The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (in case citations, M.D. Ala.) is a United States district court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).
The District was established on February 6, 1839.U.S. District Courts of Alabama, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center
The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. the United States attorney is Thomas Govan Jr..
Organization of the court The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama is one of three federal judicial districts in Alabama. Court for the District is held at Dothan, Montgomery, and Opelika.
Eastern Division comprises the following counties: Chambers, Lee, Macon, Randolph, Russell, and Tallapoosa.
Northern Division comprises the following counties: Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chilton, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery, and Pike.
Southern Division comprises the following counties: Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, and Houston.
Current judges
Former judges
Chief judges
Succession of seats
Court decisions Browder v. Gayle (1956) – Court rules that bus segregation in Montgomery was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Decision upheld by U.S. Supreme Court six months later.
Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1958) – Court dismissed action, which was later affirmed by the Fifth Circuit. In 1960, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision, finding that electoral districts drawn in Tuskegee, with the purpose of disenfranchising black voters, violated the Fifteenth Amendment.
Lee v. Macon County Board of Education (1963) – Court rules segregation in schooling was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment. Decision upheld by U.S. Supreme Court.
United States v. Alabama (1966) – Court rules poll tax violates the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment. U.S. Supreme Court concurred three weeks later in an unrelated case, Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections.
Glassroth v. Moore (2002) – Court rules that a display of the Ten Commandments, erected by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in the Alabama Judicial Building violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. U.S. attorneys NameTerm startedTerm endedPresidents served underJohn A. Minnis18701874Ulysses S. GrantN. S. McAfee18741875Ulysses S. GrantCharles B. Mayer18761880Ulysses S. GrantRutherford B. HayesWilliam Hugh Smith18801885Rutherford B. HayesJames A. GarfieldChester A. ArthurGrover ClevelandGeorge H. Craig18851885Grover ClevelandWilliam H. Denson18851889Grover ClevelandBenjamin HarrisonLewis E. Parsons, Jr.18891893Benjamin HarrisonGrover ClevelandHenry D. Clayton, Jr.18931896Grover ClevelandGeorge F. Moore, Jr.18961897Grover ClevelandWilliam McKinleyWarren S. Reese, Jr.18971906William McKinleyTheodore RooseveltErastus J. ParsonsAnnual Report of the Attorney General of the United States (1906)19061913Theodore RooseveltWilliam H. TaftWoodrow WilsonThomas D. Samford19131924Woodrow WilsonWarren G. HardingCalvin CoolidgeGrady Reynolds19241931Calvin CoolidgeHerbert HooverArthur B. Chilton19311934Herbert HooverFranklin D. RooseveltThomas D. Samford19341942Franklin D. RooseveltEdward B. Parker19421953Franklin D. RooseveltHarry S. TrumanDwight D. EisenhowerHartwell Davis19531962Dwight D. EisenhowerJohn F. KennedyBen Hardeman19621969John F. KennedyLyndon B. JohnsonRichard NixonLeon J. Hopper19691969Richard NixonIra De Ment19691977Richard NixonGerald FordJimmy CarterBarry E. Teague19771981Jimmy CarterRonald ReaganJohn C. Bell19811987Ronald ReaganJames E. Wilson19871994Ronald ReaganGeorge H. W. BushBill ClintonCharles R. Pitt19942001Bill ClintonGeorge W. BushLeura G. Canary20012011George W. BushBarack ObamaGeorge L. Beck Jr.20112017Barack ObamaDonald TrumpA. Clark Morris20172017Donald TrumpLouis V. Franklin Sr.20172021Donald TrumpSandra J. Stewart20212023Joe BidenJonathan S. Ross 20232026Joe BidenDonald TrumpThomas R. Govan, Jr.2026PresentDonald Trump
See also Courts of Alabama List of current United States district judges List of United States federal courthouses in Alabama
References
External links United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama Restoring checks and balances in the confirmation process of United States attorneys: hearing before the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, on H.R. 580, March 6, 2007 (includes list of past U.S. attorneys up to about 1996)