Name James Graves, Preceded by Rhesa Barksdale Role Judge | Preceded by Fred Banks | |
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Alma mater Millsaps CollegeSyracuse University | ||
James Earl Graves Jr. (born 1953) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Senate confirmed him on February 14, 2011 and he received his commission on February 15, 2011.
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Early years
The son of a Baptist minister, Graves was born and raised in Clinton, Mississippi. He attended Sumner High School in Clinton and graduated as valedictorian with the highest grade point average and ACT score in his class. Graves then attended Millsaps College and graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. After working at the Mississippi Department of Public Welfare for almost two years, he enrolled at Syracuse University College of Law, where he received his law degree in 1980. He also earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 1981. He is a practicing Seventh-day Adventist.
Legal career
Graves began his legal career as a staff attorney at Central Mississippi Legal Services in 1980. He then worked in the private practice of law for three years, before returning to public service work. Graves served as legal counsel for both the Health Law Division and the Human Services Division of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. He also worked as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Mississippi and served as the Director of the Division of Child Support Enforcement in the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
Mississippi state judicial service
In 1991, Governor Ray Mabus appointed Graves as a Circuit Court Judge in Hinds County, Mississippi. Graves was then elected to the position later that year in a special election, in which he received seventy-seven percent of the votes cast. Graves was later re-elected without opposition in 1994 and 1998.
Graves was appointed to the Mississippi Supreme Court by Governor Ronnie Musgrove in 2001 and later won election to the Court in 2004. At the time, Graves was the only African-American Justice on the Court. The first African-Americans to serve on the Mississippi Supreme Court were Reuben Anderson, who served from 1985 to 1990, followed by Fred L. Banks Jr. from 1991 to 2001.
Federal judicial service
On June 10, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Graves to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to replace Judge Rhesa H. Barksdale, who assumed senior status on August 8, 2009. Although approved by Senate Judiciary Committee on December 1, 2010, the Senate failed to act on the nomination. Obama renominated Graves in January 2011, and the Senate confirmed him on February 14, 2011, making him the second African-American judge on the Fifth Circuit, after Carl E. Stewart of Louisiana. He received his commission on February 15, 2011.
Teaching experience
Graves has served as a Teaching Team Member of the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School since 1998. He has also held the position of adjunct professor at Millsaps College, Tougaloo College, and Jackson State University. Graves has taught courses in media law, civil rights law, and sociology of law and is jurist-in-residence at Syracuse University School of Law. Graves has also coached high school, college, and law school mock trial teams, including the Jackson Murrah High School mock trial team that won the 2001 state championship.
Honors and awards
Graves received the Jackson Public School District’s Parent of the Year Award in 2001 and was the First Alternate for the State of Mississippi’s Parent of the Year Award in the same year. In 2002, the Mississippi Association of Educators presented him with the Humanized Education Award, which is the highest award given to a non-teacher. In 2004, Millsaps College named him a recipient of the Livesay Award for his service to the college and the community. In 2001, Graves received the Commissioner’s Award from the United States Department of Health and Human Services for his outstanding leadership and service in the prevention of child abuse and neglect.
In 2009, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University selected him for the Maxwell Public Administration Award, which is given to alumni for their exceptional work in public service. Graves received the NAACP Legal Award from the NAACP’s Mississippi Chapter in 2004. The National Bar Association awarded him its first Distinguished Jurist Award in 1996. The National Conference of Black Lawyers selected him to receive the Judge of the Year Award in 1992. The Hinds County Bar Association named Graves the recipient of its Innovation Award in 2000 in recognition of his pioneering efforts in creating the first state-of-the-art high-tech courtroom in Mississippi state courts, establishing the first court website for a Mississippi state trial court, and implementing electronic filing of court documents.
Personal life
Graves is married to Dr. Bettye Ramsey Graves, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management at Jackson State University. They have three sons.