Josh Divine

{{Short description|American judge (born 1990)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Josh Divine | image = Joshua M. Divine.png | office = Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri<br>Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri | term_start = July 24, 2025 | term_end = | appointer = Donald Trump | predecessor = Rodney W. Sippel | successor = | office1 = Solicitor General of Missouri | 1blankname1 = Attorney General | 1namedata1 = Andrew Bailey | term_start1 = January 2023 | term_end1 = July 24, 2025 | predecessor1 = D. John Sauer | successor1 = Louis J. Capozzi III | birth_name = Joshua Michael Divine | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1990}} | birth_place = Yokota Air Base, Japan | death_date = | death_place = | education = University of Northern Colorado (BS)<br>Yale University (JD) | party = }} '''Joshua Michael Divine''' (born 1990) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. From January 2023 to 2025, he was solicitor general of Missouri.

==Education==

Divine was born in 1990 at Yokota Air Base, near Tokyo, Japan.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last = Divine |first = Joshua Michael |date = June 3, 2025 |title = Divine's Senate Judiciary Committee Questionnaire |url = https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/divine_sjq.pdf |website = judiciary.senate.com |publisher = United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary |access-date = June 3, 2025}}</ref> He received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics with highest honors from the University of Northern Colorado in 2012. He was a columnist for the student newspaper ''The Mirror''.<ref name=":0" />

Following graduation from UNCO, Divine worked briefly as a day laborer, LSAT instructor, and paralegal.<ref name=":0" /> He then attended Yale Law School, where he was a ''Forum'' editor of ''The Yale Law Journal'' and a member of the school's Federalist Society chapter.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Yale Law Journal - Masthead: Volume 125 |url=https://www.yalelawjournal.org/masthead/volume-125 |access-date=2025-08-02 |website=www.yalelawjournal.org}}</ref> He received a Juris Doctor from Yale in 2016.<ref name="Staffers">{{Cite web|url=https://www.kttn.com/missouri-ag-staffers-nominated-by-trump-for-federal-judge-positions/|title=Missouri AG staffers nominated by Trump for federal judge positions|work=KTTN News|date=May 7, 2025}}</ref>

==Career==

Divine served as a law clerk to Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from 2016 to 2017.<ref name=":0" /> He then served as a deputy solicitor general in the Office of the Missouri Attorney General from 2017 to 2019, before working as the deputy counsel to United States Senator Josh Hawley.<ref name=":0" /> From 2020 to 2021, Divine served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Staffers" /><ref name="Judge">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-judge-continues/171891108/|title= County judge to step down for a job with AG |first1= Kurt|last1=Erickson|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|date=December 29, 2022|pages=A1, A3|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> Divine then worked as Chief Counsel to Senator Hawley, and in December 2022, was named by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to serve as Solicitor General of Missouri in 2023.<ref name="Judge" /> In that capacity, he successfully challenged student loan forgiveness efforts by President Joe Biden.<ref name="Staffers"/>

=== Federal judicial service ===

On May 6, 2025, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Divine to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 6, 2025 |title=White House Press Release - President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Candidate Nominations |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-press-release-president-donald-j-trump-announces-judicial-candidate-1 |access-date=May 13, 2025 |website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu}}</ref> On May 12, 2025, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Divine to the seat vacated by Judge Rodney W. Sippel, who assumed senior status on January 28, 2023. On June 26, his nomination was favorably reported out of committee by a 12–10 party-line vote.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 26, 2025 |title=Results of Executive Business Meeting |url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2025-06-26_ebm_results.pdf |access-date=June 26, 2025 |website=U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee}}</ref> On July 17, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 52–46 vote.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 17, 2025 |title=On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Joshua M. Divine to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri) |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00412.htm |access-date=July 22, 2025 |website=www.senate.gov}}</ref> On July 22, his nomination was confirmed by a 51–46 vote.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 22, 2025 |title=On the Nomination (Confirmation: Joshua M. Divine, of Missouri, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri) |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00420.htm |access-date=July 22, 2025 |website=www.senate.gov}}</ref> He received his judicial commission on July 24, 2025.<ref>{{FJC Bio|nid=13762033}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hon. Joshua M. Divine Sworn In as United States District Judge for Eastern District of Missouri {{!}} Eastern District of Missouri {{!}} United States District Court |url=https://www.moed.uscourts.gov/news/2025/hon-joshua-m-divine-sworn-united-states-district-judge-eastern-district-missouri |access-date=2025-08-03 |website=www.moed.uscourts.gov}}</ref>

==== Notable cases ====

Divine was one of the first judges to rule in favor of the Trump administration's policy of detaining without bond immigrants facing deportation. As of November 2025, Judge Divine was one of "only eight judges nationwide" to rule that way, with more than 200 ruling the other way.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-11-28 |title=More than 220 judges have now rejected the Trump admin’s mass detention policy |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/28/trump-detention-deportation-policy-00669861 |access-date=2026-02-21 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mejia Olalde v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-00168-JMD (E.D. Mo. Nov. 10, 2025) |url=https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.moed.223800/gov.uscourts.moed.223800.26.0.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-02-12 |title=Even Trump’s own appointees are ruling against ICE’s mass detention strategy |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/12/donald-trump-judges-mandatory-detention-rulings-00778256 |access-date=2026-02-22 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref> The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the first federal appellate court to rule on the issue, ruled the same way as Judge Divine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-02-07 |title=Appeals court affirms Trump policy of jailing immigrants without bond |url=https://apnews.com/article/fifth-circuit-immigrant-detainees-denied-bond-f5265ecf771d1f8e9f20d48bddfb1a25 |access-date=2026-02-22 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>

== Selected publications ==

* Divine, Joshua M. (2015). [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2476512 "Statutory Anachronism as a Constitutional Doctrine"]. ''Univ. St. Thomas L.J.'' '''12'''(1):146–177. * — (2018). [https://www.hastingslawjournal.org/booker-disparity-and-data-driven-sentencing/ "Booker Disparity and Data-Driven Sentencing"]. ''Hastings L.J.'' '''69'''(3): 771–834. * — (2020). [https://virginialawreview.org/articles/statutory-federalism-and-criminal-law/ "Statutory Federalism and Criminal Law"]. ''Va. L. Rev.'' '''106'''(1): 127–198.

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{FJC Bio|nid=13762033}}

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=D. John Sauer}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Solicitor General of Missouri}}|years=2023–2025}} {{s-aft|after=Louis Capozzi}} {{s-bef|before=Rodney W. Sippel}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri<br>Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri}}|years=2025–present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}

{{United States 8th Circuit district judges}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Divine, Joshua Michael}} Category:1990 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American lawyers Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri Category:Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Category:Solicitors general of Missouri Category:United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump Category:University of Northern Colorado alumni Category:Yale Law School alumni