Who appointed Karen K. Caldwell?

President George W. Bush appointed Karen K. Caldwell to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in 2001.

Was Karen K. Caldwell appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Karen K. Caldwell was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Karen K. Caldwell's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Karen K. Caldwell 100–0 on October 23, 2001.

Eastern District of Kentucky / Appointed 2001 / Active

Karen K. Caldwell

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001 and confirmed by the Senate 100–0, Karen K. Caldwell is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. She earned a law degree from University of Kentucky College of Law in 1980. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1956 · age 70
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2001
Confirmed: 100–0
Education: Transylvania 1977 · University of Kentucky College of Law 1980
Succeeded: Henry Rupert Wilhoit Jr.

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2001	Eastern District of Kentucky succeeded Henry Rupert Wilhoit Jr.	G.W. Bush (R)	100–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 100–0 on October 23, 2001 · 107th Congress, Roll Call 308. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 100

50 D, 49 R, 1 I

Education

Transylvania University	B.A.	1977
University of Kentucky College of Law	J.D.	1980

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Caldwell was assigned 4,368 district-court cases (1996–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 255 days across 3,760 closed cases.

Other civil matters21%

Personal-injury torts16%

Prisoner & habeas15%

Real property8%

Social Security8%

Criminal7%

Other26%

Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.

On appeal

Of 630 of Caldwell’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 540 were affirmed, 67 reversed or vacated, and 23 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.

In our data, Caldwell authored 28 published opinions for the court (2002–2011). Most cited: Thacker v. Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C. (45 citations).

A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Recent & notable rulings

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
2010	Thacker v. Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C.	695 F. Supp. 2d 521	45
2006	McQueary v. Stumbo	453 F. Supp. 2d 975	17
2006	Poore v. Sterling Testing Systems, Inc.	410 F. Supp. 2d 557	16
2009	Browning v. Pennerton	633 F. Supp. 2d 415	15
2010	Fifth Third Bank v. Waxman	726 F. Supp. 2d 742	12
2008	Clippard v. Ragle (In Re Ragle)	395 B.R. 387	11
2006	Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP	435 F. Supp. 2d 633	8
2007	MARATHON PETROLEUM CO. LLC v. Stumbo	528 F. Supp. 2d 639	7
2009	Long John Silver's, Inc. v. Diwa III, Inc.	650 F. Supp. 2d 612	6
2006	DIRECTV, INC. v. Treesh	469 F. Supp. 2d 425	6
2009	2815 Grand Realty Corp. v. Goose Creek Energy, Inc.	656 F. Supp. 2d 707	5
2006	United States v. Belevin-Ramales	458 F. Supp. 2d 409	4
2011	United States v. Coffman	771 F. Supp. 2d 735	3
2008	Brown Ex Rel. Thomas v. Fletcher	624 F. Supp. 2d 593	3
2005	Smith v. Floyd County Board of Education	401 F. Supp. 2d 789	3

Showing the 15 most-cited of 28 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Karen K. Caldwell?: President George W. Bush appointed Karen K. Caldwell to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in 2001.
Was Karen K. Caldwell appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Karen K. Caldwell was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Karen K. Caldwell's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Karen K. Caldwell 100–0 on October 23, 2001.
Which court is Karen K. Caldwell on?: Karen K. Caldwell is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

24 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).