Memphis Criminal Court Judge John Fowlkes appointed to Federal Judgeship

Memphis Criminal Court Judge John Fowlkes was appointed yesterday by President Obama to the Federal Bench for Western District, Tennessee.  The Commercial Appeal reports,

Fowlkes, 60, would take the post left vacant when former U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice B. Donald was sworn in as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Oct. 29.
“It is truly an honor for the President to nominate me for the position,” said Fowlkes moments before the official announcement came from the White House. “It’s a position I’ve wanted to fill for a number of years and I look forward to the challenges that the position brings. Of course, the process still has a ways to go. 

“In the meantime, I’m still the judge of Division 6 of Criminal Court,” he said. “My responsibilities don’t stop.”

Fowlkes has been a Criminal Court judge since 2007. Immediately prior to that, he served as the chief administrative officer for Shelby County government under then-County Mayor A C Wharton. Before that, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1989 to 2002, where he prosecuted corruption, money laundering, narcotics and gang-related defendants, among others. From 1979 to 1989, he was an assistant district attorney general in the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office.