Born in Washington, D.C., Norton received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sewanee: The University of the South in 1968.
He served in the United States Navy from January 1969 to October 1972 and became a Yeoman Second Class.
He was an assistant deputy solicitor for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Charleston, South Carolina from 1977 to 1980.
He was in private practice in Charleston from 1981 to 1990,[2] and was a partner at the law firm of Holmes & Thomson.
[3] On April 18, 1990, Norton was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina that was vacated by Judge Solomon Blatt Jr. Norton was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 28, 1990, and received his commission on July 12, 1990.