Who appointed Virginia Emerson Hopkins?

President George W. Bush appointed Virginia Emerson Hopkins to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in 2004.

Was Virginia Emerson Hopkins appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Virginia Emerson Hopkins was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Virginia Emerson Hopkins's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Virginia Emerson Hopkins 98–0 on June 15, 2004.

Northern District of Alabama / Appointed 2004 / Senior status since 2018

Virginia Emerson Hopkins

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004 and confirmed by the Senate 98–0, Virginia Emerson Hopkins is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. She earned a law degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1977. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1952 · age 74
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2004
Confirmed: 98–0
Education: University of Alabama 1974 · University of Virginia Law 1977
Succeeded: Edwin L. Nelson
Succeeded by: Corey Landon Maze

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2004	Northern District of Alabama succeeded Edwin L. Nelson	G.W. Bush (R)	98–0

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

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 98–0 on June 15, 2004 · 108th Congress, Roll Call 115. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 98

47 D, 51 R

Did not vote · 2

1 D, 1 I

James Jeffords(I-VT)
John Kerry(D-MA)

Education

University of Alabama	B.A.	1974
University of Virginia School of Law	J.D.	1977

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Hopkins was assigned 2,540 district-court cases (1995–2019). Median time from filing to termination: 250 days across 2,540 closed cases.

Labor & ERISA25%

Civil rights20%

Prisoner & habeas20%

Personal-injury torts9%

Contract8%

Other federal statutes7%

Other12%

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 157 of Hopkins’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 135 were affirmed, 14 reversed or vacated, and 8 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, Hopkins authored 27 published opinions for the court (1960–2011). Most cited: Rueter v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (26 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
2006	Rueter v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.	440 F. Supp. 2d 1256	26
2008	Chao v. Tyson Foods, Inc.	568 F. Supp. 2d 1300	17
2005	Helms v. Consumerinfo. Com, Inc.	436 F. Supp. 2d 1220	13
2009	Richardson v. Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, LLC	635 F. Supp. 2d 1261	12
2004	Kizzire v. Baptist Health System, Inc.	343 F. Supp. 2d 1074	11
2009	Busby v. JRHBW REALTY, INC. D/B/A REALTYSOUTH	642 F. Supp. 2d 1283	8
2006	Southern v. Pfizer, Inc.	471 F. Supp. 2d 1207	8
2005	United States v. Alabama Power Co.	372 F. Supp. 2d 1283	6
1960	Ragland v. United Mine Workers of America	188 F. Supp. 131	6
2011	Warren v. COUNTY COM'N OF LAWRENCE COUNTY, ALA.	826 F. Supp. 2d 1299	5
2008	Wood v. Option One Mortgage Corp.	580 F. Supp. 2d 1248	5
2011	Harvey v. Standard Insurance	787 F. Supp. 2d 1287	4
2009	Sierra Club v. Tennessee Valley Authority	592 F. Supp. 2d 1357	4
2008	Cruz v. Cinram International, Inc.	574 F. Supp. 2d 1227	4
2004	North Jackson Pharmacy, Inc. v. Express Scripts, Inc.	345 F. Supp. 2d 1279	4

Showing the 15 most-cited of 27 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 Virginia Emerson Hopkins?: President George W. Bush appointed Virginia Emerson Hopkins to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in 2004.
Was Virginia Emerson Hopkins appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Virginia Emerson Hopkins was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Virginia Emerson Hopkins's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Virginia Emerson Hopkins 98–0 on June 15, 2004.
Which court is Virginia Emerson Hopkins on?: Virginia Emerson Hopkins is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

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.

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