Who appointed Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr.?

President George W. Bush appointed Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2004.

Was Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr.'s confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. 94–0 on June 23, 2004.

Eastern District of Virginia / Appointed 2004 / Served to 2008

Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr.

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

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004 and confirmed by the Senate 94–0, Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He earned a law degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1981. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1955 · age 71
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2004
Confirmed: 94–0
Education: Washington and Lee 1977 · Washington and Lee Law 1981
Succeeded: Henry Coke Morgan Jr.
Succeeded by: Anthony John Trenga

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2004	Eastern District of Virginia succeeded Henry Coke Morgan Jr.	G.W. Bush (R)	94–0

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

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 94–0 on June 23, 2004 · 108th Congress, Roll Call 142. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 94

47 D, 46 R, 1 I

Did not vote · 6

1 D, 5 R

Education

Washington and Lee University	B.A.	1977
Washington and Lee University School of Law	J.D.	1981

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Kelley was assigned 445 district-court cases (2003–2008). Median time from filing to termination: 146 days across 443 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas36%

Contract13%

Personal-injury torts13%

Civil rights12%

Other federal statutes8%

Intellectual property4%

Other14%

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 66 of Kelley’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 57 were affirmed, 4 reversed or vacated, and 5 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, Kelley authored 42 published opinions for the court (2005–2008). Most cited: Lewis v. CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH SHERIFF'S OFFICE (29 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	Lewis v. CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH SHERIFF'S OFFICE	409 F. Supp. 2d 696	29
2006	Cuffee v. Tidewater Community College	409 F. Supp. 2d 709	15
2008	Equal Opportunity Commission v. Burlington Medical Supplies, Inc.	536 F. Supp. 2d 647	12
2005	Puckett v. City of Portsmouth	391 F. Supp. 2d 423	12
2005	Taylor v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.	376 F. Supp. 2d 653	12
2006	United States v. Ibanga	454 F. Supp. 2d 532	9
2007	Hertz Corp. v. Zurich American Insurance	496 F. Supp. 2d 668	8
2007	Brice v. Jenkins	489 F. Supp. 2d 538	8
2007	Morning Star Baptist Church v. James City County Police	480 F. Supp. 2d 853	8
2005	Garrow v. Economos Properties, Inc.	406 F. Supp. 2d 635	8
2008	Taylor v. Hampton Roads Regional Jail Authority	550 F. Supp. 2d 614	6
2007	Jackson v. Winter	497 F. Supp. 2d 759	6
2006	Carter v. Hitachi Koki U.S.A Ltd.	445 F. Supp. 2d 597	6
2008	United States v. Johnson	553 F. Supp. 2d 582	5
2007	Hartford Casualty Insurance v. JR Marketing, LLC	511 F. Supp. 2d 644	5

Showing the 15 most-cited of 42 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 Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr.?: President George W. Bush appointed Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2004.
Was Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr.'s confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. 94–0 on June 23, 2004.
Which court was Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. on?: Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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.

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