David Charles Godbey (born September 17, 1957) is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Education and career

Godbey was born in

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree and

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an Academic degree, academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In ...

degree from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

in 1978 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1982. He was a law clerk to Judge Irving Loeb Goldberg of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

from 1982 to 1983. He was in private practice in Dallas from 1983 to 1994. He was a judge on the 160th District Court, State of Texas from 1994 to 2002.

District court service

Godbey was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on January 23, 2002, to a seat vacated by

Robert B. Maloney Robert B. Maloney (born January 31, 1933) is an inactive senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Dallas, Maloney received a Bachelor of Business Ad ...

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on August 1, 2002, and received his commission on August 2, 2002. He sits in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. He became chief judge on September 6, 2022.

References

Sources

*
John Council, "A Black Belt in a Black Robe", Texas Lawyer, July 27, 2009
(registration required) {{DEFAULTSORT:Godbey, David C. 1957 births Living people 21st-century American judges Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas People from Temple, Texas Southern Methodist University alumni Texas state court judges United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush