Western District of Louisiana / Appointed 1953 / Served to 1984

Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr.

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana

Appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 and confirmed by voice vote, Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. He earned a law degree from Louisiana State University Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) in 1934. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1911–1984
Appointed by
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
Tulane 1932 · Louisiana State Law School (now Paul M. Hebert Law Center) 1934

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1953Western District of LouisianaEisenhower (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, Dawkins authored 94 published opinions for the court (1967–1979). Most cited: Beaird-Poulan, Inc. v. DEPARTMENT OF HWYS., STATE OF LA. (49 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 94 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 Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr.?
President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in 1953.
Was Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr.'s confirmation vote?
Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on July 31, 1953. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. on?
Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Sources

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

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