--- title: "Mary Beck Briscoe | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-beck-briscoe" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Mary Beck Briscoe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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 Tenth Circuit, 1995-present - 1995–2021: Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, appointed by President Bill Clinton on March 14, 1995, confirmed by Senate voice vote on May 25, 1995 - 2010–2015: Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit - 1984–1995: Judge on the Kansas Court of Appeals, appointed by Governor John W. Carlin; held the role of Chief Judge from 1990 to 1995 - 1974–1984: Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, later Supervising Attorney in Topeka — the first woman in that role - Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit - Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ### Education - B.A. in German and International Relations from the University of Kansas in 1969, a J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1973, and an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1990. - University of Virginia-Main Campus — J.D. ### Additional information - Since 2021: Senior Judge. - Legal researcher, 1973-present - Tao (2024) and FTC v. - Elite IT Partners (2023). - McGinty (610 F.3d 1242, 2010), one of her most-cited decisions. - The first woman appointed to the Kansas Court of Appeals and co-chaired the Kansas Bar Association’s Gender Bias Task Force in the 1980s. - Attorney-examiner, Financial Division, U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission, 1973-1974 - 1973–1974: Legal researcher, then attorney-examiner for the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission. - Briscoe grew up on a farm near Council Grove, Kansas, and graduated valedictorian from Dwight Rural High School in 1965. - Date of birth: 1947-04-04 - On the Tenth Circuit, Briscoe authored several published opinions, including United States v. - In recent years, she has sat on panels in cases such as United States v. - She also emphasized merit selection for judges and opposed a proposed constitutional amendment to elect Supreme Court judges. - She has spoken about gender discrimination in her career, including being denied a management training program by Georgia Pacific Paper, which motivated her legal career. - Birth place: Council Grove, KS ## 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/1378281) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1378281) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1378281) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/394/mary-beck-briscoe/) - [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/394/mary-beck-briscoe/) - [Wikidata: Mary Beck Briscoe](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6779027) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-beck-briscoe", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-beck-briscoe", "name": "Mary Beck Briscoe | KnowJudges", "description": "Mary Beck Briscoe, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Source-linked judicial identity, courtroom procedures, and presentation guidance.", "dateModified": "2026-10-09", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-beck-briscoe#judge" } }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-beck-briscoe#judge", "name": "Mary Beck Briscoe", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-beck-briscoe", "jobTitle": "U.S. Circuit Judge", "worksFor": { "@type": "GovernmentOrganization", "name": "U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.fjc.gov/node/1378281", "https://www.courtlistener.com/person/394/mary-beck-briscoe/" ], "birthDate": "1947-04-04", "birthPlace": "Council Grove, KS", "alumniOf": [ { "@type": "EducationalOrganization", "name": "University of Kansas" }, { "@type": "EducationalOrganization", "name": "University of Virginia-Main Campus" }, { "@type": "EducationalOrganization", "name": "University of Virginia School of Law" }, { "@type": "EducationalOrganization", "name": "University of Kansas School of Law" } ] }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "KnowJudges", "item": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "National federal courts", "item": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/state/national-federal-courts" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mary Beck Briscoe", "item": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-beck-briscoe" } ] } ] } ```