Paul Kelly (United States Court of Appeals judge)

Paul Kelly

Nonpartisan

United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit (senior status)

Tenure

2017 - Present

Years in position

6

Prior offices

United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit

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Education

Bachelor's

University of Notre Dame, 1963

Law

Fordham University School of Law, 1967

Personal

Birthplace

Freeport, N.Y.

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Paul Joseph Kelly, Jr. is a federal judge on senior status the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. He joined the court in 1992 after being nominated by President George H.W. Bush. He elected to take senior status on December 31, 2018.

Early life and education

A native of Freeport, New York, Kelly earned his B.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1963 and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1967.

Professional career

• 1967-1992: Private practice, Santa Fe, N.M.
• 1977-1981: State representative, New Mexico

Judicial career

10th Circuit Court of Appeals

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Paul J. Kelly, Jr.
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 141 days after nomination.
ANominated: November 19, 1991
AABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire:
AHearing: March 17, 1992
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: April 8, 1992
AConfirmed: April 8, 1992
AVote: Unanimous consent

Kelly was nominated by President George H.W. Bush on November 19, 1991, to a new seat created by 104 Stat. 5089. The American Bar Association rated Kelly Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Kelly's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on March 17, 1992, and his nomination was reported by then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) on April 8, 1992. Kelly was confirmed by the unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on April 8, 1992, and he received his commission on April 13, 1992. He elected to take senior status on December 31, 2017.

Noteworthy cases

Court sides with Abercrombie in religious discrimination case (2013)

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., 11-5110)

On October 1, 2013, the Tenth Circuit vacated a trial court summary judgment ruling in a suit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of a would-be Muslim employee after the clothing store Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) declined to hire her because she wore a headscarf. Judge Jerome Holmes wrote for the majority, joined by Judge Paul Kelly. Judge David Ebel wrote separately, concurring in part and dissenting in part. In the underlying case, the plaintiff, Samantha Elauf, interviewed for a job at A&F while wearing a religious headscarf, but did not specifically inform her interviewer that she wore it for a religious purpose; the interviewer merely assumed that it was worn for a religious purpose. Ultimately, Elauf was not hired because her headscarf violated A&F's dress code. In the ruling, Holmes noted that the trial court's decision was erroneous -- there can be no religious discrimination without notification of the need for a religious accommodation. Here, because Elauf failed to tell her interviewer that she would need an accommodation for her religious headscarf, the EEOC would not have been unable to conclusively establish that A&F had actual notice of her religious needs. In his separate opinion, Ebel agreed that the trial court's decision was incorrect, but argued that the question of discrimination should have been sent to a jury.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit

External links

• Judge Kelly's biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: NA-new seat 104 Stat. 5089	Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals 1992–2017	Succeeded by: Joel Carson