United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Encyclopedia
The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee (in case citation
s, 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
).
, 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.
'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, 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.
The repeal of this Act restored the District on March 8, 1802, 2 Stat. 132. The District was divided into the Eastern
and Western Districts on April 29, 1802. 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. 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.
}||||–||death
|-
| Marion Speed Boyd
||Franklin D. Roosevelt
||||||||death
|-
| Bailey Brown
||John F. Kennedy
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| Morgan Welles Brown
||Andrew Jackson
||||||–||death
|-
| Bernice B. Donald
||Bill Clinton
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| Julia Smith Gibbons
||Ronald Reagan
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| Eli Shelby Hammond
||Rutherford B. Hayes
||||||–||death
|-
| Odell Horton
||Jimmy Carter
||||||||death
|-
| West Hughes Humphreys
||Franklin Pierce
||||||–||impeachment and conviction
|-
| John Donelson Martin, Sr.
||Franklin D. Roosevelt
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| John E. McCall
||Theodore Roosevelt
||||||–||death
|-
| John McNairy
||George Washington
||||||–||resignation
|-
| Robert Malcolm McRae Jr.
||Lyndon B. Johnson
||||||||death
|-
| John William Ross
||Warren G. Harding
||||||–||death
|-
| Connally Findlay Trigg
||Abraham Lincoln
||||||–||assignment to another court
|-
| Jerome Turner
||Ronald Reagan
||||||–||death
|-
| Harry W. Wellford
||Richard Nixon
||||||–||reappointment
|}
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
s, W.D. Tenn.) is the Federal district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
covering the western part of the state of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. Appeals from the Western District of Tennessee are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
(except for patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act
Tucker Act
Through the Tucker Act , the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits....
, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
-Vacancies and pending nominations:-List of former judges:-Chief judges:Notwithstanding the foregoing, when the court was initially created, Congress had to resolve which chief judge of the predecessor courts would become the first chief judge...
).
Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of the Western District of Tennessee comprises the following counties: Benton, CarrollCarroll County, Tennessee
Carroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 28,522. Its county seat is Huntingdon. It was named for Governor William Carroll.-Geography:According to the U.S...
, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin
Hardin County, Tennessee
Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. State of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 26,026. The Hardin County seat is Savannah. The county was named posthumously for Col. Joseph Hardin, a Revolutionary War soldier and a legislative representative for the Province of North Carolina and...
, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Perry, Shelby
Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area, with a population of 927,644 at the 2010 census...
, Tipton
Tipton County, Tennessee
Tipton County is a county located on the western end of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 51,271. Its county seat is Covington. Tipton County is part of the Memphis, TN–MS–AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, centered on Shelby County, which borders Tipton on...
, and Weakley.
The court's jurisdiction includes the entirety of West Tennessee
West Tennessee
West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the State of Tennessee. Of the three, it is the one that is most sharply defined geographically. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River on the west and the Tennessee River on the east...
, plus Perry County in Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....
. This area includes the cities of Jackson
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
and Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
.
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. The judgeship was filled by President George WashingtonGeorge Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's appointment of John McNairy
John McNairy
John McNairy was a United States federal judge in Tennessee.Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, McNairy read law to enter the bar in 1788...
. 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, 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.
The repeal of this Act restored the District on March 8, 1802, 2 Stat. 132. The District was divided into the Eastern
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee is the federal court in the Sixth Circuit whose jurisdiction covers all of East Tennessee and a portion of Middle Tennessee. The court has jurisdiction over 41 counties with 4 divisions...
and Western Districts on April 29, 1802. 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. 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
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
then appointed Eli Shelby Hammond
Eli Shelby Hammond
Eli Shelby Hammond was a United States federal judge.Born in Brandon, Mississippi, Hammond graduated from Union University in Tennessee in 1857, and from Lebanon Law School in 1858. He was in private practice in Ripley, Mississippi from 1859 to 1860, and in Memphis, Tennessee from 1860 to 1861...
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
- Judge Jon Phipps McCalla currently serves as the Chief Judge of the District.
- The District is served by four Magistrate Judges: Diane K. Vescovo; Tu M. Pham; Edward G. Bryant; and Charmiane G. Claxton.
- As of September 8th a vacancy exists due to the elevation of Bernice Bouie Donald to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
. No nomation is currently pending.
Former Judges
| Judge | Appointed by | Began active service |
Ended active service |
Ended senior status |
End reason |
| Harry Bennett Anderson Harry Bennett Anderson Harry Bennett Anderson was a United States federal judge.Born in Van Buren County, Michigan, Anderson received a Ph.B. from the University of Chicago, an A.M. from Christian Brothers College, followed by an LL.B. from Columbia Law School in 1904... |
Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state... |
|-
| Marion Speed Boyd
Marion Speed Boyd
Marion Speed Boyd was a United States federal judge.Born in Covington, Tennessee, Boyd received an LL.B. from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1921 and entered private practice in Memphis, Tennessee...
||Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
||||||||death
|-
| Bailey Brown
Bailey Brown
Bailey Brown was a United States federal judge.Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Brown received an A.B. from the University of Michigan in 1939, and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1942. He was a Lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War II, from 1942 to 1946...
||John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| Morgan Welles Brown
Morgan Welles Brown
Morgan Welles Brown was a United States federal judge.Born in Clarksville, Tennessee, and named after his father Dr. Morgan Brown IV , his mother was the former Elizabeth Little...
||Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
||||||–||death
|-
| Bernice B. Donald
Bernice B. Donald
Bernice Bouie Donald is a Federal Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Senate confirmed her in a 96–2 vote on September 6, 2011. She received her commission on September 8, 2011....
||Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| Julia Smith Gibbons
Julia Smith Gibbons
Julia Smith Gibbons is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.- Background :...
||Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| Eli Shelby Hammond
Eli Shelby Hammond
Eli Shelby Hammond was a United States federal judge.Born in Brandon, Mississippi, Hammond graduated from Union University in Tennessee in 1857, and from Lebanon Law School in 1858. He was in private practice in Ripley, Mississippi from 1859 to 1860, and in Memphis, Tennessee from 1860 to 1861...
||Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
||||||–||death
|-
| Odell Horton
Odell Horton
Odell Horton was a United States federal judge.Born in Bolivar, Tennessee, Horton was a U.S. Marine Corps from 1946 to 1947 and from 1951 to 1953. He received a B.A. from Morehouse College in 1951, where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and received an LL.B. from Howard University...
||Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
||||||||death
|-
| West Hughes Humphreys
West Hughes Humphreys
West Hughes Humphreys was a United States District Court judge, and a judge of the Confederate States of America...
||Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
||||||–||impeachment and conviction
|-
| John Donelson Martin, Sr.
John Donelson Martin, Sr.
John Donelson Martin, Sr. was a United States federal judge.Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Martin received an LL.B. from the University of Virginia in 1905. He was in private practice in Memphis, Tennessee from 1905 to 1935....
||Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| John E. McCall
John E. McCall
John Ethridge McCall was an American politician of Irish descent and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 8th congressional district of Tennessee. He was born in Clarksburg, Tennessee in Carroll County on August 14, 1859. He attended public and private schools and...
||Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
||||||–||death
|-
| John McNairy
John McNairy
John McNairy was a United States federal judge in Tennessee.Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, McNairy read law to enter the bar in 1788...
||George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
||||||–||resignation
|-
| Robert Malcolm McRae Jr.
Robert Malcolm McRae Jr.
Robert Malcolm McRae Jr. was a United States federal judge.Born in Memphis, Tennessee, McRae received a B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1943 and was a U.S. Naval Reserve Lieutenant during World War II, from 1943 to 1946. He received an LL.B. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1948...
||Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
||||||||death
|-
| John William Ross
John William Ross
John William Ross was a United States federal judge.Born in Hardin County, Tennessee, Ross received an LL.B. from Cumberland University in 1900...
||Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
||||||–||death
|-
| Connally Findlay Trigg
Connally Findlay Trigg (judge)
Connally Findlay Trigg was a United States federal judge.Born in Abingdon, Virginia, Trigg read law in 1833 and had a private practice in Abingdon until 1856. He was a member of the Abingdon Town Council beginning in 1835, and a Clerk of the Washington County Court in Abingdon from 1838 to 1852...
||Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
||||||–||assignment to another court
|-
| Jerome Turner
Jerome Turner
Jerome Turner was a United States federal judge.Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Turner received a B.A. from Washington and Lee University in 1964 and an LL.B. from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1966. He was a law clerk, Hon. Robert M. McRae, U.S. District Court, Western District of...
||Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
||||||–||death
|-
| Harry W. Wellford
Harry W. Wellford
Harry Walker Wellford is a former federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.- Early life and education :...
||Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
||||||–||reappointment
|}