Jerome Holmes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jerome Holmes
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| Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit | |
| Assumed office October 1, 2022 |
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| Preceded by | Timothy M. Tymkovich |
| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit | |
| Assumed office August 9, 2006 |
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| Appointed by | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Stephanie Kulp Seymour |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 18, 1961 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | Wake Forest University (BA) Georgetown University (JD) Harvard University (MPA) |
Jerome A. Holmes (born November 18, 1961) is an American lawyer and judge. He serves as the Chief Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. This is a very important court that hears appeals from other courts. He was the first African American person to become a judge on this court.
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Early Life and Education
Jerome Holmes went to Wake Forest University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983. This is usually the first degree you get from a university.
After that, he studied law at the Georgetown University Law Center. He worked as an editor for a law journal there. In 1988, he earned his Juris Doctor degree, which is the degree needed to become a lawyer.
Later, he continued his studies at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 2000, he received a Master of Public Administration degree. This degree helps people learn how to manage public organizations.
Jerome Holmes's Legal Career
Jerome Holmes started his legal career by working for judges. From 1988 to 1990, he was a law clerk for Judge Wayne Alley in Oklahoma. A law clerk helps a judge with research and writing.
Then, from 1990 to 1991, he worked as a law clerk for Judge William Judson Holloway Jr. at the Tenth Circuit Court.
After his clerkships, Holmes worked as a lawyer in a private law firm called Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C. He worked there for three years.
In 1994, he returned to Oklahoma to work for the government as an assistant United States attorney. He held this job until 2005. In this role, he represented the United States government in legal cases.
In 2005, he went back to private law practice. He joined the firm Crowe & Dunlevy in Oklahoma. There, he focused on cases involving complex business disputes and other legal matters.
Becoming a Federal Judge
President George W. Bush nominated Jerome Holmes to become a federal judge. First, he was considered for a judge position in a lower court in Oklahoma.
However, on May 4, 2006, President Bush nominated him for a higher position. He was chosen to fill a judge's seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. This court hears appeals from federal courts in several states, including Oklahoma.
The United States Senate approved his nomination on July 26, 2006. He officially became a judge on August 9, 2006. On October 1, 2022, he became the Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit. This means he is the main leader of the court.
Important Cases and Decisions
Judge Holmes has been involved in many important cases.
- In 2007, he wrote his first official opinion for the court. In this case, called United States v. Ahidley, he and the other judges decided that a criminal defendant should not have been ordered to pay money to a victim right away.
- He was part of one of the first federal appeals court panels to support the right for same-sex couples to marry. He wrote an important opinion about how unfairness played a role in the ban on same-sex marriage in Oklahoma.
- In 2017, Judge Holmes ruled on a case involving the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. He found that a government department could not force a state to work with a Native American tribe if the state did not want to.
See also
