United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
(E.D.N.C.)
Appeals to Fourth Circuit
Established June 4, 1872
Judges assigned 4
Chief judge James C. Dever III,
Official site

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (in case citations, E.D.N.C.) is the United States District Court that serves the eastern 44 counties in North Carolina. Appeals from the Eastern District of North Carolina are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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 and offices

The District has three staffed offices and holds court in six cities: Elizabeth City, Fayetteville, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, and Wilmington. Its main office is in Raleigh. It is broken down into four divisions. The eastern division is headquartered in Greenville and handles cases from Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Edgecombe, Greene, Halifax, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Pamlico, and Pitt counties.

The southern division is based in Wilmington and serves the counties of: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Robeson, and Sampson. Its cases are heard in Wilmington.

The northern and western divisions are based in Raleigh. The western covers: Cumberland, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Nash, Vance, Wake, Warren, Wayne, and Wilson counties. Its cases are heard in Fayetteville, Greenville, and New Bern. The northern division presides over cases from: Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington counties. Its cases are heard in Elizabeth City.

History

The United States District Court for the District of North Carolina was established on June 4, 1790, by 1 Stat. 126.[1][2] On June 9, 1794 it was subdivided into three districts by 1 Stat. 395,[2] but on March 3, 1797, the three districts were abolished and the single District restored by 1 Stat. 517,[2] until April 29, 1802, when the state was again subdivided into three different districts by 2 Stat. 156.[1][2]

In both instances, these districts, unlike those with geographic designations that existed in other states, were titled by the names of the cities in which the courts sat. After the first division, they were styled the District of Edenton, the District of New Bern, and the District of Wilmington; after the second division, they were styled the District of Albemarle, the District of Cape Fear, and the District of Pamptico. However, in both instances, only one judge was authorized to serve all three districts, causing them to effectively operate as a single district.[2] The latter combination was occasionally referred to by the cumbersome title of the United States District Court for the Albemarle, Cape Fear & Pamptico Districts of North Carolina.

On June 4, 1872, North Carolina was re-divided into two Districts, Eastern and Western, by 17 Stat. 215.[2] The presiding judge of the District of North Carolina, George Washington Brooks, was then reassigned to preside over only the Eastern District. The Middle District was created from portions of the Eastern and Western Districts on March 2, 1927, by 44 Stat. 1339.[2]

Current judges

# Title Judge Duty station Born Term of service Appointed by
Active Chief Senior
15 Chief Judge James C. Dever III Raleigh 1962 2005–present 2011-present — G.W. Bush
12 District Judge Terrence Boyle Elizabeth City 1945 1984–present 1997–2004 — Reagan
14 Chief Judge Louise W. Flanagan New Bern 1962 2003–present 2004–2011 — G.W. Bush
— District Judge (vacant) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
10 Senior District Judge William Earl Britt Raleigh 1932 1980–1997 1983–1990 1997–present Carter
11 Senior District Judge James Carroll Fox Wilmington 1928 1982–2001 1990–1997 2001–present Reagan
13 Senior District Judge Malcolm Jones Howard Greenville 1939 1988–2005 (none) 2005–present Reagan

Former judges

Judge Appointed by Began active
service		 Ended active
service		 Ended senior
status		 End reason
George Washington Brooks Andrew Johnson 01865-08-19 August 19, 1865[3] 01882-01-06 January 6, 1882 – death
Algernon Lee Butler Dwight D. Eisenhower 01959-08-31 August 31, 1959 01975-08-02 August 2, 1975 01978-09-05 September 5, 1978 death
Henry G. Connor William Howard Taft 01909-05-25 May 25, 1909 01924-11-23 November 23, 1924 – death
Franklin Taylor Dupree Jr. Richard Nixon 01970-12-12 December 12, 1970 01983-12-31 December 31, 1983 01995-12-17 December 17, 1995 death
Donnell Gilliam Harry S. Truman 01945-05-18 May 18, 1945 01959-03-16 March 16, 1959 01960-03-06 March 6, 1960 death
John Davis Larkins, Jr. John F. Kennedy 01961-08-21 August 21, 1961 01979-06-08 June 8, 1979 01990-02-16 February 16, 1990 death
Isaac Melson Meekins Calvin Coolidge 01925-01-17 January 17, 1925 01945-02-13 February 13, 1945 01946-11-21 November 21, 1946 death
Thomas Richard Purnell William McKinley 01897-05-05 May 5, 1897 01908-12-19 December 19, 1908 – death
Augustus Sherrill Seymour Chester A. Arthur 01882-02-21 February 21, 1882 01897-02-19 February 19, 1897 – death

U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern District

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 389.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g U.S. District Courts of North Carolina, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center.
  3. ^ Recess appointment; Johnson appointed him on August 19, 1865. He was confirmed by the Senate on January 22, 1866, and received commission on January 22, 1866.

External links