Dana L. Christensen

Dana Lewis Christensen (born May 23, 1951) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana.

Dana L. Christensen
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana
In office March 19, 2013 – March 19, 2020
Preceded by	Richard F. Cebull
Succeeded by	Brian Morris
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana
Incumbent
Assumed office December 6, 2011
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Donald W. Molloy
Personal details
Born	Dana Lewis Christensen (1951-03-23) March 23, 1951 (age 74) New York City, U.S.
Education	Stanford University (BA) University of Montana (JD)

Education

Christensen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1973 from Stanford University and a Juris Doctor in 1976 from the University of Montana School of Law.^[1][2]

Career

Christensen worked in private practice at various firms in Montana from 1977 to 2011.^[3] He was a civil litigator and a named partner at a firm in Kalispell, Montana from 1996 to 2011.^[1] Among other things, he worked in the area of insurance defense.^[4][2]

Federal judicial service

On May 4, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Christensen to a vacant seat on the United States District Court for the District of Montana.^[3] The seat was vacated by Judge Donald W. Molloy, who assumed senior status in August 2011.^[5] Christensen's nomination was reported from the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on October 6, 2011. The Senate confirmed his nomination on December 5, 2011, by voice vote. He received his commission on December 6, 2011.^[2] He served as chief judge from March 19, 2013 to March 19, 2020.^[2]

Notable rulings

In late August 2018, Christensen placed a 14-day hold on grizzly bear hunting in Wyoming and Idaho after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lifted federal protections for grizzlies in Yellowstone National Park areas in 2017.^[6] On September 24, 2018, Christensen released a 48-page ruling restoring the protections and cancelling the hunts altogether, citing that Fish & Wildlife's analysis of the threats to grizzly bears was lacking and that they "failed to make a reasoned decision" in considering the impact of delisting the Yellowstone grizzlies from protected species status.^[7]

In September 2020, Christensen rejected Republican requests, including those of Montana House Speaker Greg Hertz and Montana Senate President Scott Sales, to block Montana Governor Bullock from permitting counties in Montana to conduct voting by mail in the November 2020 General Election.^[8][9] Bullock claimed that preventing voting by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic would cause potential harm to people voting in person,^[9] and disenfranchise others by dissuading them from taking the risk of voting in person, rendering them unable to vote at all. Christensen upheld Bullock's ability to issue his directive, saying "the Court has no trouble concluding the COVID19 pandemic constitutes a disaster and emergency".^[9] Christensen cited precedent against changing the process of an election too close to the date of the election, or in ways that would render the election difficult to conduct.^[9] He further cited that the plaintiffs had not provided any evidence that voting by mail would lead to electoral fraud,^[8] and noted that plaintiffs were forced to admit that there had not been a single documented case of voter fraud in Montana in the previous twenty years.^[10][11]