Paul Joseph Kelly Jr.
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and confirmed by voice vote, Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He earned a law degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1967. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1940 · age 86
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1992
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Notre Dame 1963 · Fordham Law 1967
- Succeeded by
- Joel McElroy Carson III
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Tenth Circuit | G.H.W. Bush (R) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| University of Notre Dame | B.B.A. | 1963 |
| Fordham University School of Law | J.D. | 1967 |
Judicial Record
In our data, Kelly authored 5 published opinions for the court (2010–2011). Most cited: Brown v. Montoya (782 citations).
Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Selected opinions
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Brown v. Montoya | 662 F.3d 1152 | 782 |
| 2011 | Henry v. Storey | 658 F.3d 1235 | 160 |
| 2011 | Ark Initiative v. United States Forest Service | 660 F.3d 1256 | 17 |
| 2010 | United States v. Farr | 591 F.3d 1322 | 7 |
| 2010 | United States v. Brown | 592 F.3d 1088 | 6 |
Showing the 5 most-cited of 5 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Paul Joseph Kelly Jr.?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 1992.
- Was Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Paul Joseph Kelly Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on April 8, 1992. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. on?
- Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Slowyourroll23 (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
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34 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).