Five questions with Justice James Graves

Justice James E. Graves, Jr., has served on the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2001. He previously served as Hinds County Circuit Court Judge for 10 years and a Special Assistant Attorney General for 4 years.

Justice Graves is married to Dr. Bettye Ramsey Graves, an assistant vice president at Jackson State University. They met as undergraduate students at Millsaps College, were married after graduation, and are devoted members of the New Heights Seventh Day Adventist Church. Justice Graves and his family live in Jackson, but he is a native of Clinton, Mississippi. His parents, the Reverend James E. Graves, Sr. and Rosie Graves, still reside in Clinton. Reverend Graves is the pastor of Fannin Baptist Church, which is located in Rankin County, Mississippi.

Justice Graves was valedictorian of his high school class in Clinton. He then gained a degree in sociology from Millsaps College. He received his law degree from Syracuse University School of Law and a master’s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Justice Graves returned to Mississippi after law school and dedicated his life to public service. He served as Special Assistant Attorney General for four years and then became Director of the Division of Child Support Enforcement with the Mississippi Department of Human Services. In 1991, he was appointed to the Hinds County Circuit Court, where he served with great distinction for ten years.

Justice Graves will teach at Millsaps College this coming semester and has frequently taught classes at Jackson State University and Tougaloo College. He has been a teaching team member at Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshops and has lectured at Stanford School of Law.

Of the many awards and honors he has received, notable are the Livesay Service Award for distinguished alumni from Millsaps College in 2004, the Law-Related Public Education Award from the Mississippi Bar Foundation in 2002, the Distinguished Jurist Award from the National Bar Association in 1996, and being named Jurist-in-Residence at Syracuse University College of Law in 2003. Of all his accolades, Justice Graves is most proud of being named Parent of the Year for the Jackson Public School District in 2001, and first alternate Parent of the Year for the entire state.

Justice Graves is most proud of his three sons: Christopher, an attorney at the Phelps Dunbar law firm in Jackson; James, a second year law student at the University of Virginia; and Jeffrey, a senior at Jackson State University.

Justice Graves was endorsed by the Clarion-Ledger, the Scott County Times, and the Vicksburg Post.

1. Why are you running for Supreme Court?
When I was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, I promised the people of Mississippi that I would serve with honor, dignity, and integrity. Honor because Mississippi deserves it; dignity because my family expects it; and integrity because God requires it.

I promised to honor my oath to uphold the laws and the Constitution of the state of Mississippi, and I’ve kept it. Those who have objectively examined my record know that I do not favor special interests from any side. My special interest is justice. And that’s why I’m running.

2. What makes a good judge?
Three things: fairness, intelligence, and dedication.

A good judge must not only be absolutely fair and impartial to all parties. Yet impartiality without intelligence or dedication is hollow. A good judge must remove himself from his personal views, look at the plain face of the law, and apply the case law that went before without distortion.

Make no mistake, it’s a full-time job. On any given day I am prepared to spend hours just reading the law. That’s before I even convene with my law clerks or speak with the other justices about cases.

3. How many cases have you ruled on?
I presided over more than 200 trials in my ten years as a circuit judge on the Hinds County bench. When I joined the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2001, a fairly severe backlog had accumulated. Under the leadership of Chief Justice Jim Smith, and through a close partnership with the entire court, we eliminated that backlog in July of this year. I’m proud to have been a part of that effort.

In my time as a justice, I have written majority opinions for the court in sixty-nine cases. They have involved subjects as varied as affirming the sentence of death in serious murder trials to custody cases to annexation matters.

4. Any funny stories on the campaign trail?
Some of my favorite stories have come from my very loyal campaign staff. Despite the large number of yard signs we bought early on, we were constantly plagued by theft. Hundreds of signs would go up, and a week later they’d all be gone.

Of course the staff has to deal with all the phone calls about how this neighborhood or that one doesn’t have yard signs. They were doing the best they could, but we literally ran out of signs.

One day we received a particularly obnoxious and angry call from a supporter, demanding more signs. One of my volunteers literally put his head down on the desk in exasperation before the caller, laughing, identified himself as former Presiding Justice Fred Banks, who I succeeded at the court. He’s been prank-calling the campaign regularly since then.

That’s really been one of the best parts of this campaign—the friendships and the community that we’ve formed. The work my family, my friends, and my staff has put in has been extraordinary.

5. Do you enjoy campaigning?
Absolutely. Campaigning is an integral part of our democracy, but far too often people ignore how wonderful our system of government is. I was happy so many people turned out to vote this year, because that brings respect and legitimacy to our elections. Our government respects and responds to active participation.

I love speaking with voters and groups of citizens—not just as a candidate, but as an educator. Every time I talk to people about how our judicial system works, it helps them to become more supportive of this important branch of government. People have to trust the system for democracy to work. The electoral process provides an opportunity for all citizens to actively participate in our democracy. I consider it an honor to participate in that process.

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