Cory Todd Wilson (born August 8, 1970) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Wilson was previously a judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals and a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives.

Early life and education

Wilson was born in 1970 in

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport– Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 2 ...

. He graduated from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

in 1992 with a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

''summa cum laude'' and also received the Taylor Medal in Economics, awarded to the top student in the department. He then attended

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

, where he was a member of the '' Yale Law Journal'' and an Olin Fellow in Economics. He graduated in 1995 with a Juris Doctor.

Legal and legislative career

Upon graduation from law school, Wilson served as a law clerk to Judge

Emmett Ripley Cox Emmett Ripley Cox (February 13, 1935 – March 3, 2021) was a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...

. He also served as a White House Fellow in the Department of Defense as a Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Before serving in the Mississippi legislature, Wilson served as Senior Advisor and Counsel in the

Mississippi State Treasurer State Treasurer of Mississippi is a post created in 1817 when the state was admitted to the Union. Before the state was formed by splitting the Alabama Territory from the Mississippi Territory, an equivalent post was the Territorial Treasurer G ...

's Office and as Deputy Secretary of State in the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office. Wilson has been an intermittent member of the

Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (abbreviated as FedSoc) is an American conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Headquarter ...

, including while at

from 1992 to 1995, and then joining the Mississippi chapter from 1996 to 2005 and again since 2019.

Mississippi House of Representatives

Wilson served as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 2016 to 2019.

Judicial career

State judicial service

In December 2018, Wilson was appointed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals to the seat vacated by Kenny Griffis, who was elevated to the

Mississippi Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and App ...

. He was sworn into office on February 15, 2019. His service as a state judge ended on July 2, 2020 when he was elevated as a Circuit Judge to the Fifth Circuit Court.

Federal judicial service

Withdrawn nomination to district court

On August 28, 2019, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

announced his intent to nominate Wilson to serve as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

for the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi The United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi (in case citations, S.D. Miss.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Fifth Circuit with facilities in Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulf ...

. On October 15, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Wilson to the seat vacated by Judge Louis Guirola Jr., who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on March 23, 2018. On January 3, 2020, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. On January 6, 2020, his renomination was sent to the Senate. On January 8, 2020, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on his nomination. During his confirmation hearing, some senators asked about Wilson's past comments on social media about President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as his previous positions, as a state legislator, on

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

, the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

, and voting rights. His nomination to that district court was withdrawn on May 4, 2020 when he was nominated to the 5th Circuit Court.

Court of appeals service

On March 30, 2020, President

announced his intent to nominate Wilson to serve as a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, to fill the seat vacated by Judge

E. Grady Jolly E. Grady Jolly (born October 3, 1937) is a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His chambers are in Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi. ...

, who assumed

on October 3, 2017. On May 4, 2020, his nomination was sent to the Senate. On May 18, 2020, the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

rated Wilson as "well qualified," its highest rating. On May 20, 2020, the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

held a hearing on Wilson's nomination. On June 11, 2020, Wilson's nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On June 22, 2020, the Senate invoked

cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ' ...

on Wilson's nomination by a 51–43 vote. On June 24, 2020, Wilson's nomination was confirmed by a 52–48 vote. Wilson's confirmation marked the 200th confirmation of a federal judge nominated by

. Wilson was the sixth judge nominated by Trump to be confirmed to the Fifth Circuit. Wilson received his judicial commission on July 3, 2020.

References

External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Cory T. 1970 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American politicians Federalist Society members Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Republican Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives Mississippi College School of Law faculty Mississippi Court of Appeals judges Mississippi lawyers People from Pascagoula, Mississippi United States court of appeals judges appointed by Donald Trump University of Mississippi alumni White House Fellows Yale Law School alumni