Carolyn Dineen King

Carolyn Dineen King (born January 30, 1938) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Her chambers are in Houston, Texas.

Education and career

Born in Syracuse, New York, King received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, summa cum laude, from Smith College in 1959. She received a Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School in 1962. After the United States Attorney's office in Houston denied her a position as an Assistant United States Attorney—which she believes was because of her gender —she joined Fulbright & Jaworski as a corporate and securities lawyer. She was in private practice of law in Houston, Texas from 1962 to 1979.

Federal judicial service

King was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on April 30, 1979, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 12, 1979, and received her commission on July 13, 1979. She served as the first female chief judge from 1999 to 2006. She assumed senior status on December 31, 2013. King is also a 1997 recipient of the Smith College Medal and the American Bar Association's Margaret Brent Award. In 2014, she was honored by the American College of Bankruptcy with its Distinguished Service award.

Notable activities

King was elected to the American Law Institute in 1985 and was elected to the ALI Council in 1991. She served as ALI's Treasurer from May 2010 to May 2013.

Personal life

King served under the name Carolyn Dineen Randall from 1979 to 1988. She married senior Fifth Circuit Judge Thomas Morrow Reavley in August 2004.

King is widely considered to be a political and judicial moderate.

Notable case

On December 18, 2019, King dissented when the Fifth Circuit declared the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate unconstitutional.