Indiana native tapped to lead Navy appeals court
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Navy’s newest chief judge said Tuesday one can never tell where their military service will take them.
“Ten years ago, if someone had told me I would be Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, I would have laughed at them because it certainly wasn’t something that I had on my radar,” Capt. Michael Holifield said.
Holifield was born and raised in La Porte and graduated from La Porte High School in 1985. During his second year of law school at IUPUI, he said a friend of his mentioned he was applying to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, the military’s legal system. Holifield decided to do the same after talking to a recruiter. He graduated from law school in 1992 and immediately reported for officer training.
“I remember telling my fiancée at the time that I was going to do three years, get out and then we’d go somewhere from there,” Holifield said.
Holifield changed his mind after he found he enjoyed the service. He spent the next 12 years in a variety of legal roles. In 2004, he volunteered for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. A year later, Holifield was in Iraq, where he said he helped Iraqi judges formulate the rules for the trial that convicted former dictator Saddam Hussein. Holifield even stood in for Saddam during mock trials. Then, in late 2006 and early 2007, Holifield went to Afghanistan to mentor the Afghan National Army’s JAG corps. After 22 years as a Navy lawyer, Holifield was named to the Navy-Marine Corps Criminal Court of Appeals in 2014.
The services branches’ courts of criminal appeals sit one level below the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, a panel of civilian judges who in turn report to the United States Supreme Court. It was his first assignment as a military judge.
“I came to the court and found out I loved it,” he said. “On the court, you can actually take time to think about issues, to talk with other, much smarter lawyers, and it was a very enjoyable job,” Holifield said.
Holifield left briefly for another assignment before returning to the court. On Oct. 1 of this year, he was named the court’s chief judge. He said the role is strictly administrative and his rulings carry the same weight as those of the court’s other seven judges. He said he sometimes now finds himself reviewing case filings that cite some of his previous rulings.
“I was showing my daughter my office the first time I was here on the court, and I said look at all those books over there. They all contain opinions and someday my opinions may be in those books,” he said. “And she said, oh, wow, that’s cool. And I said no, that’s terrifying because they’re out there and they could be overturned, maybe in the future someday.”
Holifield will serve as chief judge for three years. At the end of his stint, he will retire from the Navy after 33 years of active service. He said military service is always worth it no matter how long or short your time in uniform is.
“Someday, you’re going to be at a cocktail party and no one is going to ask the attorneys, did you win that case about a car accident, but they’re going to want to hear your stories about what did you do in the military,” he said.
Holifield said anyone interested in a military law career should talk to a Judge Advocate General’s Corps officer from any of the service branches. He said the JAG Corps also offers internships and recommends prospective members look into those.