Mary Stenson Scriven (born October 20, 1962) 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 Middle District of Florida The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (in case citations, M.D. Fla.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against ...

Education and career

Born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, Scriven graduated from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

with her

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 1983 and later from

Florida State University College of Law The Florida State University College of Law is the law school of Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. It is currently the highest ranked law school in Florida and is ranked in the top 40 best law schools in the United States. ...

with 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 ...

in 1987. From 1983 to 1984 she was a substitute teacher with the Bibb County Board of Education in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

. In 1985, she was a research assistant at the Florida State University College of Law. From 1985 to 1986, she interned in the Majority office of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

. From 1986 to 1987 she was a summer associate with Carlton Fields in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

and later an intern with the law firm of Huey Guilday Kursteiner & Tucker. Following law school graduation, Scriven was in private practice in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

from 1987 to 1997. She was an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

Stetson University College of Law The Stetson University College of Law (branded as Stetson Law) is the law school of Stetson University. The law school occupies a historic 1920s resort hotel, the Rolyat Hotel, designed by Richard Kiehnel. The College of Law is accredited by the ...

from 1996 to 1997. In 1993, she was nominated by Florida Governor Lawton Chiles to serve a two-year term on the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. She was later confirmed by the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

and served until 1995.

Federal judicial career

Scriven started her judicial career as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida from 1997 to 2008. Scriven was nominated as a U.S. District Judge to the same jurisdiction 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 ...

on July 10, 2008, to fill a seat vacated by Patricia C. Fawsett, who assumed senior status. Scriven 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 September 26, 2008, and received her commission on September 30, 2008.

Notable case

*On October 24, 2011, Scriven temporarily blocked Florida's new law that requires welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits, saying it may violate the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. The drug test can reveal a host of private medical facts about the individual, Scriven wrote, adding that she found it "troubling" that the drug tests are not kept confidential like medical records.Judge nixes Florida's welfare drug testing
/ref> * Scriven presided over the copyright case between

Carole Baskin Carole Ann Baskin (née Stairs; formerly Murdock and Lewis; born June 6, 1961) is the CEO of Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary. She has attracted the attention of local, national and international media outlets to the plight of capti ...

and

Joe Exotic Joseph Allen Maldonado (''né'' Schreibvogel; born March 5, 1963), known professionally as Joe Exotic and nicknamed "The Tiger King", is an American media personality and businessman who operated the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (also k ...

. * In mid-2025,

lock picking Lock picking is the practice of unlocking a Lock (security device), lock by manipulating the components of the lock device without the original key. Although lock-picking can be associated with Intention (criminal law), criminal intent, it ...

case '' Proven Industries v. Trevor McNally'' was presided over by Scriven.

References

Sources

*
Confirmation hearings on federal appointments : hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session 4.J 89/2:S.HRG.110-138/ PT.4 (2008)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scriven, Mary Stenson 1962 births Living people Duke University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Florida State University College of Law alumni Stetson University College of Law faculty African-American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush United States magistrate judges Lawyers from Atlanta American women legal scholars American legal scholars 21st-century American women judges

Education and career

Federal judicial career

Notable case

See also

References

Sources