David C. Norton


David C. Norton is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Education and career

Born in Washington, D.C., Norton received a Bachelor of Arts degree from in 1968 and was in the United States Navy from 1969 to 1972. He then received a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1975, and was in private practice in Charleston, South Carolina until 1977. He was an assistant deputy solicitor for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Charleston, South Carolina from 1977 to 1980. He was a city attorney of Isle of Palms, South Carolina from 1980 to 1985. He was in private practice in Charleston from 1981 to 1990, and was a partner at the law firm of Holmes & Thomson.

Federal judicial service

On April 18, 1990, Norton was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina that was vacated by Judge Solomon Blatt Jr.. Norton was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 28, 1990, and received his commission on July 12, 1990. He served as Chief Judge from 2007 to 2012.
Norton is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Charleston School of Law.

Notable cases

Norton presided over the criminal case of Michael Slager, a police officer who killed Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in April 2015 after a traffic stop in North Charleston, South Carolina. Scott was fleeing the officer when he was shot five times in the back. Slager pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Scott's civil rights. Norton sentenced Slager to 20 years' imprisonment, a sentence within the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
In July 2017, Norton found that plaintiffs with mesothelioma still needed to prove defendants specifically caused their diseases, even though every exposure to asbestos is unsafe.