Western District of Tennessee / Appointed 2018 / Active
Portrait of Mark Saalfield Norris Sr.

Mark Saalfield Norris Sr.

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

Appointed by President Donald J. Trump in 2018 and confirmed by the Senate 5144, Mark Saalfield Norris Sr. is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. He earned a law degree from University of Denver College of Law (now Sturm College of Law) in 1980. Sources ↓

Born
1955 · age 71
Appointed by
Donald J. Trump, 2018
Confirmed
51–44
Education
Colorado College 1977 · University of Denver College of Law (now Sturm College of Law) 1980

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
2018Western District of Tennessee
succeeded J. Daniel Breen
Trump (R)51–44

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

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 5144 on October 11, 2018 · 115th Congress, Roll Call 237. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 51

1 D, 50 R

Voted against · 44

42 D, 2 I

Did not vote · 5

4 D, 1 R

Education

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Norris was assigned 1,589 district-court cases (1998–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 305 days across 974 closed cases.

Other civil matters51%
Prisoner & habeas15%
Civil rights8%
Personal-injury torts6%
Criminal6%
Contract4%
Other9%

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 32 of Norris’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 19 were affirmed, 6 reversed or vacated, and 7 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.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Mark Saalfield Norris Sr.?
President Donald J. Trump appointed Mark Saalfield Norris Sr. to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee in 2018.
Was Mark Saalfield Norris Sr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Mark Saalfield Norris Sr. was appointed by President Donald J. Trump, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Mark Saalfield Norris Sr.'s confirmation vote?
The Senate confirmed Mark Saalfield Norris Sr. 51–44 on October 11, 2018.
Which court is Mark Saalfield Norris Sr. on?
Mark Saalfield Norris Sr. is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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