Karon Owen Bowdre is a district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties: Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Cullman, De Kalb, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar,...

. She joined the court in 2001 after being nominated by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

.

Early life and education

Born in Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...

, Bowdre graduated from Samford University

Samford University

Samford University, founded as Howard College is a private, coeducational, Alabama Baptist Convention-affiliated university located in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It includes the , Cumberland School of Law, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Brock School of Business, Ida V....

 with her Bachelor's degree in 1977 and later from Cumberland School of Law

Cumberland School of Law

Cumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The 11th oldest law school in the United States, it is 160 years old and has more than 11,000 graduates. Its alumni include two United States Supreme Court Justices; Nobel Peace Prize recipient...

 with a Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 degree in 1981.

Legal career

She was a law clerk for Junius Foy Guin, Jr.

Junius Foy Guin, Jr.

Junius Foy Guin, Jr. is a United States federal judge.Born in Russellville, Alabama, Guin was in the United States Army Lieutenant, Infantry during World War II, from 1943 to 1946. He received a J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1947. He was in private practice in Russellville,...

 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama from 1981 to 1982. Bowdre was a partner at the Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

 firm of Rives & Peterson from 1982 to 1990. Beginning in 1989, Bowdre became a full-time Professor of law at Samford University Cumberland School of Law where she taught insurance law, legal ethics, and professional responsibility, and directed Cumberland’s legal research and writing program before her federal appointment in 2001.

Federal Judicial Career

In 2001, Bowdre was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by President George W. Bush on September 4, 2001 to a seat vacated by Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. Bowdre was confirmed by the Senate on November 6, 2001 on a Senate vote and received her commission on November 8, 2001.