Brian Jordan Davis (born January 28, 1953) is a
senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...
of the
.
Biography
Davis received his
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in 1974 from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
. He received his
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from 1980 from the
University of Florida Levin College of Law
The University of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida and second oldest overall in the stat ...
. He worked as an attorney at Mahoney, Hadlow & Adams, P.A. from 1980 to 1982 and at Brown, Terrell, Hogan, Ellis, McClamma & Yegelwel from 1988 to 1991. He worked as an assistant state attorney from 1982 to 1988. He served as chief assistant state attorney in the Fourth Judicial Circuit from 1991 to 1994. He served as a circuit judge for the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida from 1994 to 2013.
Federal judicial service
On February 29, 2012, President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
nominated Davis to serve as a United States District Judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
[ He would replace Judge Richard A. Lazzara, who assumed senior status on December 17, 2011. The ]Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...
reported Davis' nomination to the full Senate on June 21, 2012 by a 10–7 vote. Although Davis' nomination had the support of his two home-state senators, several other senators, including Senator Chuck Grassley
Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2025, a role he also held from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Re ...
opposed his nomination, based largely on a speech that Davis gave to his local NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
chapter in 1995.[ On January 2, 2013, Davis' nomination was returned to the President, due to the sine die adjournment of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, he was renominated to the same office. Davis' nomination was reported out of committee on October 31, 2013 by a 16–2 vote. On December 20, 2013, the ]United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
invoked cloture
Cloture (, ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end.
The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. is ...
on his nomination by a 56–36 vote. That same day, his nomination was confirmed by a 68–26 vote.
See also
* List of African-American federal judges
This is a list of African Americans who have served as United States federal judge
In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III ju ...
* List of African-American jurists
This list includes individuals self-identified as African Americans who have made prominent contributions to the field of law in the United States, especially as eminent judges or legal scholars. Individuals who may have obtained law degrees o ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Brian J.
1953 births
Living people
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century African-American lawyers
20th-century American judges
African-American judges
Florida lawyers
Florida state court judges
Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Princeton University alumni
United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama
Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni
State attorneys