Davis was born in
Columbus, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Princeton University in 1973 and a
Juris Doctor from
Rutgers Law School in 1976. Davis was an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia from 1977 to 1980. After leaving the D.A.'s office Davis spent a year as an attorney for the Pennsylvania Crime Commission. He returned to the D.A.'s office from 1981 to 1987, before spending a year in the general counsel's office at the
University of Pennsylvania. He was briefly in private practice in Pennsylvania in 1987. He was elected a judge on the
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, as one of the Casey Five, to replace judges removed from that court for corruption, where he served from 1987 to 2002 in that court's criminal division.
Federal judicial service Expired nominations to district court under Clinton Davis was nominated to serve as a United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by President
Bill Clinton on two occasions, July 30, 1998 and January 26, 1999. Each time, he was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge
Edmund V. Ludwig, who assumed
senior status on May 20, 1997. Both nominations lapsed.
Renomination to district court under Bush On January 23, 2002, Davis was nominated by President
George W. Bush to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vacated by
Edmund V. Ludwig. Davis was confirmed by the
United States Senate on April 18, 2002, and received commission on April 23, 2002. He assumed
senior status on September 28, 2017. == See also ==