In 2006, he was one of the judges on the panel that upheld the imprisonment of journalist Josh Wolf.[3]
On February 7, 2017, Judge Clifton along with fellow Ninth Circuit judges William Canby and Michelle Friedland heard oral arguments on a motion from the Trump administration to stay the temporary restraining order in State of Washington v. Trump, part of the ongoing court cases related to Executive Order 13769.[4][5] A live audio feed[6] of the telephonic argument was broadcast nationwide.[4][5] On February 9, the three judges denied the request for a stay of the temporary restraining order.[7][8]