[1] Gould was nominated by President Bill Clinton for a seat vacated by Judge Robert Beezer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on January 26, 1999.

[1] On July 13, 2013, Gould dissented from a denial of en banc rehearing when the Ninth Circuit upheld a ban on Greenpeace's protest against shell drilling.

Gould, who was joined by Pregerson, Reinhardt, Wardlaw, Fletcher, and Milan Smith, saw this as a violation of First Amendment rights, writing "The panel majority's contrary conclusion will undermine the freedom of an organization to "stimulate [its] audience with spontaneous and emotional appeals for unity and action in a common cause.""

[7] [8] On November 13, 2023, Gould was in a 7-4 majority that temporarily blocked Idaho's abortion ban due to its lack of exceptions for medical emergencies.

During his time on the bench, he lost the use of his arms and legs; he now relies on a wheelchair for mobility, and with the aid of other technologies and of assistants and clerks is able to "get a good result in the work I'm doing.