Robert Holmes Bell (April 19, 1944 – June 8, 2023) was an American lawyer and

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan The United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan (in case citations, W.D. Mich.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over of the western portion of the state of Michigan, including the entire Upper Peninsula and t ...

from 1987 to 2017. Before assuming the role, he worked as an attorney and judge in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Bell became a senior judge in 2017, a role which he served until his death in 2023. His son is

Rob Bell Robert Holmes Bell Jr. (born August 23, 1970) is an American author, speaker and former pastor. Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, and pastored it until 2012. Under his leadership, Mars Hill was one of the fastest-g ...

, the founder of the

Mars Hill Bible Church Mars Hill Bible Church is an American non-denominational Christian megachurch located in Grandville, Michigan near Grand Rapids. The teaching pastor was Rob Bell until December, 2011 when Bell transitioned into another ministry and was succeede ...

Education and career

Bell received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from Wheaton College in 1966. At Wheaton, Bell

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

each year. Bell received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

in 1969. He was an assistant county prosecuting attorney for

Ingham County, Michigan Ingham County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 284,900. The county seat is Mason. Lansing, the state capital of Michigan, is largely located within the county. (Lansing is the only ...

from 1969 to 1973 and then became a judge, first on the Ingham District Court in

Mason, Michigan Mason is the county seat of Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,252 at the 2010 census. Mason is the only city in the United States that serves as a county seat ahead of a state capital, as the nearby capital of L ...

from 1973 to 1979, then on the Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing from 1979 to 1987.

Federal judicial service

On March 11, 1987, Bell was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan vacated by Judge Wendell Alverson Miles. Bell was confirmed by 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 July 1, 1987 and received his commission the following day. He served as Chief Judge from 2001 to 2008. He assumed

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

on January 31, 2017. Chief Justice

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...

appointed Bell to serve as chairman of the criminal law committee of the

Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...

. In that post, Bell wrote a letter to 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, a ...

in 2013 opposing

mandatory minimum sentence Mandatory sentencing requires that offenders serve a predefined term for certain crimes, commonly serious and violent offenses. Judges are bound by law; these sentences are produced through the legislature, not the judicial system. They are inst ...

s, saying they produce "unjust results" and waste public funds. One notable case during Bell's federal judicial service was the 2002 trial of

Marvin Gabrion Marvin Charles Gabrion (born October 18, 1953) is an American murderer, rapist, and suspected serial killer convicted of the 1997 kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman, of Cedar Springs, Michigan. Timmerman and her 11-month-old da ...

, where Bell ordered a death sentence for Gabrion after the U.S. Justice Department told prosecutors to ask jurors for the death sentence, to which the jurors agreed. Gabrion remains on death row as of 2023. Bell also took actions on protecting

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

sand dunes, supervising the cleanup of the

Kalamazoo River The Kalamazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is long from the junction of its North and South branches to its mouth at Lake Michigan, with a total length extending to when one includes the South Branch.U.S. Geologica ...

, and dismantling

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black River). ...

's street gang Latin Kings.

Personal life

Born in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

, on April 19, 1944, to Preston and Eileen (née Holmes), Bell was raised in nearby Williamston and graduated from

Okemos High School Okemos High School is a public high school in Okemos, Michigan, United States. It is the only high school in the Okemos Public Schools district. It is located southeast of the main campus of Michigan State University, between Bennett and Joll ...

in 1962. His father died of war-related illness,

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

, when he was eight years old. Bell met his wife, Helen, while both were students at Wheaton. They had three children. Their son, Rob Bell, is the founding pastor of the Mars Hill Bible Church

megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...

. Bell taught at a

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

in upper Michigan. Bell died in

East Grand Rapids, Michigan East Grand Rapids is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,694. The city is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is surrounded by Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Township, bu ...

, on June 8, 2023, at age 79.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Robert Holmes 1944 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan Michigan state court judges People from Lansing, Michigan United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Wayne State University alumni Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Wheaton Thunder College men's track and field athletes in the United States