Ceola James

From Judgepedia

Ceola James' of Vicksburg, Mississippi, is a candidate for the District 1, Place 3 seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court. James ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Chief Justice James Smith and Jim Kitchens.^[1],^[2]

In her quest for a seat on the court, James has been significantly out-financed by Smith and Kitchens. Smith, who has been on the court since 1993, had raised $69,550 this year and of mid-June; Kitchens had raised $125,000. James had reported no campaign contributions or distributions.^[3]

2008 General election results

• Challenger Jim Kitchens (54% of the vote) defeated sitting Chief Justice James Smith (36% of the vote), and another challenger, Ceola James (10%).^[4]

Legal education and experience

James, a former 9th District Chancery Judge, received her undergraduate degree from the Mississippi College School of Law. She was a professional educator before obtaining her law degree, teaching French and English for several years.

In 2004, she challenged incumbent James Graves for his spot on the Court; Samac Richardson and Bill Skinner also ran against Graves, who retained his seat.

2008 Campaign

Campaign ad

Below is an ad for James's 2008 Supreme Court bid; while it has no dialog, the screen flashes with a list of her professional and personal accomplishments. In the background plays Rascal Flatt's "God Bless the Broken Road."

Campaign slogan

"Working hard for Mississippi to promote a more perfect America."

Reprimand on record

The Mississippi Supreme Court ordered a public reprimand for James in 2007 for violating court rules of conduct that bar former judges from representing a party in a case over which she previously presided. In the case for which she was reprimanded, James presided over a hearing regarding a mother's petition for child protection, ultimately barring the father from unsupervised visits. Later, after leaving the bench and after the parties divorced, James tried to represent the mother in seeking modification of the divorce decree.^[5]

The Litigious Ms. James

In 2003, Ceola James appealed a United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi (USDC No. 3:02-CV-1447-BNJ) decision in which she failed to successfully sue Amy Tuck (President and Agent of the Mississippi Senate) and other various figures of the Mississippi Legislature. She argued that that the district court erred in determining that her Voting Rights Act claim was frivolous without convening a three-judge panel.

The issue at hand was whether or not "[a] change in the election law denied Mississippi voters due process and that the approval of the election ballots required preclearance by the United States Attorney General...

However, "James failed to brief the retroactivity, vagueness, personal due process, ex post facto , and equal protection claims she raised below, and they are deemed abandoned on appeal."^[6]

James suggests that a three-judge court was required to determine whether the changes had a discriminatory purpose or effect of the changes; however, the three-judge district court lacks jurisdiction to make such a determination. See Perkins v. Matthews , 400 U.S. 379, 383 (1971).

• Pursuant to 5 TH C IR . R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5 TH C IR .

External links

• Press release announcing candidacy
• Mississippi Supreme Court Election Information
• Ceola James v. The Mississippi Bar
• Ceola James for Supreme Court
• Campaign Finance Reports
• James is candidate for Supreme Court
• Rivals outraise sitting justices

References

v • d • e Mississippi Supreme Court Current Chief: Waller • Carlson • Chandler • Dickinson • Graves • Kitchens • Lamar • Pierce • Randolph Former Mills