Darrin P Gayles

Biography

Gayles received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990 from Howard University. He received a Juris Doctor in 1993 from the George Washington University Law School. He began his career as an Assistant State Attorney in the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office from 1993 to 1997. From 1997 to 1999, he served as an Assistant District Counsel at the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service. From 1999 to 2004, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. In 2004, Gayles became a judge, serving as a County Judge in Miami-Dade County within the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. From 2011 to 2014, he served as a Circuit Court Judge on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.

Personal

Gayles is an openly gay.

Federal judicial service

On February 6, 2014, President Obama nominated Gayles to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, to the seat vacated by Judge Patricia A. Seitz, who took senior status on November 16, 2012. He received a hearing before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on April 1, 2014. On May 8, 2014 his nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote. On June 12, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for a motion to invoke cloture on the nomination. On June 16, 2014 the United States Senate voted 55-37 on the motion to invoke cloture. On June 17, 2014 the United States Senate voted 98-0 in favor of final confirmation, making Gayles the first openly gay African-American man to be confirmed as a United States federal judge. He received his judicial commission on June 19, 2014.