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Elizabeth L. Branch
Official Portrait, 2018
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office March 19, 2018
Appointed by	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Frank M. Hull
Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals
In office September 1, 2012 – March 19, 2018
Appointed by	Nathan Deal
Preceded by	Charles Mikell
Succeeded by	Elizabeth Gobeil
Personal details
Born	Elizabeth Lee Branch (1968-03-30) March 30, 1968 (age 56) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Education	Davidson College (BA) Emory University (JD)

Elizabeth Lee Branch (born March 30, 1968) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She is a former judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Early life and education

Branch was born in Atlanta on March 30, 1968 and was raised in Fulton County. She attended the Westminster Schools before matriculating at Dickinson College, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), cum laude in 1990. Branch then enrolled at Emory University School of Law; as a law student she was the notes and comments editor of the Emory Law Journal. She received the university's Charles E. Watkins Jr. scholarship. She graduated with distinction with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1994 and membership in the Order of the Coif.

After law school, Branch served as a law clerk to Judge J. Owen Forrester of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia from 1994 to 1996.

Career

Branch was in private practice in Atlanta from 1996 to 2004 and again from 2008 until 2012. She practiced law at the law firm of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. She was a partner in the commercial litigation practice group there.

From 2004 to 2008, Branch served as a senior official in the administration of President George W. Bush. During that time she served for three years as the Counselor to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and for one year as the Associate General Counsel for Rules and Legislation at the United States Department of Homeland Security.

She was a judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals from 2012 until 2018. She was appointed by Governor of Georgia Nathan Deal to succeed Charles Mikell. In 2018 she was appointed to the federal bench.

Federal judicial service

On September 7, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Branch to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, to the seat soon vacated by Judge Frank M. Hull, who would assume senior status on December 31, 2017. On December 13, 2017, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

On January 3, 2018, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. On January 5, 2018, Trump announced his intent to renominate Branch to a federal judgeship.

On January 8, 2018, her renomination was sent to the Senate. On January 18, 2018, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 19–2 vote. On February 26, 2018, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 72–22 vote. The next day her nomination was confirmed by a 73–23 vote. She received her commission on March 19, 2018.

On September 29, 2022, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit James C. Ho delivered a speech at a Federalist Society conference in Kentucky and said he would no longer hire law clerks from Yale Law School, which he said was plagued by "cancel culture" and students disrupting conservative speakers. Ho said Yale "not only tolerates the cancellation of views—it actively practices it.", and he urged other judges to likewise boycott the school. Judge Branch confirmed her participation in the Yale boycott in a statement to National Review. Branch told the National Review that Ho raised "legitimate concerns about the lack of free speech on law school campuses, Yale in particular," and that she would not consider students from Yale for clerkships in the future.

Notable cases

In 2020, she dissented in NAACP v. Alabama, arguing that Congress did not clearly and unambiguously abrogate states’ sovereign immunity from suit under the Voting Rights Act, and that plaintiffs were thus barred by sovereign immunity from suing states under § 2 of the Act.

Memberships and awards

Branch was appointed by Governor Nathan Deal in 2013 to the Georgia Commission on Child Support. She is a member of the board of advisors of the Atlanta Lawyers Chapter for the Federalist Society. She was on the Emory University board of visitors until 2018. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia's Appellate Practice Section and is a Master in the Lamar American Inn of Court and the Bleckley American Inn of Court. Branch is a former co-chair of the Homeland Security and National Defense Committee of the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association. She was selected for inclusion in Georgia Super Lawyers in 2012.

Electoral history

References

1. Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho. Vol. 7. Martindale-Hubbell. April 2000. ISBN 9781561603763.
2. ^ "Elizabeth L. Branch". Georgia Court of Appeals. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
3. "Hon. Elizabeth L. Branch". United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
4. ^ Elizabeth L. Branch at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
5. "AFJ Nominee Report: Elizabeth L. Branch" (PDF). Alliance for Justice. 2017. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
6. "SGR Partner Elizabeth "Lisa" Branch Appointed to Georgia Court of Appeals". Smith, Gambrell & Russell. July 27, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
7. "Deal names two to Georgia Court of Appeals | Governor Nathan Deal Office of the Governor". gov.georgia.gov. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
8. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Seventh Wave of Judicial Candidates". whitehouse.gov. September 7, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2017 – via National Archives.
9. "Eight Nominations Sent to the Senate Today". whitehouse.gov. September 7, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017 – via National Archives.
10. "Nominations | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov. December 13, 2017.
11. "Congressional Record". www.congress.gov.
12. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Renomination of 21 Judicial Nominees". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.
13. "Nominations Sent to the Senate Today". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.
14. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – January 18, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee" (PDF).
15. "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on Elizabeth L. Branch, of Georgia, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit)". www.senate.gov.
16. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Elizabeth L. Branch, of Georgia, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit)". United States Senate. February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
17. Raymond, Nate (September 30, 2022). "Trump-appointed judge boycotts Yale for law clerks over 'cancel culture'". Reuters.
18. Raymond, Nate (January 10, 2023). "Trump-appointed judge in Yale clerk boycott condemns 'cancel culture' at Harvard event". Reuters.
19. Raymond, Nate (October 7, 2022). "2nd Trump-appointed judge publicly says she will not hire Yale clerks". Reuters.
20. Alabama State Conference of the NAACP v. Alabama, 949 F.3d 647 (11th Cir. 2020).
21. Stern, Mark Joseph (February 4, 2020). "Trump Judge Argues Voters Can't Sue States Over Voting Rights". Slate. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
22. "General Primary/General Nonpartisan/Special Election – May 20, 2014". Georgia Election Results. Office of the Secretary of State of Georgia. May 29, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2018.

External links

• Elizabeth L. Branch at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Elizabeth Branch at Ballotpedia

• 1968 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American lawyers
• 21st-century American lawyers
• 21st-century American judges
• Davidson College alumni
• Emory University School of Law alumni
• Georgia Court of Appeals judges
• Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers
• Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• People from Fulton County, Georgia
• United States court of appeals judges appointed by Donald Trump
• 20th-century American women lawyers
• 21st-century American women lawyers
• 21st-century American women judges