James Graves Jr. made history on Feb. 14 when he became the first African American from Mississippi to be confirmed for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate confirmed Graves on a voice vote. Graves, a justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, had bipartisan support, including from his state’s two Republican senators. Graves has been on his state’s highest court since 2001. He previously served a decade as a state trial judge after working as a lawyer in private practice and in state government. During his confirmation hearing, U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., questioned Graves’ decision to join another justice’s 2008 dissent calling the death penalty cruel and unusual. Graves said he considered the dissent merely a plea for dialogue on the effectiveness of the death penalty, and Graves later provided a list of 22 cases in which he voted to affirm a death sentence. The issue is especially important for the 5th Circuit, because it hears appeals from Texas’ large death row. Graves is the first appellate nominee to come before the full Senate this Congress, but he’ll be far from the last. This month, White House Counsel Robert Bauer pledged a stepped-up effort to get President Barack Obama ‘s judicial nominees confirmed.
— David Ingram
The Blog of Legal Times
Austin Opportunity
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
