District of New Mexico / Appointed 1995 / Served to 2017

Bruce D. Black

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico

Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1995 and confirmed by voice vote, Bruce D. Black was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1971. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born
1947 · age 79
Appointed by
William J. Clinton, 1995
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
Albion College 1969 · University of Michigan Law School 1971

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1995District of New MexicoClinton (D)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

Caseload & case types

In our data, Black was assigned 1,960 district-court cases (1989–2012). Median time from filing to termination: 228 days across 1,958 closed cases.

Civil rights28%
Prisoner & habeas19%
Personal-injury torts14%
Contract12%
Social Security7%
Other federal statutes7%
Other13%

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.

On appeal

Of 64 of Black’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 52 were affirmed, 8 reversed or vacated, and 4 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.

In our data, Black authored 93 published opinions for the court (1996–2011). Most cited: Farris v. Intel Corp. (64 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
2007Farris v. Intel Corp.493 F. Supp. 2d 117464
2000United States Ex Rel. Downy v. Corning, Inc.118 F. Supp. 2d 116021
1998Winters v. Charter Oak Fire Insurance4 F. Supp. 2d 128820
1999Louis v. United States54 F. Supp. 2d 120715
2002Fritzsche v. Albuquerque Municipal School District194 F. Supp. 2d 119414
2000Garcia v. Condarco114 F. Supp. 2d 115814
1998Currier Ex Rel. Estate of Juarez v. Doran23 F. Supp. 2d 127713
2009New Mexico Ex Rel. National Education Ass'n of New Mexico, Inc. v. Austin Capital Management Ltd.671 F. Supp. 2d 124812
2001Yumukoglu v. Provident Life & Accident Insurance131 F. Supp. 2d 121512
2005Allender v. Scott379 F. Supp. 2d 120611
2003Grand Canyon Trust v. Public Service Co.283 F. Supp. 2d 124911
2000Lopez v. United States129 F. Supp. 2d 128411
2000Cook v. Baca95 F. Supp. 2d 121511
1999Ortiz v. United States Border Patrol39 F. Supp. 2d 132111
1996Rogers v. 5-Star Management, Inc.946 F. Supp. 90711

Showing the 15 most-cited of 93 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 Bruce D. Black?
President William J. Clinton appointed Bruce D. Black to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico in 1995.
Was Bruce D. Black appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Bruce D. Black was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Bruce D. Black's confirmation vote?
Bruce D. Black was confirmed by voice vote on December 22, 1995. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Bruce D. Black on?
Bruce D. Black was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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