Judge Karen Marston
Eastern Pennsylvania U.S. District Court
Karen Spencer Marston was born in 1968 in Portsmouth, Virginia. She earned an undergraduate degree from Davidson College and received her Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University School of Law.
Marston served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania where she was the Chief of the Office of Narcotics and Organized Crime. She was an adjunct professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law.
President Donald Trump nominated Marston to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. After a cloture vote, she was confirmed by the Senate. She received her judicial commission in December 2019.
In the News…
District Court Judge Karen Marston ruled that prohibiting the display of the American flag with a thin blue line in support of law enforcement is unconstitutional. Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania township banned the use of such a flag, contending it was causing “discontent and distrust” in their community.
“The Township repeatedly suggests that the ‘Thin Blue Line’ American Flag is of limited, if any, public value or concern because it is ‘offensive’ and ‘racist,’” Judge Marston wrote in the court opinion. “But as this Court previously told the Township, the First Amendment protects speech even when it is considered ‘offensive.’”
Judge Marston added, “And unfortunately, it appears that the morale of the police department, the same department that the Township previously acknowledged was ‘well-respected,‘ has taken a significant toll from the repeated assertions that the police officers— and not merely the Flag—are racist.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Marston today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Karen S. Marston
Eastern Pennsylvania U.S. District Court
1613 U.S. Courthouse
601 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
