Karen LeCraft Henderson
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and confirmed by voice vote, Karen LeCraft Henderson is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She earned a law degree from University of North Carolina School of Law in 1969. She previously served on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1944 · age 82
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1990
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Duke 1966 · University of North Carolina Law 1969
- Succeeded
- Kenneth Winston Starr
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | District of South Carolina succeeded William Walter Wilkins | Reagan (R) | Voice vote |
| 1990 | District of Columbia Circuit succeeded Kenneth Winston Starr | G.H.W. Bush (R) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| Duke University | B.A. | 1966 |
| University of North Carolina School of Law | J.D. | 1969 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Henderson was assigned 97 district-court cases (1984–2003). Median time from filing to termination: 358 days across 97 closed cases.
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.
In our data, Henderson authored 22 published opinions for the court (1987–1990). Most cited: Gulledge v. Smart (36 citations).
Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Selected opinions
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Gulledge v. Smart | 691 F. Supp. 947 | 36 |
| 1989 | Toth v. Square D Co. | 712 F. Supp. 1231 | 20 |
| 1989 | Kline Iron & Steel Co. v. Gray Communications Consultants, Inc. | 715 F. Supp. 135 | 20 |
| 1988 | Clark v. United States (In Re Heritage Village Church & Missionary Fellowship, Inc.) | 87 B.R. 401 | 19 |
| 1990 | Wausau Underwriters Insurance v. Howser | 727 F. Supp. 999 | 16 |
| 1988 | Thornton v. Cessna Aircraft Co. | 703 F. Supp. 1228 | 15 |
| 1990 | Grubbs v. National Bank of South Carolina | 114 B.R. 450 | 13 |
| 1989 | Lightner v. Duke Power Co. | 719 F. Supp. 1310 | 11 |
| 1989 | McTeer v. Provident Life & Accident Insurance | 712 F. Supp. 512 | 11 |
| 1989 | Moody v. Ferguson | 732 F. Supp. 627 | 7 |
| 1990 | Duc v. Orkin Exterminating Co., Inc. | 729 F. Supp. 1533 | 5 |
| 1989 | South Carolina State Education Assistance Authority v. Cavazos | 716 F. Supp. 886 | 5 |
| 1988 | Burchell v. Department of the Army | 679 F. Supp. 1393 | 5 |
| 1988 | CENTRAL NAT. INS. CO. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. | 685 F. Supp. 123 | 4 |
| 1987 | South Carolina National Bank v. Westpac Banking Corp. | 678 F. Supp. 596 | 4 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 22 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 LeCraft Henderson?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed Karen LeCraft Henderson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1990.
- Was Karen LeCraft Henderson appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Karen LeCraft Henderson was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Karen LeCraft Henderson's confirmation vote?
- Karen LeCraft Henderson was confirmed by voice vote on June 28, 1990. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Karen LeCraft Henderson on?
- Karen LeCraft Henderson is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
36 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).