Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Richard Voorhees
2017 - Present
8
Richard Lesley Voorhees is a federal judge on senior status with the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. He joined the court in 1988 after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan. From 1991 to 1998, Voorhees served as the court's chief judge.[1]
Early life and education
A native of Syracuse, New York, Voorhees graduated from Davidson College with his bachelor's degree in 1963 and from the University of North Carolina School of Law with his J.D. in 1968.[1]
Military service
Voorhees served in the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1965 and in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1965 to 1969.[1]
Professional career
- 2017 - Present: Senior judge
- 1991-1998: Chief judge
- 1988-2017: Judge
- 1968-1988: Private practice, Gastonia, N.C.[1]
Judicial career
Western District of North Carolina
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Richard L. Voorhees |
| Court: United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 441 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: July 31, 1987
|
 ABA Rating:
|
| Questionnaire: |
| Hearing: June 22, 1988
|
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: July 25, 1988
|
| Confirmed: October 14, 1988
|
| Vote: Unanimous consent
|
Voorhees was nominated to the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina by President Ronald Reagan on July 31, 1987, to a seat vacated by David Sentelle upon Sentelle's elevation to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Hearings on Voorhees' nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 22, 1988, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) on behalf of then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) on July 25, 1988. Voorhees was confirmed by the unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on October 14, 1988, and he received his commission on October 17, 1988. From 1991 to 1998, Voorhees served as the court's chief judge. Voorhees elected to take senior status beginning on August 31, 2017.[1][2]
See also
- United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
- United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
External links
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: David Sentelle |
Western District of North Carolina 1988-2017 Seat #2 |
Succeeded by: Kenneth Bell
|
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 |
Bartlett • Beam • Becker • Bork • Cacheris • Cardamone • Chapman • Coughenour • Cox • Crow • Cyr • Doumar • Eschbach • Forrester • Garwood • Gibson • Glasser • Hall • Hamilton • Head • Jones • Kiser • Krenzler • Lee • Magnuson • McLaughlin • Miner • Moore • Nowlin • O'Connor • Pierce • Posner • Potter • Russell • Ryan • Shabaz • Sprizzo • Stevens • Waters • Wilhoit • Wilkins • Winter | ||
| 1982 |
Acker • Acosta • Altimari • Bell • Bissell • Black • Bullock • Caldwell • Coffey • Contie • Coyle • Dowd • Fagg • Fong • Fox • Gadbois • Gibson • Ginsburg • Hart • Higginbotham • Hogan • Irving • Jackson • Jolly • Kanne • Kovachevich • Krupansky • Lynch • Mansmann • McNamara • Mencer • Mentz • Mihm • Moody • Nordberg • Paul • Pieras • Plunkett • Porfilio • Potter • Pratt • Rafeedie • Restani • Roberts • Scalia • Selya • Telesca • Wellford | ||
| 1983 |
Baldock • Barbour • Barry • Bowman • Carman • Carter • Curran • Davis • Dorsey • Feldman • Fish • Flaum • Gibbons • Hallanan • Harris • Hinojosa • Hull • Hupp • Katz • Keenan • Kelly • Kram • Laffitte • Limbaugh, Sr. • Limbaugh, Sr. • Milburn • Nesbitt • Nevas • O'Neill • Rymer • Sharp • Starr • Vinson • Vukasin • Wexler • Woods | ||
| 1984 |
Barker • Beezer • Biggers • Billings • Bissell • Boyle • Brewster • Browning • DiCarlo • Duhe • Garcia • George • Hall • Hargrove • Higgins • Hill • Holland • Ideman • Jarvis • Keller • Leavy • Lee • Legge • Leisure • Little • Livaudais • Longobardi • McKibben • Milburn • Newman • Norgle • Prado • Rea • Rosenblatt • Rovner • Scirica • Smith, Jr. • Sneeden • Stotler • Suhrheinrich • Torruella • Wiggins • Wilkinson | ||
| 1985 |
Alley • Altimari • Anderson • Aquilino • Archer • Arnold • Baldock • Batchelder • Battey • Broomfield • Brown • Brown • Brunetti • Buckley • Cobb • Conmy • Cowen • Davidson • Dimmick • Duff • Easterbrook • Edgar • Farnan • Fernandez • Fitzpatrick • Fuste • Greene • Gunn • Guy • Hall • Hilton • Holderman • Hughes • Johnson • Jones • Korman • Kozinski • La Plata • Leinenweber • Letts • Lovell • Ludwig • Maloney • Mansmann • Marcus • McDonald • Meredith • Miller • Mills • Miner • Motz • Nelson • Noonan • Porfilio • Revercomb • Rhoades • Ripple • Rodriguez • Rosenbaum • Roth • Ryan • Sam • Scott • Sentelle • Silberman • Sporkin • Stanton • Stapleton • Strand • Strom • Tacha • Tevrizian • Thompson • Todd • Tsoucalas • Walker • Walter • Weber • Williams • Wilson • Wingate • Wolf • Wollman • Young • Zloch | ||
| 1986 |
Anderson • Boggs • Bryan • Cedarbaum • Cholakis • Conway • Davies • Dearie • Dubina • Duggan • Edmondson • Fawsett • Fitzwater • Gex • Graham • Hackett • Hansen • Henderson • Hittner • Howard • Jensen • Kay • Kleinfeld • Kosik • Lagueux • Lechner • Magill • Mahoney • Manion • McAvoy • McQuade • Norris • O'Scannlain • Rehnquist • Ryskamp • Scalia • Selya • Simpson • Smalkin • Spencer • Stiehl • Wilkins • Williams • Woodlock • Zatkoff | ||
| 1987 |
Alesia • Beam • Bell • Conboy • Cowen • Cummings • Daronco • Doty • Dwyer • Ebel • Ellis • Gadola • Gawthrop • Greenberg • Harrington • Howard • Hoyt • Hutchinson • Kanne • Kelly • Larimer • Leavy • Lew • Marsh • Mayer • McKinney • Michel • Mukasey • Musgrave • Niemeyer • Parker • Phillips • Politan • Pro • Raggi • Reasoner • Reed • Scirica • Sentelle • Smith • Smith • Stadtmueller • Standish • Tinder • Torres • Trott • Turner • Van Antwerpen • Voorhees • Webb • Whipple • Wolin • Wolle • Wood • Zagel | ||
| 1988 |
Arcara • Babcock • Brorby • Butler • Cambridge • Camp • Conlon • Cox • Dubois • Duhe • Ezra • Forester • Friedman • Garza • Hutton • Jordan • Kennedy • Lake • Lamberth • Lifland • Lozano • Marovich • Nygaard • Patterson • Schell • Smith • Smith • Tilley • Waldman • Zilly | ||
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina
State courts:
Supreme Court of North Carolina • North Carolina Court of Appeals • North Carolina Superior Courts • North Carolina District Courts
State resources:
Courts in North Carolina • North Carolina judicial elections • Judicial selection in North Carolina
