Northern District of Illinois / Appointed 1974 / Served to 2004

Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr.

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1974 and confirmed by voice vote, Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He earned a law degree from University of Illinois College of Law in 1943. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1917–2004
Appointed by
Gerald Ford, 1974
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
University of Illinois 1941 · University of Illinois College of Law 1943

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1974Northern District of IllinoisFord (R)Voice vote

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.

Confirmation vote

Voice vote

The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.

Education

Judicial Record

In our data, Kirkland authored 20 published opinions for the court (1975–1978). Most cited: Estey Corp. v. Matzke (21 citations).

A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Recent & notable rulings

Showing the 15 most-cited of 20 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr.?
President Gerald Ford appointed Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr. to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1974.
Was Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr. was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr.'s confirmation vote?
Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr. was confirmed by voice vote on December 19, 1974. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr. on?
Alfred Younges Kirkland Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Sources

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29 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).