[Judges](/kyj) / [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit](/kyj/court/us/u-s-court-of-appeals-for-the-sixth-circuit) / Jeffrey S. Sutton Jeffrey S. Sutton U.S. Circuit Judge · [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit](/kyj/court/us/u-s-court-of-appeals-for-the-sixth-circuit) Last updated November 1, 2026 Status: Senior Snapshot Biography Courtroom Rules Sources Jeffrey S. Sutton: senior status effective 2026-10-01. Jeffrey S. Sutton at a glance Current role Senior Judge Court [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit](/kyj/court/us/u-s-court-of-appeals-for-the-sixth-circuit) Jurisdiction National federal courts · Federal Judicial service Senior Service record and verification Judicial service and assignments [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit](/kyj/court/us/u-s-court-of-appeals-for-the-sixth-circuit) · Senior Judge · Senior · present · [Assignment source ↗](https://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/) [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit](/kyj/court/us/u-s-court-of-appeals-for-the-sixth-circuit) · Senior Judge · Senior · present · [Assignment source ↗](https://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/) Appointment and verification Appointment method Presidential appointment with Senate confirmation Appointing authority George W. Bush Source authority Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory [Official profile ↗](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391886) · [Official roster ↗](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391886) Biography Professional career Judge, Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2003-present Adjunct professor of law, Ohio State University College of Law, 1994-present Sutton has also been an adjunct professor at Ohio State University College of Law since 1993 and a visiting lecturer at Harvard Law School, teaching state constitutional law and appellate advocacy In 2026, he was appointed Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law Practiced law at Jones Day in Columbus and held the role of Ohio Solicitor General from 1995 to 1998 Law clerk, Hon. Lewis Powell and Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court of the United States, 1991-1992 Law clerk, Hon. Thomas Meskill, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1990-1991 Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Sutton clerked for Judge Thomas Meskill of the Second Circuit and for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Lewis Powell (senior status) and Antonin Scalia, who praised him as “one of the very best law clerks” he ever had Education Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law in — J.D. (1990) Bachelor of Arts in history from Williams College in 1983 Additional information He became chief judge in 2021 and announced he will assume senior status on October 1, 2026. Health Care Mandate (2011): First Republican-appointed judge to uphold the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. Nominated by President George W. Bush, Sutton joined the Sixth Circuit in 2003, confirmed by the Senate in a 52-41 vote. Private practice, Columbus, OH, 1998-2003 Private practice, Columbus, OH, 1992-1995 Jeffrey Stuart Sutton was born on October 31, 1960, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Date of birth: 1960-01-01 The Sixth Circuit covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee, with its headquarters in Cincinnati. Early in his career, he held a position as a paralegal in Washington, D.C., taught high school history, and coached soccer before entering law school. Sutton is a prolific scholar, authoring books such as Who Decides? States as Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation and 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. He co-authored State Constitutional Law: The Modern Experience and The Law of Judicial Precedent, and co-edited The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law. Birth place: Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Applicable Court Rules & Procedures Rules last checked July 26, 2026 . Oral argument 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. 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) Sources Identity source checked July 25, 2026 . Biography sources checked October 11, 2026 . 01 Federal Judicial Center biography Identity source · HTML · Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory · effective May 5, 2003 · Source checked July 25, 2026 [View Federal Judicial Center biography ↗](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391886) 02 CourtListener judicial biographical directory Identity source · HTML · CourtListener / Free Law Project · Source checked August 2, 2026 [View CourtListener judicial biographical directory ↗](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3142/jeffrey-s-sutton/) 03 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument Courtwide source · HTML · Supreme Court of the United States and Judicial Conference of the United States · Source checked July 26, 2026 [View Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument ↗](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure) [Public Records & Data Use](/public-records-data-use) · [Corrections policy](/corrections) [Wikidata: Jeffrey Sutton](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6176302) [Confirmation Listing](https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/judicial-vacancies/confirmation-listing) Found an error? 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