United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

• Court
• Judges

Middle District of Tennessee Sixth Circuit Chief: Todd Campbell Judges: 4 Posts: 4 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Haynes • Sharp • Trauger Senior Judges Nixon • Wiseman Magistrate Judges Griffin • Knowles • Brown • Bryant Former Judges

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

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee is the United States district court for most of middle Tennessee. Based in Nashville, it was created in 1839 when Congress added a third district to the state.

The United States Attorney of the Middle District of Tennessee represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown Cincinnati at the Potter A. Stewart Federal Courthouse and Building. Tennessee -- along with Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan -- is located within the area covered by United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee's vacancy warning level is currently set at green. The court currently has zero vacancies out of their four posts. There are no pending appointments for the district.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Middle District of Tennessee (click for larger map)

The geographic jurisdiction of the Middle District of Tennessee consists of all the following counties in the middle part of the state of Tennessee.

There are three court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Columbia Division, covering Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall, Maury and Wayne Counties.

The Nashville Division, covering Cannon, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson and Wilson Counties.

The Northeastern Division, covering Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Smith and White Counties.

Court locations for the Middle District are located in Nashville, Cookeville and Columbia, Tennessee.

Tennessee -- along with Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan -- is located within the area covered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown Cincinnati at the Potter A. Stewart Federal Courthouse and Building.

Cases heard

The Middle District of Tennessee 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	2037	1872	3909	1732	2177	11.1	8.8	283(15.8%)	12.0	24
2009	1968	1864	3832	1787	2045	14.2	9.4	139(8.3%)	12.0	30
2008	1844	1838	3682	1719	1963	10.9	9.2	55(3.3%)	12.0	23
2007	1582	1844	3426	1574	1852	10.0	9.1	40(2.5%)	7.0	34
2006	1563	1861	3424	1831	1593	10.5	10.2	47(3.6%)	.0	29

*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 Middle District of Tennessee has three separate courthouses. The Clerk's office is open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m, excluding Federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number
Columbia Division	815 Garden Street Columbia, TN 38401:	N/A
Northeastern Division	9 E. Broad Street Cookeville, TN 38503	N/A
Nashville Division	801 Broadway Nashville, TN 37203	(615) 736-5498

History

Court history

The state of Tennessee was organized as a single judicial district with one judgeship on January 31, 1797. This judicial district was not yet assigned to a judicial circuit, and therefore was granted that same jurisdiction as the United States circuit courts, excluding in appeals and writs of error which are the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

The Judiciary Act of 1801 on February 13 removed the district court in Tennessee and then authorized the United States Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit to hold court in the Eastern District of Tennessee and the Western District of Tennessee. The full jurisdiction of the district and circuit courts was applied to these districts.

The Judiciary Act of 1801 was repealed on March 8, 1802, and thus restored the judicial organization that had remained in effect before 1801. This reestablished the U.S. District Court for the District of Tennessee, with circuit court trial jurisdiction.

On April 29, 1802, Statute 2 Stat. 165 divided the state of Tennessee into the Eastern District of Tennessee and the Western District of Tennessee. One judgeship was assigned to each of the districts.

The act on February 24, 1807 repealed the circuit court jurisdiction of the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the Western District of Tennessee. The districts were assigned to the Seventh Circuit and a United States Circuit Court of the District of Tennessee was established.

Congress assigned the judicial districts of Tennessee to the Eighth Circuit on March 3, 1837. The Middle District of Tennessee was established on June 18, 1839 and the existing judgeship was made to serve all three judicial districts.

On July 15, 1862, Congress assigned the judicial districts of Tennessee to the Sixth Circuit. Over time 3 additional judicial posts were added to the Middle District of Tennessee for a total of 4 current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Middle District of Tennessee:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
June 18, 1839	5 Stat. 313	1
June 14, 1878	20 Stat. 132	1
September 14, 1922	42 Stat. 837	2
May 31, 1938	52 Stat. 584	2 (1 temporary)
February 10, 1954	68 Stat. 8, 10	2
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	2
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	3
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	4

Notable cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Justia.com-Dockets and Filings-Middle District of Tennessee.

• Hold on arresting Occupy movement protesters in Nashville  Judge(s):Aleta Trauger      *Occupy Nashville et al v. Haslam et al 3:2011cv01037

On October 31, 2011, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger issued a hold on new rules imposed by the state that were being used to arrest protesters in the "Occupy Nashville" protest. The judge's order was the response to a request by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee to block a curfew put into effect by Governor Bill Haslam the week prior. After the curfew was enacted, police used it to arrest individuals of the Occupy movement who were protesting at the Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville. The state reportedly did not fight the order and Hedy Weinberg, executive director at the ACLU of Tennessee, responded to the order by saying, "The state conceded that the temporary restraining order should be issued and we hope that this is the first step (that) the state is recommitting itself to safeguarding -- not thwarting -- public political expression." The temporary hold on the law remained in place for 21 days, until a hearing could be held. Prior to that hearing, Governor Haslam asked that all charges against the protestors be dropped and expunged from their records.

• Nashville school re-zoning  Judge(s):William Haynes      *Spurlock et al v. Fox et al 3:2009cv00756

Judge Haynes on September 1, 2009, ruled against the Nashville Metro School District's new re-zoning plan after a student and her parent sued the district. Francis Spurlock and the NAACP sued the district over sending their daughter to John Early Middle School located in the suburbs that had lower test scores in what the civil rights organization called "a calculated attempt to re-segregate the schools." As part of the ruling, Spurlock's daughter remained at Bellevue Middle School.

• David Givens case  Judge(s):Todd Campbell      *Givens v. Tennessee Football, Inc. 3:2009cv00888

On February 11, 2010, Judge Campbell dismissed a lawsuit by former Tennessee Titans football player David Givens over allegations that his former team broke his contract over withholding medical information from an injury he suffered during the 2006 season. The judge ruled that Givens must seek arbitration which is set in the current collective bargaining agreement between the National Football League and the National Football League Players Association. The judge stressed in his ruling that past rulings in the Supreme Court of the United States required that the arbitration process must be used in breach of contract disputes.

Federal courthouse

Three separate courthouses serve the Middle District of Tennessee.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see Tennessee judicial news.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

External links

• United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Official Website
• Judges of the Middle District of Tennessee
• US Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee
• Opinions of the Middle District of Tennessee

References

Middle District of Tennessee Sixth Circuit Chief: Todd Campbell Judges: 4 Posts: 4 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Haynes • Sharp • Trauger Senior Judges Nixon • Wiseman Magistrate Judges Griffin • Knowles • Brown • Bryant Former Judges

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

Since the court was established, 20 Article III judges have served on it.

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has 4 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is Todd Campbell. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Judge Todd Campbell	1956	Rockford, IL	Clinton	12/26/1995 - Present	2005 - 8/2/2012	Thomas Wiseman	Vanderbilt U., B.A., 1978	U. of Tennessee College of Law, J.D., 1982
Judge Aleta Trauger	1945	Denver, CO	Clinton	10/22/1998 - Present		John Nixon	Cornell College, B.A., 1968	Vanderbilt U., M.A.T., 1972
Chief Judge William Haynes	1949	Memphis, Tennessee	Clinton	11/15/1999 - Present	8/3/2012 - Present	Thomas Higgins	College of St. Thomas, B.A., 1970	Vanderbilt U. School of Law, J.D., 1973
Judge Kevin Hunter Sharp	1963	Memphis, TN	Obama	5/3/2011 - Present		Robert Echols	Christian Brothers College, B.S., 1990	Vanderbilt University School of Law, J.D., 1993

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has 2 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 Thomas Wiseman	Carter	8/11/1978 - 11/3/1995	1984 - 1991	11/3/1995 - Present	Vanderbilt U., B.A., 1952	Vanderbilt U. Law School, J.D., 1954
Senior Judge John Nixon	Carter	5/12/1980 - 8/15/1998	1991 - 1998	8/15/1998 - Present	Harvard U., A.B., 1955	Vanderbilt U. Law School, LL.B., 1960

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Juliet Griffin
Magistrate Judge Clifton Knowles	07/2004 - Present	Vanderbilt U., 1973	U. of Tennessee Law, J.D., 1977
Magistrate Judge (Recalled) Joe Brown	08/1998 - 08/2006	Vanderbilt U., 1962	Vanderbilt U. Law, J.D., 1965
Magistrate Judge John Bryant	08/2006 - Present	Davidson College, 1970	Vanderbilt U. Law, J.D., 1973

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Frank Gray	1970 - 1977
Leland Clure Morton	1977 - 1984
Elmer Davies	1954 - 1957
William Miller	1961 - 1970
Robert Echols	1998 - 2005
John Nixon	1991 - 1998
Thomas Wiseman	1984 - 1991

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

1. Robert Echols
2. Morgan Welles Brown
3. West Hughes Humphreys
4. Connally Findlay Trigg
5. William Miller
6. David McKendree Key
7. Charles Dickens Clark
8. Edward Terry Sanford
9. John Gore
10. Xenophon Hicks
11. Leslie Darr
12. Elmer Davies
13. Leland Clure Morton
14. Thomas Higgins
15. Frank Gray