Jerry Edwin Smith (Fifth Circuit)

Jerry Smith

Nonpartisan

United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit

Tenure

1987 - Present

Years in position

36

Education

Bachelor's

Yale University, 1969

Law

Yale Law School, 1972

Personal

Birthplace

Del Rio, Texas

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Jerry Edwin Smith is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. He joined the court in 1987 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan.

Early life and education

A native of Del Rio, Texas, Smith graduated from Yale University with his bachelor's degree in 1969 and from Yale Law School with his J.D. in 1972.

Professional career

• 1984-1987: City attorney, Houston, Texas
• 1982-1984: Chairman, Houston Civil Service Commission
• 1981-1982: Special assistant attorney general, Texas
• 1978-1980: Director, Harris County Housing Authority
• 1973-1984: Private practice, Houston, Texas
• 1972-1973: Law clerk, Hon. Halbert Woodward, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Judicial career

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Jerry E. Smith
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 200 days after nomination.
ANominated: June 2, 1987
AABA Rating:
Questionnaire:
AHearing: July 21, 1987
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: December 17, 1987
AConfirmed: December 19, 1987
AVote: Unanimous consent

Smith was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit by President Ronald Reagan on June 2, 1987, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. Hearings on Smith's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on July 21, 1987, and his nomination was reported by then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) on December 17, 1987. Smith was confirmed by the unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on December 19, 1987, and he received his commission on December 21, 1987.

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)

On April 10, 2014, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit composed of Judges Smith, Edith Clement, and Grady Jolly, 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.

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. In concluding the ruling, Smith stated:

“

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.

”

Corporate speech through campaign finance upheld by Fifth Circuit (2013)

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit (Texans for Free Enterprise v. Texas Ethics Commission, et al, 13-50014)

On October 16, 2013, Judge Smith, writing on behalf of a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit which included Judges James Dennis and Stephen Higginson, affirmed a ruling made by the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas as to corporations' ability to fund political speech. In the underlying case, Texans for Free Enterprise (TFE), a political action committee that uses its donated funds to support or oppose political candidates, filed suit against the Texas Ethics Commission because portions of the Texas Election Code prohibited the PAC from receiving money from corporations. TFE sought an enforcement injunction, and the federal trial court granted a preliminary one in the political action group's favor. The Ethics Commission appealed the suit to the Fifth Circuit, where the lower court's ruling was affirmed. Smith ruled that in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, the parts of the Texas Election Code that banned corporate funding of political speech were an unconstitutional abridgment of free speech. Smith concluded his decision by noting that injunctions of this kind, those which sought to protect the First Amendment, were always in the public interest.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit

External links

• Judge Smith's biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit 1987-Present	Succeeded by -