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Though Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has been known as one of the more conservative appellate courts for years, the majority of the judges on the 15-member court were appointed by Democrats. Judge J. Harvie Wilkerson III, the lone remaining Reagan appointee, is not only a notable conservative on the court, he's also the longest-serving Fourth Circuit judge.

Stephanie Thacker was sworn in as the first female judge from West Virginia to serve on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, reports the West Virginia Record. West Virginia’s senators, Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin, joined Chief District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, Thacker’s family, friends and some former co-workers at her investiture.

Judge Thacker was confirmed by the Senate for the appellate bench in April by a vote of 91-3. Senators Jim De Mint (R-S.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and David Vitter (R-La.) opposed her confirmation.

If you can’t get your fill of the law practicing before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, perhaps you would like to leave your office for a field trip to the federal archives.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) keeps most federal records at the NARA facilities in Washington, D.C. and College Park, Maryland. (Also known as, in the Fourth Circuit’s back yard.)

Like lawyers and priests, people tell journalists secrets. Unlike lawyers and priests, journalists get to spill those secrets to the public.

Occasionally the long arm of the law knocks on a journalist's door, demanding the names of secret-sharing sources. The journalist, of course, can choose to play the moral superiority trump card and declare, "I would rather go to jail than reveal my sources." Sometimes they wind up in jail. Sometimes they ask the courts to apply the reporter's privilege.

U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Perry was found dead on Sunday. He would have turned 90 this week.

Perry, appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, was one of the first black men from the South appointed to a federal court. He was still serving as a senior U.S. District Court judge for South Carolina at the time of his death.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts spoke at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial panel over the past weekend, discussing the inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In his statements at the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference, he addressed some cutting edge issues involving the day-to-day affairs of SCOTUS, including the use of social media by the Supreme Court justices and judicial clerks.

Justice Roberts mentioned that he encourages Supreme Court clerks not to tweet, reports Huffington Post, fearing that they may unintentionally reveal confidences through posting status updates.