Jill Pryor
2014 - Present
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Jill Anne Pryor is a federal judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. She joined the court in 2014 after a nomination by President Barack Obama.[1]
Education
Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Pryor earned her B.A. from the College of William & Mary in 1985 and her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1988.[1]
Professional career
- 1989-2014: Private practice, Atlanta, Ga.
- 1988-1989: Law clerk, Honorable James L. Edmondson, United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit[1]
Judicial career
11th Circuit Court of Appeals
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Jill A. Pryor |
| Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 935 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: February 16, 2012
|
| ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
|
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: May 13, 2014
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| QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: June 19, 2014
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| Confirmed: September 8, 2014
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| Vote: 97-0
|
Pryor was first nominated by President Federal judges nominated by Barack Obama to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit vacated by Stanley Birch, Jr., who retired from judicial service. The American Bar Association rated Pryor Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination.[2][3] Under Rule XXXI, paragraph six of the standing rules of the U.S. Senate, Pryor nomination was returned to the president on January 3, 2013. President Obama resubmitted the nomination on January 4, 2013. Under Rule XXXI, paragraph six of the Senate's standing rules, the Senate again returned Pryor's nomination to the president on January 3, 2014. President Obama resubmitted Pryor's nomination on January 6, 2014. Hearings on Pryor's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on May 13, 2014, and her nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on June 19, 2014. Pryor was confirmed on a recorded 97-0 vote of the United States Senate on September 8, 2014, and she received her commission the next day.[1][4][5][6]
Noteworthy cases
Divided en banc 11th Circuit case heads for SCOTUS (2017)
- See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (Wilson v. Sellers, No. 16-6855)
- See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (Wilson v. Sellers, No. 16-6855)
On August 23, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals divided 6-5 in upholding a lower court's decision to deny federal habeas relief to Marion Wilson Jr. After receiving a capital sentence in Georgia, Wilson appealed his sentence, arguing that his attorney failed to introduce evidence that might have reduced his sentence. In a written opinion, a Georgia superior court denied his petition. That denial was upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court in a one-line summary disposition: "Denied." Wilson then brought his appeal in federal court. A federal district court and a panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied Wilson's claim based on the Georgia Supreme Court's summary disposition, holding that Wilson was required to show a reasonable basis to overrule the Georgia Supreme Court and that he had not done so. Wilson argued that the federal courts were required to look through the state supreme court's summary disposition to the reasoning of the Georgia superior court's decision. A 6-5 majority of the Eleventh Circuit did not agree with Wilson's position. Writing in dissent, Judge Jill Pryor wrote,[7]
| “ |
The majority’s decision today requires federal habeas courts under § 2254(d) to defer to a summary decision of the Georgia Supreme Court so long as a federal court can conjure up any ground upon which relief reasonably could have been denied, even when the superior court’s reasoning was contrary to clearly established law. To reach this result, the majority ignores United States Supreme Court cases that direct us to presume that the Georgia Supreme Court silently adopted the superior court’s reasoning. And the majority ignores the evidence that the Georgia Supreme Court intends and understands its summary denials to mean that it agrees with the superior court’s reasoning. Instead, the majority relies on the unsupported assumption that federal cases addressing the meaning federal appellate courts assign their summary decisions dictate what the Georgia Supreme Court’s summary decisions mean. Rather than working the careful balance between the state and federal system that AEDPA and our Constitution require, the majority opinion does the very opposite.[8] |
” |
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in this case during its October 2017 term.
- For more, see Wilson v. Sellers
See also
External links
- Judge Pryor's biography from the Federal Judicial Center
- Judge Pryor's biography from the Eleventh Circuit website
- The White House, "President Obama Nominates Jill A. Pryor to Serve on the US Court of Appeals," February 16, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Federal Judicial Center, "Biographical directory of federal judges," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 112th Congress," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 113th Congress," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 1380 - Jill A. Pryor - The Judiciary," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 4 - Jill A. Pryor - The Judiciary," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 1180 - Jill A. Pryor - The Judiciary," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Marion Wilson Jr. v. Warden, Georgia Diagnostic Prison, August 23, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit 2014-Present |
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