Judge Reggie B. Walton assumed his position as a United States District Judge for the District of Columbia on October 23, 2001, after being nominated to the position by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. Judge Walton was also appointed by President Bush in June of 2004 to serve as the Chairperson of the National Prison Rape Reduction Commission, a two-year commission created by the United States Congress that is tasked with the mission of identifying methods to curb the incidents of prison rape. Former Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Judge Walton to the federal judiciary’s Criminal Law Committee, effective October 1, 2005.
Judge Walton previously sewed as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 1981 to 1989 and 1991 to 2001, having been appointed to that position by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and George H. W. Bush in 1991. While serving on the Superior Court, Judge Walton was the court’s Presiding Judge of the Family Division, Presiding Judge of the Domestic Violence Unit and Deputy Presiding Judge of this Criminal Division. Between 1989 and 1991, Judge Walton served as President George H. W. Bush’s Associate Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in The Executive Office of the President and as President Bush’s Senior White House Advisor for Crime.
Before his appointment to the Superior Court bench in 1981, Judge Walton served as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney in the Office of the United States Attorney in Washington, D.C., from June, 1980 to July, 1981, and he was an Assistant United States Attorney in that Office from March, 1976 to June, 1980. From June, 1979 to June, 1980, Judge Walton was also the Chief of the Career Criminal Unit in the United States Attorney’s Office. Before joining the United States Attorney’s Office, Judge Walton was a staff attorney in the Defender Association of Philadelphia iron August, 1973 to February, 1976.
Judge Walton was born in Donora, Pennsylvania on February 8, 1949. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia State College in 1971 and received his Juris Doctorate degree from The American University, Washington College of Law, in 1974.
Judge Walton has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including his inclusion in the 2001 edition of The Marquis Who’s Who in America, the 2000 edition of The Marquis Who’s’ Who in the World, the 2000 North Star Award, presented by The American University, Washington College of Law; the 1999 Distinguished Alumni Award presented by The American University, Washington College of Law; the 1997 Honorable Robert A. Shuker Memorial Award, presented by the Assistant United States Attorneys’ Association; the 1993 William H, Hastie Award, presented by the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association; the 1990 County Spotlight Award, presented by the National Association of Counties; the 1990 James R. Waddy Meritorious Service Award, presented by the West Virginia State College National Alumni Association; the Secretary’s Award, presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1990; the 1989 H. Carl Moultrie Award, presented by the District of Columbia Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; the Bar Association of the District of Columbia’s Young Lawyers Section 1989 Award for Distinguished Service to the Community and the Nation; the 1969 Dean’s Award for Distinguished Service to The American University, Washington College of Law; and the United States Department of Justice’s Directors Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney in 1980.
In addition, April 9, 1991, was declared as Judge Reggie B. Walton Day in the State of Louisiana by the Governor for his contribution to the War on Drugs. Judge Walton was also commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel by Governor Wallace G. Wilkinson in 1990 and 1991, which is the highest civilian honor
awarded by the state of Kentucky. Numerous mayors in cities throughout the country have bestowed similar honors on Judge Walton.
Judge Walton was one of 14 judges profiled in a 1994 book entitled ‘Black Judges On Justice: Perspectives From The Bench,” The book is the first effort to assess the judicial perspectives of prominent African-American judges in The United States.
Judge Walton traveled to Irkutsk, Russia in May 1996 to provide instruction to Russian judges on criminal law subjects in a program funded by the United States Department of Justice and the American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative Reform Project. Judge Walton is also an instructor in the Harvard University Law School’s Advocacy Workshop and a faculty member at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. Judge Walton has been active in working with the youth of the Washington, D.C. area and throughout the nation. He has served as a Big Brother and frequently speaks at schools throughout the Washington Metropolitan area concerning drugs, crime and personal responsibility.
Judge Walton and his wife are the parents of one daughter.
