Liles Clifton Burke (born June 11, 1969) is a

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 Northern District of Alabama The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (in case citations, N.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are a ...

. His official duty station is the United States Courthouse at Huntsville, Alabama. He previously was an Associate Judge of the

Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals is one of two appellate courts in the Alabama judicial system. The court was established in 1969 when what had been one unitary state Court of Appeals was broken into a criminal appeals court and a civil app ...

Early life and education

Burke is a native of

Arab, Alabama Arab () is a city mostly in Marshall County, with a portion in Cullman County, in the northern part of the U.S. state of Alabama, located from Guntersville Lake and Guntersville Dam, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Stati ...

, and was educated in that city's public school system. He 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 ...

from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

in 1991 and

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 the

University of Alabama School of Law The University of Alabama School of Law, (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is the only public law school in the state. It is one of five law schools in the ...

in 1994.

Career

Upon graduation from law school, he began practicing with his father, Claud Burke, at the law firm of Burke & Beuoy, P.C., where he represented businesses and individuals in general practice, including domestic, criminal, civil litigation, juvenile, and probate matters. Burke attended the JAG School at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

and entered the

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG or JAG Corps) is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates ...

of the

Alabama Army National Guard The Alabama Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau. Alabama Army National ...

. He served for more than a decade, achieving the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. He also served as a Municipal Prosecutor and Municipal Attorney for the City of Arab, and was named as the Municipal Judge for that City in 2001. He held that office until 2006 when he was appointed Marshall County District Judge by Governor of Alabama

Bob Riley Robert Renfroe Riley (born October 3, 1944) is an American retired politician and businessman who served as the 52nd governor of Alabama from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was the U.S. Hous ...

. In 2008, Burke was elected to a full term on the District Court without opposition. Burke began Marshall County's first family drug court, and along with District Judge Tim Riley, implemented one of Alabama's first domestic violence courts. Additionally, he served as an officer in both the Alabama District Judges Association and the Alabama Juvenile Judges Association. In 2011, Governor

Robert J. Bentley Robert Julian Bentley (born February 3, 1943) is an American former politician and physician who served as the 53rd governor of Alabama from 2011 until 2017 upon his resignation following his arrest after a sex scandal involving a political aide ...

appointed Burke to the

, where he served until becoming a

. He was elected to a six-year term in 2012 without opposition. While on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Burke also served as the president of the Alabama Appellate Judges Association. Burke has been active over the past many years in several charitable and community organizations, leading the Marshall County United Way fund drive, serving as President of the Arab Chamber of Commerce, and serving on the board of the Marshall County Healthcare Authority. He is Methodist, a Rotarian, and an alumnus of Leadership Alabama.

Federal judicial service

On July 13, 2017, 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 ...

announced his intent to nominate Burke to serve as a United States district judge of the

." President Donald J. Trump Announces Fifth Wave of Judicial Candidates" White House, July 13, 2017
/ref> On July 19, 2017, his nomination was sent to the Senate. He was nominated to the seat vacated by Charles Lynwood Smith Jr., who assumed senior status on August 31, 2013. On October 4, 2017, 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 ...

. On October 26, 2017, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote. On January 3, 2018, his nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of 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 January 5, 2018, President

announced his intent to renominate Burke to a federal judgeship. On January 8, 2018, his renomination was sent to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. On January 18, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote. On October 11, 2018, the Senate confirmed his nomination by a 55–40 vote. He received his judicial commission on October 17, 2018.

Prominent cases

In May 2022, Burke issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of an Alabama law which criminalized transgender minors from using hormone therapy and puberty blockers. He concluded that the law had a substantial likelihood of being unconstitutional because it interfered with parents' fundamental rights to direct the medical care of their children and constituted unlawful sex discrimination. The case, ''Eknes-Tucker v. Marshall'', will be set for a final hearing on the merits sometime this year.

On March 1, 2024, Burke entered an order declaring the Corporate Transparency Act to be unconstitutional. National Small Business United v. Janet Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-1448 (U.S.D.C. N.D. Ala. 3/1/2024).

In February 2025, Burke publicly reprimanded two attorneys for "judge-shopping" by dropping a case and refiling in a different district court. He reprimanded a third attorney for testifying falsely and referred his conduct to the United States Attorney for investigation.

Personal life

Burke is married to the former Natalie Jones of Jasper, Alabama; they have two children. Natalie Burke is the mayor of the Town of Cherokee Ridge, Alabama.

References

External links

* *
Biography at U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Liles Clifton 1969 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Alabama lawyers Alabama Republicans Alabama state court judges United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama National Guard (United States) officers People from Cullman, Alabama United States Army officers United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump University of Alabama alumni University of Alabama School of Law alumni