Judge Allison Jones Rushing
Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Allison Blair Jones Rushing was born in 1962 in Hendersonville, North Carolina. She earned an undergraduate degree in music from Wake Forest University and received her Juris Doctor from Duke University School of Law. She was an intern at the Alliance Defending Freedom, then later clerked for then-Judge Neil Gorsuch at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and at the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She later clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court. She engaged in the private practice of law.
Rushing was nominated by President Donald Trump to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Although hearings were held in the Senate, her nomination expired for lack of action. President Trump re-nominated her and she was confirmed by the Senate after a cloture vote. She received her judicial commission in March 2019.
She is married to Blake Rushing.
In the News…
A public charter school in North Carolina that serves elementary and middle school students was sued in 2016 by parents who objected to the dress code that required girls to wear skirts, jumpers, or skorts, except on gym days.
In 2019, a federal judge ruled that the dress code was unconstitutional because the charter school should be considered a state actor and that the rule violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
In a 2-1 decision, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said charter schools should not be considered state actors and therefore are not subject to the Equal Protection Clause, a ruling that could give charter schools greater leeway to operate as they see fit on issues beyond the implementation of dress codes.
But the ruling, by Judges Allison Jones Rushing and A. Marvin Quattlebaum, does not flatly allow for reinstatement of the dress code, which the school has since suspended. Instead, it orders the lower court to review whether the dress code is a violation of Title IX, the federal law that bars sex-based discrimination in education.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Rushing today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Allison Jones Rushing
Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
1100 East Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
