Thread: NYT: Appeals court judge Kelly being vetted for US Supreme Court spot

NYT: Appeals court judge Kelly being vetted for US Supreme Court spot

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The White House is vetting federal appellate Judge Jane Kelly for a possible U.S. Supreme Court nomination to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing a person with knowledge of the process.

The FBI has been conducting background interviews on Kelly, the Times said, citing the unnamed source. Scalia, a long-serving conservative justice, died on Feb. 13.

The White House declined to comment on the report.

Kelly, a white woman and former public defender, has served on the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since April 2013. She was confirmed to the post by the Senate on a 96-0 vote.

She had been mentioned by legal experts as a potential nominee in part because her earlier nomination to the appeals court was supported by Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee that would review any Supreme Court nomination.

Grassley said at the time that Kelly was "well regarded in my home state of Iowa" and that he was "pleased to support" her nomination.

Kelly, 51, served as a clerk for now-retired Judge David Hansen, a friend of Grassley who served on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Republican leaders have so far rebuffed President Barack Obama's appeal to hold confirmation hearings and a vote on a nominee, including in a face-to-face meeting on Tuesday at the White House that failed to budge them from their vow to block anyone he offers for the job.

Republicans say the decision on who to nominate should be left to the next president, who takes office next January after the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. Republicans hope to win back the White House then.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the president nominates Supreme Court justices and the Senate must confirm them. Without Scalia, the court has four conservative and four liberal justices, meaning any potential Obama nominee could tip the court to the left for the first time in decades.

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a moderate Republican, took himself out of consideration for appointment to the Supreme Court last week, a day after his name surfaced in connection with the Scalia vacancy.

http://www.aol.com/article/2016/03/0...ourt/21321772/

Jane L. Kelly

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit


DOWNLOAD AFJ BACKGROUND REPORT

On April 24, 2013, the Senate unanimously confirmed Jane Kelly to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit by a vote of 96-0. Judge Kelly has brought much-needed gender and professional diversity to the court, which has jurisdiction over seven states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas. She is only the second woman ever to sit on the Eighth Circuit. Furthermore, as a former career Federal Defender, Judge Kelly has added an important perspective on criminal justice to the Eighth Circuit.

Biography

Jane L. Kelly was born in 1964 in Greencastle, Indiana. She received her B.A. summa cum laude from Duke University in 1987 before graduating cum laude with a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991. After receiving her law degree, Ms. Kelly clerked for Judge Daniel Porter of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota and Judge David Hansen of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Upon completing her clerkships, she served for a year as Visiting Instructor at the University of Illinois College of Law, before joining the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa in 1994.

Judge Kelly’s personal history is also one of courage and perseverance. Despite being the victim of a violent mugging, she has devoted her career to defending those charged with federal crimes. The ABA vetting committee unanimously found Ms. Kelly qualified to serve as a federal appellate judge.

Legal Experience

Prior to joining the Eighth Circuit, Judge Kelly spent almost her entire legal career defending indigent Americans accused of federal crimes. She was in the Federal Defender’s office for nearly two decades representing clients in all phases of criminal defense. As Supervising Attorney, she oversaw office administration and served as a liaison between the Federal Defender and the court.

As a federal defender, Judge Kelly tried over a dozen federal cases to jury verdict, and gained extensive courtroom experience in pre-trial, trial, and post-trial settings. Judge Kelly also briefed and argued appeals on behalf of clients before the Eighth Circuit in cases ranging from alleged drug offenses to immigration and firearms charges.

Judge Kelly’s criminal law expertise has been of value on the bench. In her dissent inUnited States v. Rice, Judge Kelly presented a strong case that her interpretation of the sentencing guidelines at issue was more in line with Supreme Court precedent. She also dissented in part in United States v. Robinson, a case where the defendant alleged a Brady violation based on withheld evidence of a former detective’s misconduct. Judge Kelly forcefully argued that the evidence was material and should have been turned over to the defense, writing that “[i]t is likely a rare case where undisclosed misconduct so clearly affects the credibility of a witness central to the government’s case, or is material to the conviction,” but “rare is not never.”

In addition, Judge Kelly was on the panel for two cases that are currently pending before the Supreme Court—one dealing with attorneys’ fees in Title VII claims and the other dealing with a question of administrative law related to the Clean Water Act. Judge Kelly also weighed in on the retroactivity of the Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama, which prohibited automatic life without parole sentences for juveniles. In Thompson v. Roy, Judge Kelly wrote a separate concurrence stating that but for Eighth Circuit precedent that had already decided the issue, she would apply Miller retroactively. The Supreme Court recently sided with her position in Montgomery v. Louisiana.

Professional and Academic Activities

Judge Kelly has appeared on a variety of panels on substantive legal topics, including criminal defense, legal writing, evidence and discovery, mental health, and sentencing issues. She has also served on a Blue Ribbon Committee for the Northern District of Iowa on criminal justice issues and taught classes on criminal law and trial advocacy at the University of Iowa.

http://www.afj.org/our-work/nominees/jane-l-kelly