John Frederick Motz (December 30, 1942 – October 23, 2023) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. He served as judge on that court from 1985 to his death. His previous experience included a range of positions as an Assistant United States Attorney and United States Attorney, and more than a decade in private practice. He was also chairman of the board of Trustees for Sheppard Pratt Health System.
J. Frederick Motz
Chief Judge — U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Born 1942 in Baltimore, MD
Died 2023 in Baltimore, MD
FJC ID: 1706
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 6/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 14/year
Maryland District Court · 1985–2023
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
Member · 2001–2009
U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland1981–1985- Private practice, Baltimore, Maryland1968–1969, 1971–1981
- District of MarylandAssistant U.S. attorney · 1969–1971
Law clerk , Hon. Harrison L. Winter · 1967–1968
Appointments
1985–2023 · Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican)Term ended: Death
Education
LL.B. · 1967- Wesleyan UniversityA.B. · 1964