President Trump announced his intent to nominate Charles E. Atchley, Jr., and Katherine A. Crytzer to serve as U.S. District Judges for the Eastern District of Tennessee, nominations that were recommended to the president by Senators Lamar Alexander and Marsha Blackburn.
Senator Alexander said, “Chuck Atchley is the First Assistant U.S.
Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee and has spent nearly 20 years working on behalf of East Tennesseans in the federal court system. He is a man of good character, good temperament, high intelligence, and he has a high respect for the law. Katherine Crytzer has served for the last six years at the Justice Department as the Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, and, before that, as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. I am grateful to the president for nominating individuals who will represent Tennessee and our country well, and I am hopeful the Senate will quickly consider their nominations.
“Tennessee is fortunate that Senator Marsha Blackburn serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be able to help shepherd both of these qualified nominations through the confirmation process. She and I have already discussed the importance of these nominations with the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, especially because of increasing caseloads in the Eastern District of Tennessee due to the two current vacancies. I look forward to working with Senator Blackburn to get both of these well-qualified individuals confirmed this year.”
U.S. District Judge Harry S. Mattice, Jr. retired on March 10, 2020. Chief Judge Pamela L. Reeves passed away last week. Judge Reeves was the first woman president of the Tennessee Bar Association and the first female Chief Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee.