--- title: "Cameron McGowan Currie | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/cameron-mcgowan-currie" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Cameron McGowan Currie U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina - State: South Carolina - Role: U.S. District Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, D. South Carolina, 1994-2013 - Chief deputy attorney general, State of South Carolina, 1989-1994 - She also held the role of Chief Deputy Attorney General for South Carolina from 1989 to 1994 - U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of South Carolina, later returning to private practice and teaching as an adjunct law professor at the University of South Carolina Law Center (1986–1989), (1984–1986) - She then practiced privately in Washington, D.C., from 1975 to 1978, before serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia (1978–1980) and in South Carolina (1980–1984), gaining extensive prosecutorial experience. - Law clerk, Hon. Arthur L. Burnett, U.S. Magistrate, U.S. District Court, DC, 1973-1974 - Began her legal career as a law clerk to U.S. Magistrate Arthur L. Burnett in the District of Columbia from 1973 to 1974 - Cameron McGowan Currie was born on October 3, 1948, in Florence, South Carolina, to John Livingston McGowan, a local attorney, and Virginia Bracey McGowan, a University of South Carolina graduate ### Education - George Washington University Law School in — J.D. (1975) - University of South Carolina in — B.A. (1970) ### Additional information - More recently, on November 24, 2025, she dismissed criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan had been unlawfully appointed, which invalidated the indictments. - In 2009, she ruled that South Carolina's proposed "I Believe" license plates, featuring a cross, violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. - On January 27, 1994, Currie was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, filling the seat vacated by Falcon B. Hawkins Jr. - U.S. Magistrate, U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina, 1984-1986 - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 1975-1978 - Date of birth: 1948-01-01 - Judge Currie has presided over a wide range of cases, including criminal, civil rights, and constitutional matters. - Judge Cameron McGowan Currie’s career spans decades of service in both federal and state legal systems, combining prosecutorial work, judicial service, and legal education. - Birth place: Florence, SC ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1379681) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1379681) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1379681) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/775/cameron-mcgowan-currie/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/775/cameron-mcgowan-currie/) - [Wikidata: Cameron McGowan Currie](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5026308) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/cameron-mcgowan-currie", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/cameron-mcgowan-currie", "name": "Cameron McGowan Currie | KnowJudges", "description": "Cameron McGowan Currie, U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.