--- title: "Kevin Michael Moore | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kevin-michael-moore" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Kevin Michael Moore U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida - State: Florida - Role: U.S. District Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, S.D. Florida, 1992-present - The Elian Gonzalez asylum case in 2000, where he ruled that only the U.S. Attorney General could grant political asylum to the six-year-old Cuban rafter - Director of the U.S. Marshals Service at the Department of Justice (1987–1989, he was U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, and from 1989 to 1992) - Nominated by President George H.W. Bush on October 4, 1991, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, filling the seat vacated by Judge Eugene P. Spellman - He then held the role of Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida (1981–1982) and Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney (1983–1987) - Began his career as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida from 1976 to 1981 ### Education - Fordham University School of Law — J.D. (1976) - Florida State University — B.A. (1972) ### Additional information - He held the role of chief judge from July 1, 2014, to July 1, 2021. - In 2020, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Moore as chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission - received his commission on February 10, 1992. - Date of birth: 1951-01-01 - 1782 in aid of foreign proceedings over objections - For court-related communications, Moore can be reached via moore@ for proposed orders and jury instructions, and moore_clerk_applications@ for clerkship applications - Moore’s rulings often involve careful adherence to procedural standards. - He frequently refers dispositive motions to magistrate judges and adopts their recommendations, allowing amendments where defects are curable. - He also grants applications for judicial assistance under 28 U.S.C. - Birth place: Coral Gables, FL ## 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 ### electronic trial exhibits Scope: courtwide Unless otherwise ordered, Southern District of Florida parties must file electronic versions of documentary exhibits and digital photographs of non-documentary physical exhibits within ten days after a hearing or trial ends. Evidence excerpt: Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, within ten (10) days of the conclusion of a hearing or trial, a party must file and serve in the CM/ECF system (a) an electronic version of each documentary exhibit ... and (b) a digital photograph of each non-documentary physical exhibit... [Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/25-09-22%202025%20Local%20Rules%20effective%20120125%20-%20FINAL.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### audiovisual exhibit filing Scope: courtwide The Southern District of Florida's local rules require contraband images, audio, and video recordings that are exempt from CM/ECF filing to be physically filed with the Clerk within ten days after the hearing or trial, unless otherwise ordered. Evidence excerpt: Contraband images, audio recordings, and video recordings, which must be physically filed with the Clerk of the Court within ten (10) days of the conclusion of the hearing or trial, unless otherwise ordered... [Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/25-09-22%202025%20Local%20Rules%20effective%20120125%20-%20FINAL.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### 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/1385306) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1385306) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1385306) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2297/kevin-michael-moore/) - [Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/25-09-22%202025%20Local%20Rules%20effective%20120125%20-%20FINAL.pdf) - [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/2297/kevin-michael-moore/) - [Judge Kevin Michael Moore](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1385306) - [Wikidata: Kevin Michael Moore](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6397001) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kevin-michael-moore", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kevin-michael-moore", "name": "Kevin Michael Moore | KnowJudges", "description": "Kevin Michael Moore, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. 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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.