Early life,education and career
Maxwell was born on May 4,1975,in Metairie,Louisiana. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Mississippi. He attended Mississippi College School of Law for his first year of law school,before completing his final two years and receiving a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He practiced civil law in Jackson in the firm of Daniel Coker Horton &Bell [3] before returning to Oxford to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi in 2002. [4] [5]
Supreme Court of Mississippi
On December 23,2015,Governor Phil Bryant announced his appointment of Maxwell to the Supreme Court. [6]
In 2025,Maxwell wrote the 8-1 majority opinion of in re the petition of S.M.-B.,holding that a 16-year old transgender boy could not legally change his name to better fit his gender identity. Despite both of the teenager's parents consenting to the name change,Maxwell stated that according to Mississippi law and past precedent such as the 1957 Mississippi State Supreme Court decision Marshall v. Marshall,any name change must be "clearly in the best interest of the child". [7] While such a reasoning was not expressly stated by the Chancellor in denying the name change,the court determined that similar Mississippi restrictions on the activities of minors were based on the common law reasoning that minors lacked the proper maturity to partake in the associated activity,most relevantly the restrictions of any medications or surgical procedures to assist in gender transition. [8] As such,given the invocation of such common law restrictions regarding a minors gender transition,the court concluded that the youth lacked the maturity for a decision with "serious or long-lasting ramifications" to be in their best interest,precluding them from such a name change. [9]
Federal judicial service
On August 12,2025,President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Maxwell to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. On September 3,2025,Maxwell testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. On November 20,2025,the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send his nomination to the full U.S. Senate by a party line 12–10 vote. On December 9,2025,the U.S. Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 49–46 vote. Later that same day,his nomination was confirmed by a 51–46 vote. Maxwell received his judicial commission on December 18,2025. [10]
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