Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. Judge E. Grady Jolly, who served 35 years on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1982, died Monday. He was 88. On the appeals court that handles cases from Miss issippi, Louisiana and Texas, Jolly was viewed as a conservative who followed existing law and Supreme Court precedents. In 1986, Jolly wrote the majority opinion for a three-judge panel that found unconstitutional a Louisiana law requiring schools to teach creationism. The Supreme Court affirmed the panel’s decision in the case Edwards v. Aguillard. In 2014, Jolly wrote a majority opinion finding as unconstitutional a Mississippi law requiring physicians who perform abortions to obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital. The law was an attempt by then-Gov. Phil Bryant and the Republican-led Legislature to shut down the state’s only abortion clinic, and the clinic sued the state before the law could take effect in 2012. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 allowed the appeals court ruling to stand. Jolly, a native of Louisville, Mississippi, was recommended to the 5th Circuit by Thad Cochran, who was at the time the state’s sole Republican U.S. senator. Jolly took senior status in 2017, meaning he no longer served as a full-time member of the 5th Circuit. In a tribute at the time, Cochran wrote that Jolly had an exemplary tenure on the bench. Cochran recalled that when he recommended Jolly for the post, he said Jolly was “’well suited for this important job by reason of his education, philosophy and experience, and I’m confident that he would be one of the outstanding members of the court.’ Now, 35 years later, I am convinced Grady’s service has proven those words accurate.” Jolly and Cochran became close friends at the University of Mississippi, where they both earned their undergraduate and law degrees. Jolly served as Cochran’s campaign chairman when he first won the Senate post in 1978. When Jolly was nominated to the bench, he was serving as a private attorney in Jackson. He had previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Mississippi and as a trial attorney for the tax division of the U.S. Department of Justice. At his swearing in, Jolly said, “I do not approach this task believing at all that federal courts are all-wise and all-knowing. Some judges are criticized for arrogance and self righteousness, for attempting to play God. Our powers may seem near that sometimes, but our wisdom falls far short. When I get out of line, I deserve to be criticized.” Cochran said he had to persuade Reagan to nominate Jolly.  “I joked with Grady that by the time his nomination was official he would have to take senior status,” Cochran said. After Jolly was finally put forward, the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination without a dissenting vote. When Jackson’s federal courthouse was named for Cochran four months after Cochran retired from the Senate in 2018, Jolly spoke at the ceremony on behalf of the Cochran family. Cochran died less than a year later. Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, who has been in that chamber since 2007, said in a statement Monday that Jolly “was an outstanding and respected jurist —  a credit to the federal bench and to his native state.” “He had a quick wit and an even quicker mind,” Wicker said. “He was dedicated to the Constitution and the rule of law. I have been privileged to know him and benefit from his counsel. Mississippi has lost a giant.” Jolly was known for his sense of humor. Ilya Shapiro, who served as a law clerk to Jolly, said upon learning the judge was a Johnny Cash fan, he became familiar with the country music legend and told the judge how much he liked Cash. Without missing a beat, Shapiro, said Jolly responded, “Well, you know, Ilya, I once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.” In his 2017 tribute, Cochran said, “ Grady is the epitome of a ‘Renaissance man’ with an acerbic wit and contagious humor.” ...read more read less