George Steven Agee (born November 12, 1952) is a

United States circuit judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Su ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district cou ...

and a former justice of the

Supreme Court of Virginia The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrativ ...

Background

Born in

Roanoke Roanoke may refer to: Places *Roanoke Colony, a former English colony that mysteriously disappeared *Roanoke Island, the location of the Roanoke colony in present-day North Carolina *Roanoke River, flowing through Virginia and North Carolina and ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, Agee was educated at

Bridgewater College Bridgewater College is a private liberal-arts college in Bridgewater, Virginia. Established in 1880, Bridgewater College admitted both men and women from the time of its founding and was the first four-year liberal arts college in Virginia to ...

(

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

), the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...

(

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

) and

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

(

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

, Taxation). He has litigated cases in Virginia and federal courts, including arguing for the appellant before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

in ''Patterson v. Shumate'', 504 U.S. 753 (1992). From 1982 to 1994, he served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

. Opting to pursue the Republican nomination for

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an Executive (government), executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a United State ...

in 1993, he did not seek re-election to the House.

Judicial career

State judicial service

In 2001, he became a Judge of the

Virginia Court of Appeals The Court of Appeals of Virginia, established January 1, 1985, is an intermediate appellate court of 17 judges that hears appeals from decisions of Virginia's circuit courts and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. The Court sits in pa ...

. In 2003, he was elevated to the

Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrativ ...

, filling the vacancy created by Chief Justice

Harry L. Carrico Harry Lee Carrico (September 4, 1916 – January 27, 2013) was a member, Chief Justice, and Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. His tenure as an active Justice of the Court, at more than 42 years, was the longest of any justice ...

, who took Senior Justice status.

Federal judicial service

Agee was nominated on March 13, 2008 by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

to fill a vacancy on the Fourth Circuit created by Judge J. Michael Luttig, who resigned on May 10, 2006. President Bush asked the Senate to consider his nomination swiftly because of the court’s heavy caseloads, and because five of the fifteen seats were vacant. Agee received a hearing before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

on May 1, 2008, and was unanimously voted out of committee on May 15, 2008. Agee was confirmed on May 20, 2008, by a 96–0 vote. He received his commission on July 1, 2008, and was sworn in by his colleague and former law professor, United States Circuit Judge James Harvie Wilkinson III, on July 2, 2008.

Notable rulings

In 2016, Agee found that

sectarian Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism a ...

prayers offered by

Rowan County, North Carolina Rowan County ( ),Talk Like a Tarheel
, from the North Carolina Col ...

commissioners at their meetings did not violate the

Establishment Clause In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The ''Establishment Clause'' an ...

of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

, over the dissent of Judge Wilkinson. That judgment was then rejected by the full circuit ''

en banc In law, an ''en banc'' (; alternatively ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank''; ) session is when all the judges of a court sit to hear a case, not just one judge or a smaller panel of judges. For courts like the United States Courts of Appeal ...

'' by a vote of 10-5, with Wilkinson now writing for the majority while Agee and Paul V. Niemeyer authored dissents. In June 2018, the

denied review, over the written dissent of Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served since 1991 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President George H. W. Bush nominated him to succeed Thurgood Marshall. Afte ...

joined by

Neil Gorsuch Neil McGill Gorsuch ( ; born August 29, 1967) is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was Neil Gorsuch Supreme Court ...

References

External links

* *Markon, Jerry,
U.S. Appeals Court Gets New Judge
" ''The Washington Post'', July 31, 2008. *Sluss, Michael,
Senate confirms Agee for judgeship
," ''The Roanoke Times'', May 20, 2008. *Schapiro, Jeff,

''Richmond Times-Dispatch'', May 20, 2008 *Simon, Neil H.,
Va. Justice Agee Clears Hurdle for Federal Post
" ''Media General News Service'', May 15, 2008. *Marcy, Jessica,
Judge from Salem gets nod for federal post
," ''The Roanoke Times'', March 14, 2008. *Simon, Neil H.,

" ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'', March 14, 2008. *Reichmann, Deb,
Va. Justice Nominated to Appeals Court
" ''Associated Press'', March 13, 2008.

*
Patterson v. Shumate Case Summary and Oral Argument
" ''The Oyez Project''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Agee, George Steven 1952 births Bridgewater College alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Living people Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Roanoke, Virginia United States court of appeals judges appointed by George W. Bush Virginia lawyers Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly