Born in Washington, D.C., Seymour received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University in 1969 and a Juris Doctor from Washington College of Law at American University in 1977. She was an equal opportunity specialist for the United States Department of Health, Education & Welfare from 1972 to 1979, and for the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1979 to 1980. She was an attorney in the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education from 1980 to 1988. She was in private practice from 1988 to 1990. She was an Assistant United States Attorney of the District of South Carolina from 1990 to 1996, serving as the United States Attorney (interim) for that district from 1993 to 1996.

Federal judicial service edit

Seymour was a United States magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina from 1996 to 1998. On September 9, 1998, Seymour was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the District of South Carolina vacated by William B. Traxler. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 21, 1998, and received her commission on October 22, 1998. On January 3, 2012, she became chief judge, serving as such until she took senior status on January 16, 2013. She retired on August 31, 2022.^[1]

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists

• Seymour, Margaret B. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Confirmation hearings on federal appointments : hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, first session, on confirmation of appointees to the federal judiciary. pt.5 (1999)   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.