U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Richmond, Virginia15 authorized judgeships

About the Court

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Current United States federal appellate court

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
(4th Cir.)


Location
Appealsfrom
Established
Judges
CircuitJustice
ChiefJudge
www.ca4.uscourts.gov

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:

The court is based at the [Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr._U

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History

List of former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Hugh Lennox Bond	MD	1828–1893	1891–1893	—	—	Grant / Operation of law [3]	death
2	Nathan Goff Jr.	WV	1843–1920	1892–1913	—	—	B. Harrison	resignation
3	Charles Henry Simonton	SC	1829–1904	1893–1904	—	—	Cleveland	death
4	Jeter Connelly Pritchard	NC	1857–1921	1904–1921	—	—	T. Roosevelt	death
5	Martin Augustine Knapp	NY	1843–1923	1916–1923	—	—	[4]	death
6	Charles Albert Woods	SC	1852–1925	1913–1925	—	—	Wilson	death
7	Edmund Waddill Jr.	VA	1855–1931	1921–1931	—	—	Harding	death
8	John Carter Rose	MD	1861–1927	1922–1927	—	—	Harding	death
9	John J. Parker	NC	1885–1958	1925–1958	1948–1958	—	Coolidge	death
10	Elliott Northcott	WV	1869–1946	1927–1939	—	1939–1946	Coolidge	death
11	Morris Ames Soper [5]	MD	1873–1963	1931–1955	—	1955–1963	Hoover	death
12	Armistead Mason Dobie [5]	VA	1881–1962	1939–1956	—	1956–1962	F. Roosevelt	death
13	Simon Sobeloff	MD	1894–1973	1956–1970	1958–1964	1970–1973	Eisenhower	death
14	Clement Haynsworth	SC	1912–1989	1957–1981	1964–1981	1981–1989	Eisenhower	death
15	Herbert Boreman	[WV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia

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Judges

Current composition of the court

As of March19,2024[update]:[1][2]

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service	Appointed by
Active	Chief	Senior
48	Chief Judge	Albert Diaz	Charlotte, NC	1960	2010–present	2023–present
30	Circuit Judge	J. Harvie Wilkinson III	Charlottesville, VA	1944	1984–present	1996–2003
33	Circuit Judge	Paul V. Niemeyer	Baltimore, MD	1941	1990–present	—
40	Circuit Judge	Robert Bruce King	Charleston, WV	1940	1998–present	—
41	Circuit Judge	Roger Gregory	Richmond, VA	1953	2000–present	2016–2023
44	Circuit Judge	G. Steven Agee	Salem, VA	1952	2008–present	—
47	Circuit Judge	James Andrew Wynn	Raleigh, NC	1954	2010–present	—
50	Circuit Judge	Stephanie Thacker	Charleston, WV	1965	2012–present	—
51	Circuit Judge	Pamela Harris	Bethesda, MD	1962	2014–present	—
52	Circuit Judge	Julius N. Richardson	Columbia, SC	1976	2018–present	—
53	Circuit Judge	A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr.	Greenville, SC	1964	2018–present	—
54	Circuit Judge	Allison Jones Rushing	Asheville, NC	1982	2019–present	—
55	Circuit Judge	Toby J. Heytens	Alexandria, VA	1975	2021–present	—

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Court overview, history, and judge data sourced from Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA 3.0).

Notable Opinions (3)

International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump

857 F.3d 554 (4th Cir. 2017)

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth CircuitMay 25, 2017

Upheld a preliminary injunction against President Trump's revised travel ban executive order, finding that it likely violated the Establishment Clause. The en banc court examined whether the executive order was motivated by anti-Muslim animus based on the President's public statements. Later vacated by the Supreme Court in Trump v. Hawaii.

Circuit Courtimmigrationcivil rights

Kolbe v. Hogan

849 F.3d 114 (4th Cir. 2017)

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth CircuitFebruary 21, 2017

Upheld Maryland's Firearm Safety Act banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, holding that these weapons are not protected by the Second Amendment because they are 'weapons of war.' The en banc decision applied intermediate scrutiny and found the law substantially related to Maryland's interest in public safety.

Circuit Courtfirearms lawcivil rights

Secretary of Labor v. Andes Mining Corp.

941 F.3d 88 (4th Cir. 2019)

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth CircuitOctober 29, 2019

Examined the scope of mine safety regulations under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. The court addressed whether certain workplace safety violations constituted 'significant and substantial' hazards warranting enhanced penalties and mandatory corrective action.

Circuit Courtbusiness

Jurisdiction

The Fourth Circuit covers the following jurisdictions:

MDNCSCVAWV

Court Information

Seat: Richmond, Virginia
Authorized Judgeships: 15
Circuit Number: 4th

Other Circuits

First Circuit Second Circuit Third Circuit Fifth Circuit Sixth Circuit Seventh Circuit Eighth Circuit Ninth Circuit Tenth Circuit Eleventh Circuit D.C. Circuit Federal Circuit