Born in Big Spring, Kentucky, Moorman read law to enter the bar in 1900.

He volunteered with the American Red Cross in France during World War I from 1917 to 1918, and was a Major in the United States Army JAG Corps in 1918.

[1] Moorman was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge on January 3, 1924, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky vacated by Judge Walter Evans.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 8, 1924, and received his commission the same day.

[1] Moorman was nominated by President Coolidge on January 2, 1925, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated by Judge Loyal Edwin Knappen.