U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Tennessee · A federal trial court, where federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. Appeals go to the Sixth Circuit.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee is a United States district court, a federal trial court where most federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. It lies within the Sixth Circuit, which reviews its decisions on appeal. This page lists every judge to serve on the court, current and former, with who appointed them and whom they succeeded.
Party letters here are the appointing president’s, never a judge’s own: D Democratic, R Republican, N pre-modern-party era (Federalist, Whig, and other early parties); “–” means no recorded party. Counts cover the court’s entire history.
Judges in active service
Senior judges
Still members of the court: senior judges have stepped back from a full docket but continue to hear cases.
Seats over time
Each band is one judgeship, from the court’s founding to today. A segment’s width is the holder’s tenure; its color is the appointing president’s party. Gaps are vacancies.
Samuel H. Mays Jr. (current) · Thomas Lee Robinson Parker (current) · John Thomas Fowlkes Jr. (current) · Brian Charles Lea (current) · J. Daniel Breen (current) · Mark Saalfield Norris Sr. (current) · James Dale Todd (current) · Stanley Thomas Anderson (current) · Sheryl Halle Lipman (current) · Marion Speed Boyd · Jon Phipps McCalla · John McNairy
Former judges
| Judge | Appointed by | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Bernice Bouie Donald | Clinton (D) | 1995–2011 |
| Jon Phipps McCalla | G.H.W. Bush (R) | 1992–2026 |
| Jerome Turner | Reagan (R) | 1987–2000 |
| Julia Smith Gibbons | Reagan (R) | 1983–2002 |
| Odell Horton | Carter (D) | 1980–2006 |
| Harry Walker Wellford | Nixon (R) | 1970–1982 |
| Robert Malcolm McRae Jr. | L.B. Johnson (D) | 1966–2004 |
| Bailey Brown | Kennedy (D) | 1961–1979 |
| Marion Speed Boyd | F.D. Roosevelt (D) | 1940–1988 |
| John Donelson Martin Sr. | F.D. Roosevelt (D) | 1935–1940 |
| Harry Bennett Anderson | Coolidge (R) | 1926–1935 |
| John William Ross | Harding (R) | 1921–1925 |
| John Ethridge McCall | T. Roosevelt (R) | 1905–1920 |
| Eli Shelby Hammond | Hayes (R) | 1878–1904 |
| Connally Findlay Trigg | Lincoln (R) | 1862–1878 |
| West Hughes Humphreys | Pierce (D) | 1853–1862 |
| Morgan Welles Brown | Jackson (D) | 1834–1853 |
| John McNairy | Reassigned | 1802–1833 |
Magistrate judges
Appointed by the judges of this district to renewable 8-year terms, not nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate. They handle pretrial matters, misdemeanors, and many civil cases by consent.
| Magistrate judge | Years |
|---|---|
| Rebecca T. Christoff | 2020–present |
| Jon A. York | 2019–present |
| Charmiane Griffin Claxton | 2009–present |
| Tu M. Pham | 2003–present |
| Diane K. Vescovo | 1995–present |
| Edward G Bryant | 2008–2019 |
Bankruptcy court
How a judge gets here. Each judge is nominated by a president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, then holds a numbered seat, for life, until they take senior status, or until they leave the bench. Open any judge to see who appointed them, how the Senate voted, and whom they succeeded, a chain that runs back to 1802. This court is also served by magistrate judges, listed above, whom the district’s own judges appoint. Read more on how federal judges are appointed.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory and CourtListener / Free Law Project (bulk data). Data as of 2026-08-10 (FJC); magistrates 2026-03-31 (CourtListener bulk snapshot). Verify against the primary source before relying.