Who appointed Barbara A. Caulfield?

President George H.W. Bush appointed Barbara A. Caulfield to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1991.

Was Barbara A. Caulfield appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Barbara A. Caulfield was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Barbara A. Caulfield's confirmation vote?

Barbara A. Caulfield was confirmed by voice vote on October 31, 1991. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Northern District of California / Appointed 1991 / Served to 1994

Barbara A. Caulfield

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

Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and confirmed by voice vote, Barbara A. Caulfield was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. She earned a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law (now Pritzker School of Law) in 1972. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1947–2010
Appointed by: George H.W. Bush, 1991
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Northwestern 1969 · Northwestern Law (now Pritzker School of Law) 1972
Succeeded: William W Schwarzer
Succeeded by: Susan Yvonne Illston

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1991	Northern District of California succeeded William W Schwarzer	G.H.W. Bush (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

Northwestern University	B.S.	1969
Northwestern University School of Law (now Pritzker School of Law)	J.D.	1972

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Caulfield was assigned 920 district-court cases (1983–1994). Median time from filing to termination: 198 days across 919 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas24%

Contract15%

Civil rights13%

Labor & ERISA13%

Other federal statutes11%

Personal-injury torts9%

Other15%

Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.

In our data, Caulfield authored 30 published opinions for the court (1992–1994). Most cited: Independent Housing Services v. Fillmore Center Associates (75 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

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
1993	Independent Housing Services v. Fillmore Center Associates	840 F. Supp. 1328	75
1994	Jack v. Trans World Airlines, Inc.	854 F. Supp. 654	37
1994	Crommie v. California, Public Utilities Commission	840 F. Supp. 719	20
1993	Zatko v. Rowland	835 F. Supp. 1174	17
1992	S.F. Drake Hotel Associates v. Security Pacific National Bank (In Re S.F. Drake Hotel Associates)	147 B.R. 538	15
1993	Image Technical Services, Inc. v. Eastman Kodak Co.	820 F. Supp. 1212	14
1994	Fireman's Fund Insurance v. National Bank for Cooperatives	849 F. Supp. 1347	12
1994	American Economy Insurance v. Reboans, Inc.	852 F. Supp. 875	11
1993	Jack v. Trans World Airlines, Inc.	820 F. Supp. 1218	11
1993	Picard v. Bay Area Regional Transit District	823 F. Supp. 1519	10
1994	Matter of Requested Extradition of Smyth	863 F. Supp. 1137	9
1992	Cort v. American Arbitration Ass'n	795 F. Supp. 970	8
1993	Smedley v. Capps, Staples, Ward, Hastings & Dodson	820 F. Supp. 1227	7
1992	Miller v. California Pacific Medical Center	788 F. Supp. 1112	7
1993	Emmert v. County of Sonoma	836 F. Supp. 715	5

Showing the 15 most-cited of 30 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 Barbara A. Caulfield?: President George H.W. Bush appointed Barbara A. Caulfield to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1991.
Was Barbara A. Caulfield appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Barbara A. Caulfield was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Barbara A. Caulfield's confirmation vote?: Barbara A. Caulfield was confirmed by voice vote on October 31, 1991. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Barbara A. Caulfield on?: Barbara A. Caulfield was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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