Danny Clyde Reeves (born August 1, 1957) 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

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (in case citations, E.D. Ky.) is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises approximately the Eastern half of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The United States Cour ...

Early life and education

Born in

Corbin, Kentucky Corbin is a home rule-class city in Whitley, Knox and Laurel counties in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 7,856. Corbin is on Interstate 75 and US Route 25W, about hal ...

, Reeves received a

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 from

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options. History Founding ...

in 1978 and a

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 Salmon P. Chase College of Law at

Northern Kentucky University Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. Established in 1968, it is the youngest of Kentucky's eight public universities. The university has seven constituent colleges in arts and science ...

in 1981. During his undergraduate and law school years, Reeves had summer jobs at a coal mine and

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

assembly factory. He was a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

to Judge Eugene E. Siler, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern & Western Districts of Kentucky from 1981 to 1983. He was in private practice with the

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

law firm Greenebaum Doll & McDonald from 1983 to 2001, starting as an associate before being promoted to partner in 1988.

Federal judicial service

On September 4, 2001, Reeves was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

to serve as a United States district judge of the

. He was nominated to a new seat created by 114 Stat. 2762. He was confirmed by 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 ...

on December 6, 2001, and received his commission on December 10, 2001. He became chief judge on August 16, 2019. He assumed senior status on February 1, 2025.

United States Sentencing Commission

On March 15, 2016, 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 Reeves for a position on the

United States Sentencing Commission The United States Sentencing Commission is an independent agency of the judicial branch of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for articulating the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the federal courts. The Commission promulgat ...

, which would expire on October 31, 2021. On July 13, 2016, a hearing on his nomination was held before 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 ...

. His nomination expired with the end of the

114th Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from Ja ...

on January 3, 2017. He was renominated by President Obama on January 17, 2017. His nomination was withdrawn by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

on February 28, 2017, but Trump renominated him on March 1, 2017. On March 9, 2017, his nomination was reported out of committee. On March 21, 2017, his nomination was confirmed by a 98–0 vote. His term ended in March 2021.

Title IX case

In January 2025, Reeves blocked the Biden administration's Title IX rule, which would have altered the federal government's definition of sex to include a student's preferred gender identity. Judge Reeves found the rule to be "arbitrary and capricious" and concluded that it “conflict dwith the plain language of Title IX.”

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Danny C. 1957 births Living people Eastern Kentucky University alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky Members of the United States Sentencing Commission People from Corbin, Kentucky Salmon P. Chase College of Law alumni United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush