Debra M. Brown

Debra Marie Brown 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.

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. On August 1, 2013, her nomination was favorably reported out of committee by voice vote. Brown was confirmed on November 4, 2013, by a 90–0 vote. She received her judicial commission on November 5, 2013, becoming the first African-American to become a district judge in Mississippi. Brown became the chief judge on June 11, 2021, succeeding Judge Sharion Aycock, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as chief judge for the Northern District of Mississippi.