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Bernice B. Donald

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Bernice Bouie Donald
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Assumed office
September 8, 2011
Appointed byBarack Obama
Preceded byRonald Lee Gilman
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
In office
December 26, 1995 – September 8, 2011
Appointed byBill Clinton
Preceded byOdell Horton
Succeeded byJohn Thomas Fowlkes, Jr.
Personal details
Born (1951-09-17) September 17, 1951 (age 73)
DeSoto County, Mississippi
EducationMemphis State University (BA)
Memphis State University School of Law (JD)
Duke University School of Law (LLM)

Bernice Bouie Donald (born September 17, 1951) is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Early life and education

Born in DeSoto County, Mississippi, Donald received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Memphis State University in 1974 and a Juris Doctor from Memphis State University School of Law in 1979. She was in private practice in Memphis, Tennessee from 1979 to 1980, then became a staff attorney of the Employment Law & Economic Development Unit, Memphis Area Legal Services, Tennessee in 1980. Donald was an assistant public defender, Shelby County Public Defender's Office, Tennessee from 1980 to 1982. In 2018, as a federal appellate circuit judge, she received an LLM from Duke University School of Law.

Judicial service

Donald was a judge on Tennessee's General Sessions Criminal Court from 1982 to 1988, also teaching as an adjunct professor at Southwest Tennessee Community College from 1984 to 1989. Donald became a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority Alpha Eta Zeta chapter (Memphis, Tennessee) in 1983. From 1988 to 1995, she was a United States Bankruptcy Judge in the Western District of Tennessee.

On December 7, 1995, Donald was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee vacated by Odell Horton. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 22, 1995, and received her commission on December 26, 1995.

On December 1, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Donald for a judgeship on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit[1] to replace Judge Ronald Lee Gilman who took senior status on November 21, 2010. The full Senate confirmed Donald to the Sixth Circuit on September 6, 2011, in a 96–2 vote. She received her commission on September 8, 2011.

Notes

References

Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
1995–2011
Succeeded by
Preceded by Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
2011–present
Incumbent