United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
(W.D. Tenn.)
Map

Appeals to Sixth Circuit
Established April 29, 1802
Judges assigned 5
Chief judge Jon Phipps McCalla
Official site

The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee (in case citations, W.D. Tenn.) is the Federal district court covering the western part of the state of Tennessee. Appeals from the Western District of Tennessee are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

Contents

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the Western District of Tennessee comprises the following counties: Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Perry, Shelby, Tipton, and Weakley.

The court's jurisdiction includes the entirety of West Tennessee, plus Perry County in Middle Tennessee. This area includes the cities of Jackson and Memphis.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current United States Attorney is Edward L. Stanton, III.

History

The United States District Court for the District of Tennessee was established with one judgeship on January 31, 1797, by 1 Stat. 496.[1][2] The judgeship was filled by President George Washington's appointment of John McNairy. Since Congress failed to assign the district to a circuit, the court had the jurisdiction of both a district court and a circuit court. Appeals from this one district court went directly to the United States Supreme Court.

On February 13, 1801, in the famous " Midnight Judges" Act of 1801, 2 Stat. 89, Congress abolished the U.S. district court in Tennessee,[2] and expanded the number of circuits to six, provided for independent circuit court judgeships, and abolished the necessity of Supreme Court Justices riding the circuits. It was this legislation which created the grandfather of the present Sixth Circuit. The act provided for a "Sixth Circuit" comprising two districts in the State of Tennessee, one district in the State of Kentucky and one district, called the Ohio District, composed of the Ohio and Indiana territories (the latter including the present State of Michigan). The new Sixth Circuit Court was to be held at "Bairdstown" in the District of Kentucky, at Knoxville in the District of East Tennessee, at Nashville in the District of West Tennessee, and at Cincinnati in the District of Ohio. Unlike the other circuits which were provided with three circuit judges, the Sixth Circuit was to have only one circuit judge with district judges from Kentucky and Tennessee comprising the rest of the court. Any two judges constituted a quorum. New circuit judgeships were to be created as district judgeships in Kentucky and Tennessee became vacant.[3]

The repeal of this Act restored the District on March 8, 1802, 2 Stat. 132.[2] The District was divided into the Eastern and Western Districts on April 29, 1802.[1] On February 24, 1807, Congress again abolished the two districts and created the United States Circuit for the District of Tennessee. On March 3, 1837, Congress assigned the judicial district of Tennessee to the Eighth Circuit. On June 18, 1839, by 5 Stat. 313, Congress divided Tennessee into three districts, Eastern, Middle, and Western.[1][2][4] Again, only one judgeship was allotted for all three districts. On July 15, 1862, Congress reassigned appellate jurisdiction to the Sixth Circuit. Finally, on June 14, 1878, Congress authorized a separate judgeship for the Western District of Tennessee. President Rutherford B. Hayes then appointed Eli Shelby Hammond as the first judge for only the Eastern District of Tennessee.

There are now five permanent judgeships and three magistrate judgeships for the Western District of Tennessee.

Current Judges

# Title Judge Duty station Born Term of service Appointed by
Active Chief Senior
18 Chief Judge Jon Phipps McCalla Memphis 1947 1992–present 2008–present — G. H. W. Bush
20 District Judge Samuel H. Mays Jr. Memphis 1948 2002–present — — G. W. Bush
21 District Judge J. Daniel Breen Jackson, TN 1950 2003–present — — G. W. Bush
22 District Judge Stanley Thomas Anderson Memphis 1953 2008–present — — G. W. Bush
23 District Judge vacant — — — — — —
16 Senior District Judge James Dale Todd Jackson, TN 1943 1985–2008 2001–2007 2008–present Reagan

In addition, the District is served by four Magistrate Judges: Diane K. Vescovo; Tu M. Pham; Edward G. Bryant; and Charmiane G. Claxton.

Former Judges

Judge Appointed by Began active
service		 Ended active
service		 Ended senior
status		 End reason
Harry Bennett Anderson Calvin Coolidge 01925-09-12 September 12, 1925[5] 01935-04-09 April 9, 1935 – death
Marion Speed Boyd Franklin D. Roosevelt 01940-09-27 September 27, 1940 01966-08-01 August 1, 1966 01988-01-09 January 9, 1988 death
Bailey Brown John F. Kennedy 01961-08-21 August 21, 1961 01979-09-26 September 26, 1979 – reappointment
Morgan Welles Brown Andrew Jackson 01834-01-03 January 3, 1834 01853-03-07 March 7, 1853 – death
Bernice B. Donald Bill Clinton 01995-12-26 December 26, 1995 02011-09-08 September 8, 2011 – reappointment
Julia Smith Gibbons Ronald Reagan 01983-06-07 June 7, 1983 02002-08-02 August 2, 2002 – reappointment
Eli Shelby Hammond Rutherford B. Hayes 01878-06-17 June 17, 1878 01904-12-17 December 17, 1904 – death
Odell Horton Jimmy Carter 01980-05-12 May 12, 1980 01995-05-16 May 16, 1995 02006-02-22 February 22, 2006 death
West Hughes Humphreys Franklin Pierce 01853-03-26 March 26, 1853 01862-06-26 June 26, 1862 – impeachment and conviction
John Donelson Martin, Sr. Franklin D. Roosevelt 01935-05-03 May 3, 1935 01940-09-16 September 16, 1940 – reappointment
John E. McCall Theodore Roosevelt 01905-01-17 January 17, 1905 01920-08-08 August 8, 1920 – death
John McNairy George Washington 01797-02-20 February 20, 1797 01833-09-01 September 1, 1833 – resignation
Robert Malcolm McRae Jr. Lyndon B. Johnson 01966-11-03 November 3, 1966 01986-12-31 December 31, 1986 02004-06-25 June 25, 2004 death
John William Ross Warren G. Harding 01921-05-31 May 31, 1921 01925-07-09 July 9, 1925 – death
Connally Findlay Trigg Abraham Lincoln 01862-07-17 July 17, 1862 01878-06-14 June 14, 1878 – assignment to another court
Jerome Turner Ronald Reagan 01987-12-09 December 9, 1987 02000-02-12 February 12, 2000 – death
Harry W. Wellford Richard Nixon 01970-12-12 December 12, 1970 01982-09-10 September 10, 1982 – reappointment

Courthouses

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee is based out of two courthouses, the Clifford Davis Federal Building on 167 North Main Street in downtown Memphis and the Ed Jones Federal Building in Jackson, TN.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 391.
  2. ^ a b c d U.S. District Courts of Tennessee, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center.
  3. ^ The Honorable Harry Phillips, "History of the Sixth Circuit".
  4. ^ Alfred Conkling, A Treatise on the Organization, Jurisdiction and Practice of the Courts of the United States (1842), p. 42.
  5. ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 8, 1925, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 29, 1926, and received commission on January 29, 1926.

See also

External links