Grady Jolly
E. Grady Jolly was a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. He joined the court in 1982 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan (R). Jolly assumed senior status on October 3, 2017. His service ended on March 16, 2026, upon his death.[1]
Jolly was succeeded by Cory Wilson, who was nominated by President Donald Trump (R) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 24, 2020.[2]
Early life and education
Born in Louisville, Mississippi, Jolly graduated from the University of Mississippi with his bachelor's degree in 1959 and from the University of Mississippi Law School with his J.D. in 1962.[1]
Professional career
- 2017-2026: Senior judge
- 1982-2017: Judge
- 1969-1982: Private practice, Jackson, Miss.
- 1967-1969: Trial attorney, Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice
- 1964-1967: Assistant U.S. attorney, Northern District of Mississippi
- 1962-1964: Trial attorney, National Labor Relations Board, Winston-Salem, N.C.[1]
Judicial career
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
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| Nominee Information |
| Name: E. Grady Jolly |
| Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 26 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: July 1, 1982
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 ABA Rating:
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| Questionnaire: |
| Hearing: July 14, 1982
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| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: July 26, 1982
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| Confirmed: July 27, 1982
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| Vote: Unanimous consent
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Jolly was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit by President Ronald Reagan on July 1, 1982, to a seat vacated by James Coleman. Hearings on Jolly's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on July 14, 1982, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) on July 26, 1982. Jolly was confirmed by the unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on July 27, 1982, and he received his commission on July 30, 1982. Jolly elected to take senior status beginning on October 3, 2017.[1][3] He was succeeded by Cory Wilson, who was nominated by President Donald Trump (R) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 24, 2020.[2]
Noteworthy cases
Parents permitted to intervene in school voucher desegregation suit (2014)
- See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit (Brumfield, et al v. Dodd, 13-31262)
- See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit (Brumfield, et al v. Dodd, 13-31262)
On April 10, 2014, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit composed of Judges Jolly, Edith Clement, and Jerry Smith, ruled that parents would be permitted to intervene in a suit filed against Louisiana's Superintendent of Public Education by the Department of Justice to ensure its school-voucher program was in compliance with federal desegregation orders.[4]
In the underlying case, the U.S. government filed suit for an injunction, demanding that the state's voucher program not be used to send students in failing schools under federal desegregation orders to private schools as doing so would "cause irreparable injury to the court-ordered desegregation process." The parents were previously denied the opportunity to intervene, but Judge Smith, writing for the majority, noted that the children's guardians need only show the possibility that their interests would be affected by the case's resolution.[4] In concluding the ruling, Smith quipped:
| “ | It would indeed be a questionable rule that would require prospective intervenors to wait on the sidelines until after a court has already decided enough issues contrary to their interests.[4][5] | ” |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Federal Judicial Center, "Biographical directory of federal judges," accessed March 16, 2026
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Federal Judicial Center, "Wilson, Cory Todd," accessed July 7, 2020
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 1247 — E. Grady Jolly — The Judiciary," accessed September 10, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Courthouse News Service, "Parents May Intervene in School Voucher Fracas," April 14, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit 2017-2026 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by James Coleman |
United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit 1982-2017 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 |
Bartlett • Beam • Becker • Bork • Cacheris • Cardamone • Chapman • Coughenour • Cox • Crow • Cyr • Doumar • Eschbach • Forrester • Garwood • Gibson • Glasser • Hall • Hamilton • Head • Jones • Kiser • Krenzler • Lee • Magnuson • McLaughlin • Miner • Moore • Nowlin • O'Connor • Pierce • Posner • Potter • Russell • Ryan • Shabaz • Sprizzo • Stevens • Waters • Wilhoit • Wilkins • Winter | ||
| 1982 |
Acker • Acosta • Altimari • Bell • Bissell • Black • Bullock • Caldwell • Coffey • Contie • Coyle • Dowd • Fagg • Fong • Fox • Gadbois • Gibson • Ginsburg • Hart • Higginbotham • Hogan • Irving • Jackson • Jolly • Kanne • Kovachevich • Krupansky • Lynch • Mansmann • McNamara • Mencer • Mentz • Mihm • Moody • Nordberg • Paul • Pieras • Plunkett • Porfilio • Potter • Pratt • Rafeedie • Restani • Roberts • Scalia • Selya • Telesca • Wellford | ||
| 1983 |
Baldock • Barbour • Barry • Bowman • Carman • Carter • Curran • Davis • Dorsey • Feldman • Fish • Flaum • Gibbons • Hallanan • Harris • Hinojosa • Hull • Hupp • Katz • Keenan • Kelly • Kram • Laffitte • Limbaugh, Sr. • Limbaugh, Sr. • Milburn • Nesbitt • Nevas • O'Neill • Rymer • Sharp • Starr • Vinson • Vukasin • Wexler • Woods | ||
| 1984 |
Barker • Beezer • Biggers • Billings • Bissell • Boyle • Brewster • Browning • DiCarlo • Duhe • Garcia • George • Hall • Hargrove • Higgins • Hill • Holland • Ideman • Jarvis • Keller • Leavy • Lee • Legge • Leisure • Little • Livaudais • Longobardi • McKibben • Milburn • Newman • Norgle • Prado • Rea • Rosenblatt • Rovner • Scirica • Smith, Jr. • Sneeden • Stotler • Suhrheinrich • Torruella • Wiggins • Wilkinson | ||
| 1985 |
Alley • Altimari • Anderson • Aquilino • Archer • Arnold • Baldock • Batchelder • Battey • Broomfield • Brown • Brown • Brunetti • Buckley • Cobb • Conmy • Cowen • Davidson • Dimmick • Duff • Easterbrook • Edgar • Farnan • Fernandez • Fitzpatrick • Fuste • Greene • Gunn • Guy • Hall • Hilton • Holderman • Hughes • Johnson • Jones • Korman • Kozinski • La Plata • Leinenweber • Letts • Lovell • Ludwig • Maloney • Mansmann • Marcus • McDonald • Meredith • Miller • Mills • Miner • Motz • Nelson • Noonan • Porfilio • Revercomb • Rhoades • Ripple • Rodriguez • Rosenbaum • Roth • Ryan • Sam • Scott • Sentelle • Silberman • Sporkin • Stanton • Stapleton • Strand • Strom • Tacha • Tevrizian • Thompson • Todd • Tsoucalas • Walker • Walter • Weber • Williams • Wilson • Wingate • Wolf • Wollman • Young • Zloch | ||
| 1986 |
Anderson • Boggs • Bryan • Cedarbaum • Cholakis • Conway • Davies • Dearie • Dubina • Duggan • Edmondson • Fawsett • Fitzwater • Gex • Graham • Hackett • Hansen • Henderson • Hittner • Howard • Jensen • Kay • Kleinfeld • Kosik • Lagueux • Lechner • Magill • Mahoney • Manion • McAvoy • McQuade • Norris • O'Scannlain • Rehnquist • Ryskamp • Scalia • Selya • Simpson • Smalkin • Spencer • Stiehl • Wilkins • Williams • Woodlock • Zatkoff | ||
| 1987 |
Alesia • Beam • Bell • Conboy • Cowen • Cummings • Daronco • Doty • Dwyer • Ebel • Ellis • Gadola • Gawthrop • Greenberg • Harrington • Howard • Hoyt • Hutchinson • Kanne • Kelly • Larimer • Leavy • Lew • Marsh • Mayer • McKinney • Michel • Mukasey • Musgrave • Niemeyer • Parker • Phillips • Politan • Pro • Raggi • Reasoner • Reed • Scirica • Sentelle • Smith • Smith • Stadtmueller • Standish • Tinder • Torres • Trott • Turner • Van Antwerpen • Voorhees • Webb • Whipple • Wolin • Wolle • Wood • Zagel | ||
| 1988 |
Arcara • Babcock • Brorby • Butler • Cambridge • Camp • Conlon • Cox • Dubois • Duhe • Ezra • Forester • Friedman • Garza • Hutton • Jordan • Kennedy • Lake • Lamberth • Lifland • Lozano • Marovich • Nygaard • Patterson • Schell • Smith • Smith • Tilley • Waldman • Zilly | ||
