Robert Holmes Bell
Robert Holmes Bell (born 1944) is a United States federal judge.
Born in Lansing, Michigan, Bell received a B.A. from Wheaton College in 1966.[1] At Wheaton, Bell lettered in track each year.[2]
Bell received his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School in 1969.[1] He was an assistant county prosecuting attorney for Ingham County, Michigan from 1969 to 1973 and then became a judge, first on the Ingham District Court in Mason, Michigan from 1973 to 1979, and then on the Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing, Michigan from 1979 to 1987.[1]
On March 11, 1987, Bell was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan vacated by Wendell Alverson Miles.[1] Bell was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 1, 1987, and received his commission the following day.[1] He served as chief judge from 2001 to 2008.[1]
Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Bell to serve as chairman of the criminal law committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. In that post, Bell wrote a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2013 opposing mandatory minimum sentences, saying they produce "unjust results" and waste public funds.[2][3][4]
Bell met his wife, Helen, while both were students at Wheaton.[2] They have a son, Rob Bell, the founding pastor of the Mars Hill Bible Church megachurch, and a daughter, Ruth Bell Olsson.[2]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Bell, Robert Holmes, Biographical Directory of Federal Judges.
- ^ a b c d John Agar, Profile: U.S. District Court Judge Robert Holmes Bell, MLove (February 13, 2011).
- ^ Associated Press, West Michigan federal judge knocks mandatory minimum sentences (September 21, 2013).
- ^ Garret Ellison, Mandatory minimum sentences waste money, have 'unjust results,' says Grand Rapids federal judge, MLive (September 22, 2013).
External links
- Robert Holmes Bell at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1944 births
- Living people
- Wayne State University alumni
- Michigan state court judges
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan
- 20th-century American judges
- Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni
- People from Lansing, Michigan