--- title: "Waverly David Crenshaw Jr. | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/waverly-david-crenshaw-jr" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Waverly David Crenshaw Jr. U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee - State: Tennessee - Role: 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. Tennessee, 2016-present - Chief Judge: held the role of Chief Judge of the Middle District of Tennessee from April 15, 2017, to April 15, 2024 - Federal judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2016 - Assistant attorney general, State of Tennessee, 1984-1987 - Law Clerk, District Court, M.D. Tennessee, 1982-1984 - Law clerk, Hon. C. Allen High, Hon. Robert S. Brandt, and Hon. Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr., Davidson County [Tennessee] Chancery Court, 1981-1982 ### Education - Vanderbilt University — J.D. (1981) - Vanderbilt University — B.A. (1978) - Vanderbilt University Law School ### Additional information - Private practice, Nashville, TN, 1987-2016 - In 2012, he became the first African American member of the Belle Meade Country Club in Tennessee - Date of birth: 1956-01-01 - At the time of his confirmation, Crenshaw was only the second African-American federal judge on active status in Tennessee - Birth place: Nashville, TN ## 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/1394846) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394846) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394846) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8567/waverly-david-crenshaw-jr/) - [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/8567/waverly-david-crenshaw-jr/) - [Wikidata: Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr.](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18977876) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/waverly-david-crenshaw-jr", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/waverly-david-crenshaw-jr", "name": "Waverly David Crenshaw Jr. | KnowJudges", "description": "Waverly David Crenshaw Jr., U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. 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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.