Martin Jenkins

Martin Joseph Jenkins (born November 12, 1953) is a justice of the California Court of Appeal for the First District, located in San Francisco, and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Jenkins was born in San Francisco and raised in the neighborhood of Ingleside. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from City College of San Francisco, then graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Jenkins played on the Santa Clara Broncos football team at defensive back. After college, Jenkins briefly played professional football for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. Jenkins then attended the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor with honors.

Jenkins was a law clerk in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, California, from 1980 to 1981, and then a deputy district attorney (prosecutor) in that same office from 1981 to 1983. and for the United States Department of Justice in the Civil Rights Division from 1983 to 1985. In 1985, Jenkins moved back to the Bay Area when his mother became ill, then served as in-house counsel for Pacific Bell for four years.

A Democrat, Jenkins was appointed to the Alameda County Municipal Court by Republican Governor George Deukmejian in 1989. In 1992, Republican Governor Pete Wilson appointed him to the Alameda County Superior Court, where he served until 1997.

Jenkins was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. He was nominated by President William J. Clinton on July 24, 1997, to a seat vacated by Eugene F. Lynch. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 9, 1997, and received commission on November 12, 1997. His service was terminated on April 3, 2008, due to resignation.

In August 2007, Jenkins asked Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to consider him for a seat on the California Court of Appeal. On January 25, 2008, Schwarzenegger nominated Jenkins to fill the vacancy on the First District Court of Appeal created by the retirement of Justice Joanne C. Parrilli. Jenkins resigned from the federal bench on April 3 and was confirmed on the state bench on April 4, 2008.

Jenkins's contribution to American law includes the Jenkins-Laporte Doctrine, which defines the boundary of copyright and contractual rights in the licensing of digital works.