's ruling on June 21, 2021, leaving the ban in place as appeals were litigated. On December 19, 2022, Benitez declared the fee-shifting provision of SB 1327 unconstitutional. On February 28, 2023, a complaint was filed against Benitez over his handling of a hearing in which he ordered the defendant's 13-year-old daughter to be handcuffed. On September 14, 2023, Benitez granted a preliminary injunction against school district policies that bar teachers from discussing students' gender identities with the latter's parents. On September 22, 2023, Benitez overturned the State of California's "High Capacity Magazine" Ban in the
Duncan v. Bonta lawsuit, citing the unconstitutionality of this law in his ruling. This marked the second time Benitez had issued a similar opinion, having previously presided over
Duncan v. Becerra and ruling in favor of the plaintiff(s) in 2019. Unlike in his 2019 ruling, Benitez issued a 10-day stay on his second opinion in order to allow the State of California adequate time to appeal, which it promptly did later that same day. The appeal was assigned to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which, in an unprecedented manner, called for an en-banc review of the State of California's appeal to Benitez's ruling in
Duncan v. Bonta, opting out of the traditional three-judge panel review process of previous appeals. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a post on the social media platform "X" following the ruling, in which, amongst other statements, he expressed his disagreement with Benitez's opinion and called him an "Extremist, Right-Wing Zealot with no regard for human life." On February 23, 2024, Judge Roger Benitez, who had originally upheld California's ban on "billies", struck it down using the
Bruen standard. ==See also==