--- title: "Mary Stenson Scriven | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-stenson-scriven" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Mary Stenson Scriven U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle 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, M.D. Florida, 2008-present - American judge serving on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida since September 30, 2008 - U.S. District Judge (2008–present), nominated by President George W. Bush on July 10, 2008, to replace Patricia C. Fawsett, confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 2008, and commissioned on September 30, 2008 - U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, 1997-2008 - Also an associate professor at Stetson University College of Law (1996–1997) ### Education - Florida State University College of Law in — J.D. (1987) - B.A. in political science from Duke University in 1983 ### Additional information - Private practice, Florida, 1987-1997 - Before entering federal service, she served as a substitute teacher, research assistant, and intern in the Florida House of Representatives, and practiced law in Florida from 1987 to 1997. - Born October 20, 1962, in Atlanta, Georgia. - Date of birth: 1962-01-01 - The first African-American woman to serve on the federal bench in Florida and the second in the Eleventh Circuit - She also studied at the University of Oxford. - Birth place: Atlanta, GA ## 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/1392781) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1392781) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1392781) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2891/mary-stenson-scriven/) - [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/2891/mary-stenson-scriven/) - [Wikidata: Mary Stenson Scriven](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6780769) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-stenson-scriven", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/mary-stenson-scriven", "name": "Mary Stenson Scriven | KnowJudges", "description": "Mary Stenson Scriven, U.S. District Court for the Middle 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.