United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
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The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts:
- District of Maryland
- Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of North Carolina
- District of South Carolina
- Western and Eastern Districts of Virginia
- Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia
The court is based at the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Richmond, Virginia.
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Judges
As of 2005, the judges on the court are:
- Chief Judge William W. Wilkins, Greenville, South Carolina
- Circuit Judge H. Emory Widener, Jr., Abingdon, Virginia
- Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Charlottesville, Virginia
- Circuit Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, Baltimore, Maryland
- Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig, Alexandria, Virginia
- Circuit Judge Karen J. Williams, Orangeburg, South Carolina
- Circuit Judge M. Blane Michael, Charleston, West Virginia
- Circuit Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, Baltimore, Maryland
- Circuit Judge William B. Traxler, Jr., Greenville, South Carolina
- Circuit Judge Robert B. King, Charleston, West Virginia
- Circuit Judge Roger L. Gregory, Richmond, Virginia
- Circuit Judge Dennis W. Shedd, Columbia, South Carolina
- Circuit Judge Allyson K. Duncan, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Senior Circuit Judge Clyde H. Hamilton, Columbia, South Carolina
- Senior Circuit Judge John D. Butzner, Jr. (inactive)
- Senior Circuit Judge J. Dickson Phillips, Jr. (inactive)
- Senior Circuit Judge Robert F. Chapman (inactive)
(Here circuit judges and senior circuit judges are listed in order of seniority.)
There are two vacant judgeships in this circuit. Terrence W. Boyle and William Haynes have been nominated to fill these vacancies.
Trivia
The Fourth Circuit has never seen one of its judges promoted to the United States Supreme Court. However, Judges Wilkinson and Luttig are considered to be front-runners for a justiceship if there is a vacancy during the George W. Bush presidential administration. The Fourth is widely regarded as the most ideologically conservative court in the federal appellate system.
Chief judges
In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45 (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+28USC45).
References
- Template:Web reference
- source for the phone numbers for the duty stations
- indicates which senior judges are inactive
- Template:Web reference
- ties duty station phone numbers to duty stations (incomplete coverage)
- Template:Web reference
- source for the duty stations (incomplete coverage)
- Template:Web reference
- source for the state, lifetime, term of active judgeship, term of chief judgeship, term of senior judgeship, appointer, termination reason, and seat information
External links
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/)
- Recent opinions from Findlaw (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=4th&navby=year&year=recent)