---
title: "Amalya Lyle Kearse | KnowJudges"
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# Amalya Lyle Kearse

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- State: National federal courts
- Role: U.S. Circuit Judge
- Service status: senior
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- Judge, Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1979-2002
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

### Education

- B.A. in philosophy from Wellesley College in 1959 and was the only Black woman in her law school class at the University of Michigan Law School, graduating J.D. cum laude in 1962.

### Additional information

- She assumed senior status on June 11, 2002.
- Abrams (1984), which created a test to limit the use of peremptory strikes based on race — a principle later echoed in Batson v.
- On May 3, 1979, President Jimmy Carter nominated her to the Second Circuit, a seat created by law.
- Confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 1979, and commissioned June 21, 1979.
- Private practice, New York City, 1962-1979
- After law school, Kearse practiced in New York City, rising to partner at Hughes, Hubbard & Reed by 1969.
- She held the role of an adjunct lecturer at New York University School of Law (1968–1969) and was the first African American woman to receive a fellowship from the American College of Trial Lawyers.
- Date of birth: 1937-01-01
- At the time, she was the first woman and only the second Black person on the court, after Thurgood Marshall.
- Kearse authored notable decisions, including McCray v.
- Kentucky.
- Kearse grew up in a predominantly Black community and attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ.
- She was also an editor of the law review.
- Birth place: Vauxhall, NJ

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### appellate oral argument

Scope: courtwide

In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation.

Evidence excerpt: Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessary

[Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1383111)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1383111)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1383111)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1720/amalya-lyle-kearse/)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1720/amalya-lyle-kearse/)
- [Judge Amalya Lyle Kearse](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1383111)
- [Wikidata: Amalya Lyle Kearse](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4739444)

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