Robert Holmes Bell

Born in Lansing, Michigan, Bell received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wheaton College in 1966.[1] At Wheaton, Bell lettered in track each year.[2] Bell received his Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School in 1969.[1] He was an assistant county prosecuting attorney for Ingham County, Michigan from 1969 to 1973 and then became a judge, first on the Ingham District Court in Mason, Michigan from 1973 to 1979, and then on the Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing from 1979 to 1987.[1]

On March 11, 1987, Bell was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan vacated by Judge Wendell Alverson Miles.[1] Bell was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 1, 1987, and received his commission the following day.[1] He served as Chief Judge from 2001 to 2008.[1] He assumed inactive senior status on January 31, 2017.

Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Bell to serve as chairman of the criminal law committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. In that post, Bell wrote a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2013 opposing mandatory minimum sentences, saying they produce "unjust results" and waste public funds.[2][3][4]

Bell met his wife, Helen, while both were students at Wheaton. They have three children. Their son, Rob Bell, is the founding pastor of the Mars Hill Bible Church megachurch.[2]

• Robert Holmes Bell at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.