Caleb Merrill Wright
Appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1955 and confirmed by voice vote, Caleb Merrill Wright was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. He earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 1933. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1908–2001
- Appointed by
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1955
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Delaware 1930 · Yale Law School 1933
- Succeeded by
- Murray Merle Schwartz
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | District of Delaware | Eisenhower (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
| University of Delaware | B.A. | 1930 |
| Yale Law School | LL.B. | 1933 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Wright was assigned 93 district-court cases (1982–1991). Median time from filing to termination: 495 days across 93 closed cases.
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, Wright authored 242 published opinions for the court (1955–1992). Most cited: Hercules Inc. v. Exxon Corp. (176 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Hercules Inc. v. Exxon Corp. | 434 F. Supp. 136 | 176 |
| 1978 | Japan Petroleum Co.(Nigeria) Ltd. v. Ashland Oil | 456 F. Supp. 831 | 94 |
| 1984 | Warner Communications, Inc. v. Murdoch | 581 F. Supp. 1482 | 52 |
| 1977 | Fehl v. S. W. C. Corp. | 433 F. Supp. 939 | 45 |
| 1981 | Moore v. Little Giant Industries, Inc. | 513 F. Supp. 1043 | 42 |
| 1966 | Corning Glass Works v. Anchor Hocking Glass Corp. | 253 F. Supp. 461 | 42 |
| 1969 | Puma v. Marriott | 294 F. Supp. 1116 | 41 |
| 1962 | American Cyanamid Company v. Hercules Powder Company | 211 F. Supp. 85 | 39 |
| 1983 | Hill v. Equitable Trust Co. | 562 F. Supp. 1324 | 38 |
| 1972 | Hayes v. Cape Henlopen School District | 341 F. Supp. 823 | 37 |
| 1972 | Cosmopolitan Mutual Insurance Company v. White | 336 F. Supp. 92 | 37 |
| 1961 | Philco Corporation v. Admiral Corporation | 199 F. Supp. 797 | 36 |
| 1961 | Brady v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. | 196 F. Supp. 504 | 36 |
| 1978 | Valente v. Pepsico, Inc. | 454 F. Supp. 1228 | 35 |
| 1960 | Taussig v. Wellington Fund, Inc. | 187 F. Supp. 179 | 34 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 242 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 Caleb Merrill Wright?
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Caleb Merrill Wright to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in 1955.
- Was Caleb Merrill Wright appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Caleb Merrill Wright was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Caleb Merrill Wright's confirmation vote?
- Caleb Merrill Wright was confirmed by voice vote on July 19, 1955. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Caleb Merrill Wright on?
- Caleb Merrill Wright was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
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45 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).