Judge Reggie B. Walton

Judge Reggie B. Walton assumed his position as a United States District Judge for the District of Columbia on October 29, 2001, after being nominated to the position by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. Judge Walton was also appointed by President Bush in June of 2004 to serve as the Chair of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. Former Chief Justice William Rehnquist also appointed Judge Walton to the federal judiciary’s Criminal Law Committee, effective October 1, 2005. In May, 2007, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Walton to serve as a Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which is a 7-year appointment. Judge Walton is also an instructor in the Harvard University Law School’s Advocacy Workshop and a faculty member at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.

Judge Walton, in his current role as a United States District Court Judge, recently presided over the trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who was charged with and convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. Mr. Libby was Vice-President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff and National Security Advisor, and he was also a National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush. Previously, Judge Walton served as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, as President George H. W. Bush’s Associate Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Executive Office of the President and as President Bush’s Senior White House Advisor for Crime. Before his appointment to the Superior Court bench in 1981, Judge Walton served as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he had previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney. Prior to serving as a federal prosecutor, Judge Walton served as an assistant public defender in the Defender Association of Philadelphia.

Judge Walton has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including an Honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree from West Virginia State University (2008), the National Organization for Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) Community Service Award, Washington D.C. Chapter (2008), a Leadership in Education Award from the American University, Washington Semester Program (2007); the 1997 Honorable Robert A. Shuker Memorial Award, presented by the Assistant United States Attorneys’ Association; and the 1993 William H. Hastie Award, presented by the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association.