Debra M. Brown

{{Infobox judge

| name = Debra Brown

| image = Debra M Brown.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| office = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi

| term_start = June 11, 2021

| term_end =

| predecessor = Sharion Aycock

| successor =

| office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi

| term_start1 = November 5, 2013

| term_end1 =

| appointer1 = Barack Obama

| predecessor1 = W. Allen Pepper Jr.

| successor1 =

| birth_name = Debra Marie Brown

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1963}}

| birth_place = Yazoo City, Mississippi, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| resting_place =

| education = Mississippi State University (BArch)
University of Mississippi (JD)

}}

Debra Marie Brown (born 1963) is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. She is the first African-American woman to serve as chief judge for the Northern District of Mississippi.

Biography

Brown was born in 1963, in Yazoo City, Mississippi.{{cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Debra-Brown-Senate-Questionnaire-Final.pdf|title=Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees|publisher=United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|accessdate=January 6, 2025}} She received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1987, from Mississippi State University. Prior to attending law school, she worked as an architect in the Washington, D.C., area. She received a Juris Doctor in 1997 from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where she served as articles editor of the law review. After graduation, she worked at the law firm of Phelps Dunbar LLP for more than fourteen years. From 2012 to 2013, she was a shareholder at the law firm of Wise Carter Child & Caraway, P.A. in Jackson, Mississippi, where she handled a wide variety of commercial litigation matters before both federal and state courts. From 2003 to 2004, she served as President of the Mississippi Women Lawyers Association.{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/16/president-obama-nominates-three-serve-united-states-district-court|work=whitehouse.gov|title=President Obama Nominates Three to Serve on the United States District Court|via=National Archives|date=May 16, 2013}}{{FJC Bio|nid=1394306|inline=yes}}

=Federal judicial service=

On May 16, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Brown to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, to the seat vacated by Judge W. Allen Pepper, Jr., who died on January 24, 2012. On July 10, 2013, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.{{Cite web |date=November 4, 2013 |title=PN422 — Debra M. Brown — The Judiciary |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/113th-congress/422 |access-date=January 6, 2025 |website=congress.gov}} On August 1, 2013, her nomination was favorably reported out of committee by voice vote.{{cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ExecutiveBusinessMeetingResults-08-1-2013.pdf|title=Results of Executive Business Meeting – August 1, 2013|publisher=United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|accessdate=April 20, 2023}} Brown was confirmed on November 4, 2013, by a 90–0 vote.{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1131/vote_113_1_00228.htm|title=On the Nomination (Confirmation Debra M. Brown, of Mississippi, to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Mississippi)|website=United States Senate|date=August 1, 2013|access-date=May 9, 2023}} She received her judicial commission on November 5, 2013, and was sworn in by Judge Michael P. Mills on December 18, 2013,{{cite news|title=First black woman becomes Miss. US district judge |url=http://www.sunherald.com/2013/12/18/5205508/first-black-woman-becomes-miss.html |access-date=December 28, 2013 |newspaper=Associated Press |date=December 18, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230233157/http://www.sunherald.com/2013/12/18/5205508/first-black-woman-becomes-miss.html |archive-date=December 30, 2013 }} becoming the first African-American to become a district judge in Mississippi.{{Cite web |last=Rowe |first=Keisha |date=June 7, 2021 |title=U.S. District Judge Debra M. Brown makes history as first Black woman named chief judge in MS |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2021/06/07/debra-m-brown-first-black-female-chief-judge-mississippi/7591700002/ |access-date=June 18, 2021 |website=The Clarion-Ledger |language=en-US}} Brown became the chief judge on June 11, 2021, succeeding Judge Sharion Aycock,{{Cite web |date=June 7, 2021 |title=Judge Debra Brown to become new Chief Judge of Northern District of Mississippi |url=https://www.wjtv.com/news/state/judge-debra-brown-to-become-new-chief-judge-of-northern-district-of-mississippi/ |access-date=June 7, 2021 |website=WJTV |language=en-US}} becoming the first African-American woman to serve as chief judge for the Northern District of Mississippi.