Traynor nominated to 8th Circuit, preserving North Dakota voice

Daniel Traynor’s nomination to the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would keep North Dakota represented on the court that hears federal appeals from this state and the rest of the Upper Midwest. For Stutsman County readers, that means cases that begin in North Dakota federal court, whether they involve civil-rights claims, protest litigation, business disputes or other federal questions, can still be judged with a North Dakota voice in the mix.

Traynor is already a familiar figure on the state’s federal bench. He received his commission as a U.S. District Court judge for the District of North Dakota on January 13, 2020, after President Donald Trump nominated him in September 2019 to fill the seat left by Judge Daniel Hovland, who assumed senior status on November 10, 2019. Before becoming a judge, Traynor was a Devils Lake attorney and earned both his bachelor’s degree and his law degree from the University of North Dakota, credentials that tie his career closely to the state he now serves.

His background also runs through several North Dakota institutions beyond the courtroom. Traynor served on the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education, sat on the Board of Governors of the State Bar Association of North Dakota and chaired the Disciplinary Board of the North Dakota Supreme Court. That mix of higher education, legal oversight and professional service has made him a well-known name in North Dakota legal circles, even if most residents have only seen his work through rulings rather than headlines.

The seat Traynor is being nominated to fill became available after Ralph Erickson of Fargo moved to the 8th Circuit, where he was confirmed by a 95-1 Senate vote. Keeping another North Dakotan on that court matters because the 8th Circuit reviews appeals from North Dakota as well as neighboring states. In a state with a relatively small federal judiciary, a promotion from the district court to the appeals court preserves North Dakota’s standing at a higher level of the federal system.

Traynor’s record on the district court includes high-profile litigation, including a decision dismissing a Dakota Access pipeline protest-related lawsuit. That history suggests the kind of federal issues North Dakota residents may eventually see filtered through the 8th Circuit, from protest cases to other disputes that reach beyond local courthouses and into the federal appeals system.