Chief Judge Catherine Eagles
Middle North Carolina U.S. District Court
Catherine Diane Caldwell Eagles was born in August 1958 in Memphis, Tennessee. She earned an undergraduate degree from Rhodes College and received a Juris Doctor from George Washington University School of Law
She worked as a law clerk in the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. She worked in a private firm in Greensboro, North Carolina, then was appointed to a resident superior court judgeship. She won election and two reelections to that position.
Eagles was nominated by President Barack Obama to a seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. She was approved by the Senate and received her judicial commission in December 2010. She has served as chief judge since August 2023.
In the News…
U.S. District Chief Judge Catherine Eagles ruled that North Carolina’s laws restricting the dispensing of abortion drug Mifepristone run afoul of the federal jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration.
She noted, “statutory requirements of the state’s Abortion Laws stand as obstacles to Congress’ clear and manifest purpose of providing a comprehensive regulatory framework for safe use and distribution of higher-risk drugs run by the FDA.”
However, the judge wrote that the requirements for in-person consultation and examination, as well as an ultrasound prior to receiving a prescription, may remain. The focus on the practice of medicine and on patient health by the state is not something the FDA has reviewed or addressed.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Chief Judge Eagles today? You can let her know at:
The Honorable Catherine Eagles
U.S. District Court
L. Richardson Preyer Courthouse
324 W. Market Street
Greensboro, NC 27401-2544
