Who appointed Karen J. Williams?

President George H.W. Bush appointed Karen J. Williams to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1992.

Was Karen J. Williams appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Karen J. Williams 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 J. Williams's confirmation vote?

Karen J. Williams was confirmed by voice vote on February 27, 1992. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Fourth Circuit / Appointed 1992 / Served to 2013

Karen J. Williams

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and confirmed by voice vote, Karen J. Williams was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She earned a law degree from University of South Carolina School of Law in 1980. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1951–2013
Appointed by: George H.W. Bush, 1992
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Columbia College 1972 · University of South Carolina Law 1980
Succeeded: Robert Foster Chapman
Succeeded by: Henry Franklin Floyd

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1992	Fourth Circuit succeeded Robert Foster Chapman	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

Columbia College	B.A.	1972
University of South Carolina School of Law	J.D.	1980

Judicial Record

In our data, Williams authored 3 published opinions for the court (2009). Most cited: Philips v. Pitt County Memorial Hospital (1,709 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
2009	Philips v. Pitt County Memorial Hospital	572 F.3d 176	1,709
2009	Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Central Wholesalers, Inc.	573 F.3d 167	187
2009	United States v. Kingrea	573 F.3d 186	40

Showing the 3 most-cited of 3 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 J. Williams?: President George H.W. Bush appointed Karen J. Williams to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1992.
Was Karen J. Williams appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Karen J. Williams 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 J. Williams's confirmation vote?: Karen J. Williams was confirmed by voice vote on February 27, 1992. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Karen J. Williams on?: Karen J. Williams was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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21 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).