Joshua Deahl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joshua Deahl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals | |
| Assumed office January 6, 2020 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Eric T. Washington |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joshua Adam Deahl[1] February 13, 1981 |
| Spouse | Jessica Deahl[2] |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Arizona State University, Tempe (BA) University of Michigan (JD) |
Joshua Adam Deahl (born February 13, 1981) is an American attorney who has served as an associate judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals since January 2020.[3][4]
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Deahl earned his Bachelor of Arts from Arizona State University in 2003[5] and his Juris Doctor from University of Michigan Law School in 2006.[6]
After graduating from law school, Deahl clerked for Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Fortunato Benavides[6] and Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy.[7] Deahl worked as an attorney for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and in private practice.[7]
On June 29, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Deahl to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.[8] His nomination expired on January 4, 2019, with the end of the 115th United States Congress.[9]
Trump renominated Deahl on May 2, 2019, to a 15-year term as an associate judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to the seat vacated by Eric T. Washington.[10] On October 22, 2019, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing on his nomination.[11] On November 6, 2019, the Committee reported his nomination favorably to the senate floor. On November 21, 2019, the full Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote.[3] He was sworn in on January 6, 2020.[12]
AI in the Law
Judge Deahl was one of the first judges to openly use AI in a judicial opinion when, in a dissent, he shared some exchanges he had with an LLM when scrutinizing his view that one could say beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a "plain and strong likelihood" that a dog left in a car in 98 degree heat for 1 hour and 20 minutes would be harmed. [13]
In the fall of 2025, Judge Deahl co-taught the first law school course focused on AI use in the judiciary. [14] He is teaching a similar course, AI in Appellate Practice and Judicial Decisionmaking, at UChicago Law in the fall semester of 2026.
