West Virginia State University Athletics

Lettered 3 years in Football

1968 Nationally Ranked Conference Champions

Reggie B. Walton was born in Donora, Pennsylvania on February 8, 1949. While attending “State”, he lettered 3 years in football and played on the 1968 nationally ranked conference championship team. Reggie helped lead his team that year to an 8-1 season, 5-1 in the conference. During his senior year at “State” he served as the Chief Justice of the Student Court. After graduating in 1971, Reggie went on to receive his Juris Doctorate from the American University, Washington College of Law in 1974. Judge Walton assumed his current position as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia in 2001. He was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004 to chair the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, which was created by Congress to identify methods to curb incidents of prison rapes. The U.S. Attorney General adopted the Commission’s recommendations for implementation in federal prisons; other federal, state and local officials throughout the country are considering adopting the recommendations. Former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed Judge Walton to the federal judiciary’s Criminal Law Committee in 2005, which he served on until 2011. In 2007, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Walton to a 7-year term as a Judge of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and subsequently he was appointed Presiding Judge in 2013. From 1981-1989 and 1991-2001, Judge Walton served as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. From 1989-1991, he also served as President Bush’s Associate Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Executive Office of the President as well as, Senior White House Advisor for Crime. Judge Walton has served as the Executive Assistant U.S Attorney, Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Office’s Career Criminal Unit.

Judge Reggie Walton has been the recipient of dozens of local, national and international honors and awards. He has presided over notable trials, including those of “Scooter” Libby and Roger Clemons. A book titled “Black Judges on Justice: Perspectives from the Bench”, profiled 14 judges, which included Judge Walton. It was the first effort to assess the judicial perspectives of prominent African-American judges. Not only is Judge Reggie Walton an instructor in Harvard Law School’s Advocacy Workshop and a faculty member at the National Judicial College in Nevada, he remains active in working with young people around the country and D.C area. Judge Walton continues to speak at schools, where he emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and the perils of drugs and crime.

Judge Reggie B. Walton and his wife are the parents of one daughter.