United States District Court for the District of South Carolina

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District of South Carolina Fourth Circuit Chief: Margaret Seymour Judges: 9 Posts: 10 Vacancies: 1 Active judges Anderson • Cain • Childs • Currie • Gergel • Harwell • Norton • Wooten Senior Judges Anderson • Duffy • Herlong • Blatt • Houck • Perry Magistrate Judges Buchanan • Carr • Catoe • Gossett • Hendricks • Marchant • McCrorey • Rogers • Swearingen Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Contents
1 Court
1.1 Vacancy warning level
1.2 Jurisdiction
1.2.1 Cases heard
1.2.2 Case load
1.3 Clerk's office
1.4 History
1.4.1 Court history
1.4.2 Judicial posts
1.4.3 Notable decisions
1.4.4 Federal courthouse
1.5 Major news
1.6 See also
1.7 External links
1.8 References
2 Judges

The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina is a federal district court.

The United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current United States Attorney is Walt Wilkins.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown Richmond, VA at the Lewis F. Powell Federal Courthouse.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina's vacancy warning level is currently set at Blue. The court has one vacancy and one pending appointment.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of South Carolina (click for larger map)

The jurisdiction of the District of South Carolina consists of all the counties in the state of South Carolina. Court is held in the cities of Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Greenville, and Spartanburg. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown Richmond, VA at the Lewis F. Powell Federal Courthouse.

Cases heard

The District of South Carolina has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)**:	Median time(Civil)**:	3 Year Civil cases#:	Vacant posts:##	Trials/Post
2010	4085	4625	8710	4943	3767	9.9	10.8	69(2.2%)	29.3	39
2009	4202	4559	8761	4735	4026	10.1	8.2	64(2%)	12	31
2008	3877	5460	9337	5147	4190	9.4	8.2	53(1.6%)	0	36
2007	3705	5508	9213	5370	3843	8.5	8.0	25(1.2%)	0	39
2006	3964	4670	8634	4984	3650	8.9	9.5	91(3.1%)	0	39

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September.    **Time in months from filing to completion. #This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts.    ##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The District of South Carolina has ten divisions and eight courthouse locations throughout the state. The divisons are Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Greenville, Greenwood, Orangeburg, Rock Hill and Spartanburg. Offices are open from 8:30 A.M. until 4:30 P.M., Monday through Friday excluding Federal Holidays. The official Clerk of Court's phone number is (803) 765-5816. Please consult the chart below for more information on courthouse locations:

Location	Divisions	Address	Phone number
Aiken Courthouse	Aiken and Orangeburg	Charles E. Simons Jr. Federal Courthouse 223 Park Avenue, S.W. Aiken, SC 29801	803-648-6896 (Inquiries to 803-765-5816)
Anderson Courthouse	Anderson, Greenville, Greenwood and Spartanburg	G. Ross Anderson, Jr. Federal Building and United States Courthouse 315 South McDuffie Street, 2nd Floor Anderson, South Carolina 29624	(Inquiries to 864-241-2700)
Beaufort Courthouse	Beaufort	Beaufort Federal Courthouse 1501 Bay Street Beaufort, South Carolina 29902	843-521-2088 (Inquiries to 843-579-1401)
Charleston Federal Courthouse	Beaufort and Charleston	Charleston Federal Courthouse 85 Broad Street Charleston, South Carolina 29401	843-579-1401
Hollings Judicial Center		Hollings Judicial Center 83 Broad Street Charleston, South Carolina 29401	843-579-1401
Columbia Courthouse	Columbia and Rock Hill	Matthew J. Perry, Jr. Courthouse 901 Richland Street Columbia, South Carolina 29201	803-765-5816
Florence Courthouse	Florence	McMillan Federal Building 401 West Evans Street Florence, South Carolina 29501	843-676-3820
Greenville Courthouse	Anderson, Greenville, Greenwood and Spartanburg	Clement F. Haynsworth Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse 300 East Washington Street Greenville, South Carolina 29601	864-241-2700
Spartanburg Courthouse	Anderson, Greenville, Greenwood and Spartanburg	Donald S. Russell Courthouse and U.S. Courthouse 201 Magnolia Street Spartanburg, South Carolina 29306	(Inquiries to 864-241-2700)

History

Court history

The District of South Carolina was established by Congress on September 24, 1789 with one post to cover the entire state. On February 21, 1823 Congress divided the district into the Eastern District of South Carolina and the Western District of South Carolina with one post to cover both districts. In 1898, in Bartlett v. U.S., 169 U.S. 219 the United States Supreme Court held that South Carolina was a single judicial district under the law. On March 3, 1911 Congress again divided the district into the Eastern District of South Carolina and the Western District of South Carolina with one post to cover both districts. On October 7, 1965 the two judicial districts were again merged, this time by congress, with 4 posts to cover the entire state. Over time 6 additional judicial posts were added to the Western District of Virginia for a total of 10 current posts.^[1]

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the District of South Carolina:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
September 24, 1789	1 Stat. 73	1 (Whole state)
February 21, 1823	3 Stat. 726	1 (Whole state, 2 Districts)
1898	Bartlett v. U.S., 169 U.S. 219	1 (Whole state)
March 3, 1911	36 Stat. 1087, 1123	1 (Whole state, 2 Districts)
March 3, 1915	38 Stat. 961	1 Eastern + 1 Western = 2 Total
February 26, 1929	45 Stat. 1319	1 Eastern + 1 Western +1 Shared = 3 Total
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	1 Eastern + 1 Western + 2 Shared = 4 Total
October 7, 1965	79 Stat. 951	4
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	5
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	8
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	9
December 21, 2000	114 Stat. 2762	10

^[1]

Notable decisions

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Opinions of the District of South Carolina.

• South Carolina immigration law

In December 2011 U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel blocked portions of the new South Carolina Immigration law, ruling that the law infringed upon the powers granted to the United States federal government. Gergel determined that measures including requiring police officers to check residency status and making it a felony for anyone to harbor or transport an illegal immigrant fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government and were unconstitutional. The judge argued that the "state-mandated scrutiny is without consideration of federal enforcement priorities and unquestionably vastly expands the persons targeted for immigration enforcement action."[2] There is no word as to whether the state will appeal the decision.

Federal courthouse

There are eight federal courthouses that serve the District of South Carolina.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see South Carolina judicial news.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

External links

• United States District Court for the District of South Carolina Official Website
• United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina Official Website
• Opinions of the District of South Carolina
• District Judges of the District of South Carolina
• Magistrate Judges of the District of South Carolina

References

Share this Court:

District of South Carolina Fourth Circuit Chief: Margaret Seymour Judges: 9 Posts: 10 Vacancies: 1 Active judges Anderson • Cain • Childs • Currie • Gergel • Harwell • Norton • Wooten Senior Judges Anderson • Duffy • Herlong • Blatt • Houck • Perry Magistrate Judges Buchanan • Carr • Catoe • Gossett • Hendricks • Marchant • McCrorey • Rogers • Swearingen Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Contents
1 Court
2 Judges
2.1 Active Judges
2.1.1 Article III judges
2.1.2 Pending appointments
2.1.3 Senior judges
2.2 Past judges
2.2.1 Former Chief judges
2.2.2 Former judges

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina has 10 posts and 1 vacancy. The current Chief Judge is Margaret Seymour. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Judge David Norton	1946	Washington, DC	W. Bush	07/12/1990 - Current	2007 - 2012	Solomon Blatt	U. of the South, B.A., 1968	U. of South Carolina Law, J.D., 1975
Judge Joseph Anderson	1949	Augusta, GA	Reagan	10/14/1986 - Current	2000 - 2007	Charles Simons	Clemson U., B.A., 1972	U. of South Carolina Law Center, J.D., 1975
Judge Cameron Currie	1948	Florence, SC	Clinton	03/11/1994 - Current		Falcon Hawkins	U. of South Carolina, B.A., 1970	George Washington U. Law , J.D., 1975
Chief Judge Margaret Seymour	1947	Washington, DC	Clinton	10/22/1998 - Current	2012 - Current	William Traxler	Howard U., B.A., 1969	American U. Law, J.D., 1977
Judge Terry Wooten	1954	Louisville, KY	W. Bush	11/26/2001 - Current		New Seat|114 Stat. 2762	U. of South Carolina, B.A., 1976	U. of South Carolina, J.D., 1980
Judge Robert Harwell	1959	Florence, SC	W. Bush	06/30/2004 - Current		Weston Houck	Clemson U, B.A., 1980	U. of South Carolina Law, J.D., 1982
Judge Timothy M. Cain	1961	Seneca, SC	Obama	9/20/2011 - Current		Patrick Duffy	University of South Carolina, B.S., 1983	University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., 1986
Judge J. Michelle Childs	March 24, 1966	Detroit, MI	Obama	08/05/2010 - Current		George Anderson	U. of South Florida, B.A., 1984	U. of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., 1991
Judge Richard Mark Gergel	1954	Columbia, SC	Obama	08/9/2010 - Current		Henry Herlong	Duke U., B.A., 1975	Duke U., J.D., 1979

Pending appointments

The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina has 1 appointee pending and 1 vacancy. This is a list of the current pending appointees to the court:

Judge	Confirmation	Bachelors	Law
Mary Geiger Lewis	Awaiting hearing	Clemson University, B.A., 1980	University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., 1984

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina has 5 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge George Anderson	Carter	05/23/1980 - 01/29/2009		01/29/2009 - Current	Southeastern U., B.C.S., 1949	U. of South Carolina Law , LL.B., 1954
Senior Judge Henry Herlong	H.W. Bush	05/14/1991 - 05/31/2009		06/01/2009 - Current	Clemson U., B.A., 1967	U. of South Carolina Law, J.D., 1970
Senior Judge Patrick Duffy	Clinton	12/26/1995 - 12/26/2007		12/27/2007 - Current	The Citadel, B.A., 1965	U. of South Carolina Law, J.D., 1968
Senior Judge Solomon Blatt	Nixon	05/28/1971 - 05/06/1990	1986 - 1990	05/07/1990 - Current	U. of South Carolina, A.B., 1941	U. of South Carolina Law, LL.B., 1946
Senior Judge Charles Weston Houck	Carter	9/26/1979 - 09/30/2003	1993 - 2000	10/1/2003 - Current		U. of South Carolina Law, LL.B., 1956

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Robert Buchanan	1979 - Current	Erskine College, A.B., 1973	U. of South Carolina Law, J.D., 1976
Magistrate Judge Paige Jones Gossett	10/24/2008 - Current
Magistrate Judge Bruce Hendricks	05/06/2002 - Current
Magistrate Judge Bristow Marchant
Magistrate Judge Joseph McCrorey
Magistrate Judge Thomas Rogers	05/08/2002 - Current
Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges
Magistrate Judge Kevin McDonald
Magistrate Judge Jacquelyn Austin
Magistrate Judge Kaymani West	2012 - Current

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
James Robert Martin, Jr.	1962 - 1979
Charles Weston Houck	1993 - 2000
Solomon Blatt	1986 - 1990
Charles Simons	1980 - 1986
Robert Hemphill	1979 - 1980
Falcon Hawkins	1990 - 1993
Joseph Anderson	2000 - 2007
David Norton	2007 - 2012

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, 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.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

Former judges