Julie Elizabeth Carnes (born October 31, 1950) is a senior

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. ...

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 * ...

Early life and education

Born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Carnes is the daughter of Georgia state court judge Charles Carnes. She 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 year ...

degree from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 1972 and a Juris Doctor from the

University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it among the oldest American university law schools in continuous ...

in 1975. She was a law clerk to Judge Lewis Render Morgan of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

from 1975 to 1977.

Professional career

Carnes was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, from 1978 to 1990 and was Appellate Chief of the Criminal Division from 1987 to 1989. She was a member of the U.S. Attorney General's Advisory Committee on Sentencing Guidelines from 1988 to 1990 and was a Special Counsel to the U.S. Sentencing Commission in 1989 and a Commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 1990 to 1996.

Federal judicial service

On August 1, 1991, Carnes was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (in case citations, N.D. Ga.) is a United States district court which serves the residents of forty-six counties. These are divided up into four divisions. Appeals from cases ...

vacated by Robert H. Hall. She 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 February 6, 1992 and received her commission on February 10, 1992. From 2009 to 2014 she served as chief judge. Her service as a district court judge was terminated on July 31, 2014 when she was elevated to the court of appeals. On December 19, 2013, 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 ...

nominated Carnes to the

that was vacated by Judge James Larry Edmondson, 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 July 15, 2012. She received a hearing before the

United States 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, ...

on May 13, 2014. On June 19, 2014, her nomination was reported out of committee by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. On July 16, 2014, Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

filed a

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. ' ...

motion on Carnes' nomination. On July 17, 2014, the

invoked

on her nomination by a 68–23 vote. On July 21, 2014, her nomination was confirmed by a 94–0 vote. She received her judicial commission on July 31, 2014. She assumed

on June 18, 2018. Carnes is unrelated to

Edward Earl Carnes Edward Earl Carnes (born June 3, 1950) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Education and legal career Carnes received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Al ...

, with whom she serves on the Eleventh Circuit.

JonBenét Ramsey

Julie Carnes was the judge in a lawsuit related to the homicide of JonBenét Ramsey. An early suspect in JonBenét's murder, Chris Wolf, sued JonBenét's parents,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and

Patsy Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

Ramsey, for slander. In their book, ''The Death of Innocence'', John and Patsy Ramsey had mentioned a few suspects in their daughter's death, including Chris Wolf. Wolf sued the Ramseys for defamation, using gadfly attorney Darnay Hoffman to represent him. In his suit, Wolf contended that the Ramseys themselves were responsible for JonBenét's death, and were therefore guilty of slander by portraying him as a suspect. In the view of Judge Carnes, the case hinged largely on the question of whether JonBenét Ramsey's death was an inside job, as Wolf claimed, or the work of an intruder, as maintained by JonBenét's parents. In a decisive ruling, Judge Carnes concluded that "abundant evidence" showed that the murder was committed by an intruder, and that the Ramseys were innocent of any involvement. Carnes dismissed Wolf's lawsuit in summary judgment.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carnes, Julie Elizabeth Living people 1950 births 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges Assistant United States Attorneys Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Killing of JonBenét Ramsey Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Members of the United States Sentencing Commission United States court of appeals judges appointed by Barack Obama United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush University of Georgia School of Law alumni 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges