Jackson L. Kiser

Jackson Lintecum Kiser

Federal judicial service On November 4, 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Kiser to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia created by 92 Stat. 1629. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 3, 1981, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge from 1993 to 1997. He assumed senior status on April 30, 1997, and relocated his chambers from Roanoke, Virginia to Danville, Virginia.

Notable cases Over the course of his judicial career, Kiser heard and decided a number of highly important judicial questions. Most notably, he was the trial judge for two cases that eventually reached the United States Supreme Court: United States v. Virginia, in which the Supreme Court held Virginia Military Institute's male-only admissions policy unconstitutional, and United States v. Morrison, in which the High Court struck down portions of a federal law for exceeding the scope of Congress' authority under the Commerce Clause. In 2015, Judge Kiser dismissed a challenge to Virginia's effective ban on uranium mining, holding that Virginia's actions were not preempted by the Atomic Energy Act. That decision was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.