Jerome A. Holmes (born November 18, 1961) is an American lawyer serving as the Chief United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Dist ...

. He is the

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to serve on the Tenth Circuit.

Early life and education

Holmes graduated from

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

in 1983 with a

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 ...

degree. He then attended the

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

, where he was an editor of the ''Georgetown Immigration Law Journal''. He graduated with a

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 ...

in 1988. Later in his career, Holmes studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

, receiving a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

in 2000.

Legal career

Holmes began his legal career as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for judge Wayne Alley of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (in case citations, W.D. Okla. or W.D. Ok.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims a ...

from 1988 to 1990. Holmes then clerked for judge William Judson Holloway Jr. of the Tenth Circuit from 1990 to 1991. After his clerkships, Holmes entered private practice with the law firm

Steptoe & Johnson Steptoe LLP (formerly known as Steptoe & Johnson LLP) is an international law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. It maintains offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, London, Brussels, Beijing, and Hong Kong. H ...

in its

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

office. He practiced at the firm as an associate for three years before he returned to Oklahoma to serve as an

assistant United States attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

for the Western District of Oklahoma. Holmes served in that capacity from 1994 to 2005. Holmes re-entered private practice in 2005 as a Director of the Oklahoma firm

Crowe & Dunlevy Crowe & Dunlevy is an American law firm headquartered in Oklahoma. Founded in 1902, it is the second largest law firm in Oklahoma with offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Dallas, and Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by po ...

, where his practice was focused on

white collar criminal defense The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. The crimes are believed to be committed by middle- or upper-class indivi ...

, complex

civil litigation Civil law is a major "branch of the law", in common law legal systems such as those in England and Wales and in the United States, where it stands in contrast to criminal law. Glanville Williams. ''Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1 ...

, and

corporate law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corpora ...

Federal judicial service

Holmes was initially nominated for a federal judgeship in the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma The United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (in case citations, N.D. Okla.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

, having been chosen from group of finalists that included Tulsa attorneys Lane Wilson and

John M. O'Connor John Michael O'Connor (born December 5, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 19th Attorney General of Oklahoma, attorney general of Oklahoma between 2021 and 2023. O’Connor was previously a shareholder of Hall Estill ...

(Wilson would later serve as U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District before leaving to become General Counsel at the

Williams Companies The Williams Companies, Inc. is an American energy company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its core business is natural gas processing and transportation, with additional petroleum and electricity generation assets. A Fortune 500 company, its commo ...

). While his nomination for a United States District Court seat was pending, Holmes was nominated 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 ...

on May 4, 2006, to fill a seat vacated by Judge

Stephanie Kulp Seymour Stephanie Kulp Seymour (born October 16, 1940) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She was the first female federal court judge in Oklahoma. In 2025, Seymour became the longest-serv ...

. Bush's previous pick to replace Judge Seymour, United States District Judge James H. Payne, withdrew over criticism of his handling of cases in which he allegedly had a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

confirmed his nomination less than three months later on July 26, 2006, by a 67–30 vote. He received his commission on August 9, 2006. He became the chief judge on October 1, 2022.

Notable cases

* Holmes' first published opinion for the court
''United States v. Ahidley''
was released on May 25, 2007. Holmes wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel holding that a criminal defendant was improperly ordered to pay immediate restitution to the victim of his crime. * Holmes was on the first federal appellate court panel to weigh affirmatively on the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry. He penned an important concurrence on the role of animus in the ban of

same-sex marriage in Oklahoma Same-sex marriage has been legal in Oklahoma since October 6, 2014, following the resolution of a lawsuit challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. On that day, following the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court's refus ...

. * In 2017, Holmes found that the

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (, ''et seq.'') is a 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act. The stated purposes of the ...

did not permit the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

to force a state to participate in mediation with a tribe after the state had asserted its

sovereign immunity Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a monarch, sovereign or State (polity), state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from lawsuit, civil suit or criminal law, criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in mode ...

References

External links

*
Blawg Search - Judge Jerome A. Holmes
* ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/07/30/same-sex-marriage-and-animus/ "Same-sex marriage and animus" by Prof. Dale Carpenter - Washington Post - July 30, 2014br>"Holmes' nomination confirmed," ''Tulsa World'', July 27, 2006Report on Holmes by Alliance for Justice
* ttp://abovethelaw.com/jerome-holmes/ Above The Law - Yo Holmes! The Tenth Circuit's Newest Member - July 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Jerome A. 1961 births Living people African-American judges Assistant United States attorneys Georgetown University Law Center alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by George W. Bush Wake Forest University alumni