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James Graham (Ohio federal judge)
2004 - Present
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James L. Graham is a federal judge on senior status with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. He joined the court in 1986 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan.[1]
Education
Graham received his undergraduate degree in 1962 from Ohio State University and his J.D., summa cum laude, from Ohio State University's College of Law that same year.[1]
Professional career
- 2004-Present: Senior judge
- 2003-2004: Chief judge
- 1986-2004: Judge
- 1962-1986: Private practice, Columbus, Ohio[1]
Judicial career
Southern District of Ohio
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| Nominee Information |
| Name: James L. Graham |
| Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 41 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: August 15. 1986
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 ABA Rating:
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| Questionnaire: |
| Hearing: September 10, 1986
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| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: September 19, 1986
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| Confirmed: September 25, 1986
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| Vote: Voice vote
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Graham was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on August 15, 1986, to a seat vacated by Robert Duncan. Hearings on Graham's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 10, 1986, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) on September 19, 1986. Graham was confirmed on a voice vote of the U.S. Senate on September 25, 1986, and he received his commission the next day. Graham served as the chief judge of the court from 2003 to 2004, before electing to take senior status beginning on August 31, 2004.[1][2] He was succeeded in this position by Judge Michael Watson.
Noteworthy cases
Sixth Circuit says judges have immunity (2014)
Judge D. Dean Evans was sued by an attorney, Robert Bright, after the two disagreed about whether the judge should accept a plea deal. Judge Evans had refused to accept the plea. Bright then filed a motion asking the court to accept the plea deal of his client, who initially refused the deal but almost immediately changed his mind. Bright accused the judge of abusing his discretion in the matter. In return, Judge Evans filed a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court, removed Bright from the case upon which they disagreed, and also barred Bright from representing felony clients in his courtroom. In total, Judge Evans removed Bright from 70 cases. Defense Corp., Bright's employer, fired him a month later because he could no longer represent clients before the judge, who was the only judge hearing criminal cases in the county. Bright sued not only Judge Evans for costing him his job, but the county in which Judge Evans sits on the bench and his former employer, Defense Corp.
The first judge to hear the case, Judge James Graham of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, refused to dismiss it, claiming that Judge Evans acted outside his jurisdiction and was thus not entitled to judicial immunity.[3] Judge Graham dismissed the claims against the county and Defense Corp., however.
The case was appealed to the Sixth Circuit, and a three-judge panel comprised of Helene White, Karen Moore and Bernice Donald, reversed Judge Graham's ruling. Judge Moore wrote for the panel that, while Judge Evans acted petty, unethical, and unworthy of his office, judicial immunity still applied.[3] They also found that because Judge Evans’ court had subject matter jurisdiction over criminal proceedings in the county, he was not acting outside of his jurisdiction. Further, the panel indicated that it wished to protect judicial immunity for the sake of the entire judicial community. The panel affirmed the dismissal of Bright’s claims against the county and Defense, Corp.
Articles:
See also
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
- United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
External links
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Robert Duncan |
Southern District of Ohio 1986–2004 Seat #2 |
Succeeded by: Michael Watson (Ohio)
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|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
Federal courts:
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Ohio, Southern District of Ohio
State courts:
Ohio Supreme Court • Ohio District Courts of Appeal • Ohio Courts of Common Pleas • Ohio County Courts • Ohio Municipal Courts • Ohio Court of Claims
State resources:
Courts in Ohio • Ohio judicial elections • Judicial selection in Ohio
