James David Whittemore | |
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| Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida | |
| Assumed office August 29, 2017 | |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida | |
| In office May 25, 2000 – August 29, 2017 | |
| Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | William Terrell Hodges |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Barber |
| Judge of the Hillsborough County Circuit Court for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida | |
| In office 1990–2000 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James David Whittemore[1] August 29, 1952[1] Walterboro, South Carolina, U.S.[1] |
| Spouse | Martha K. Watford[1] |
| Education | University of Florida (BSBA) Stetson University (JD) |
James David Whittemore (born August 29, 1952) is a senior United States district judge serving in the Tampa division of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He was previously a Florida state trial court judge, a federal public defender, and an attorney in private practice who won a criminal case before the United States Supreme Court. As a federal judge, Whittemore presided over a number of high-profile cases, including a lawsuit against Major League Baseball to challenge its draft procedure, and the Terri Schiavo case, after the United States Congress had specifically given the Middle District of Florida jurisdiction to hear the seven-year-long fight over whether the brain-damaged Schiavo should be taken off life support.