On June 10, 2010, President Obama nominated James E. Graves, Jr., to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He received his commission on February 15, 2011.   Before joining the Fifth Circuit, Judge Graves served for ten years as a justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Prior to that, he served for ten years as a Circuit Court Judge in Hinds County.   A native of Clinton, Mississippi, he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Millsaps College, a Master of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and a law degree from Syracuse University College of Law.   Judge Graves began his legal career as a staff attorney at Central Mississippi Legal Services. He served as counsel for the Health Law and Human Services divisions of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. He also worked as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Mississippi and served as the Director of the Division of Child Support Enforcement in the Mississippi Department of Human Services.   Judge Graves has served as a Teaching Team Member of the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School, and as an adjunct professor at Millsaps College, Tougaloo College, and Jackson State University. Judge Graves has taught courses in media law, civil rights law, and sociology of law. His other teaching experience includes having served as a panelist at Stanford Law School on two occasions and as a jurist-in-residence at Syracuse University School of Law.