Carl Clyde Atkins
Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 and confirmed by voice vote, Carl Clyde Atkins was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He earned a law degree from University of Florida College of Law (now Fredric G. Levin College of Law) in 1936. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1914–1999
- Appointed by
- Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Florida College of Law (now Fredric G. Levin College of Law) 1936
- Succeeded by
- Lenore Carrero Nesbitt
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Southern District of Florida | L.B. Johnson (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, Atkins was assigned 1,404 district-court cases (1976–1998). Median time from filing to termination: 213 days across 1,404 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, Atkins authored 132 published opinions for the court (1967–1997). Most cited: Pottinger v. City of Miami (65 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Pottinger v. City of Miami | 810 F. Supp. 1551 | 65 |
| 1989 | Pottinger v. City of Miami | 720 F. Supp. 955 | 47 |
| 1975 | Hitt v. Nissan Motor Company, Ltd. | 399 F. Supp. 838 | 36 |
| 1972 | Coral Gables Convalescent Home, Inc. v. Richardson | 340 F. Supp. 646 | 34 |
| 1988 | Haitian Refugee Center, Inc. v. Nelson | 694 F. Supp. 864 | 27 |
| 1978 | Kiss v. Tamarac Utilities, Inc. | 463 F. Supp. 951 | 26 |
| 1971 | United States v. Bowdach | 324 F. Supp. 123 | 26 |
| 1974 | In Re Grand Jury Witness Subpoenas | 370 F. Supp. 1282 | 24 |
| 1975 | United States v. One (1) Foot Sailing Vessel Winds Will, License O. N. 531317 U.S. & Equipment | 405 F. Supp. 879 | 22 |
| 1995 | Dockery v. North Shore Medical Center | 909 F. Supp. 1550 | 21 |
| 1982 | Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. P. K. Sorren Export Co. | 546 F. Supp. 987 | 21 |
| 1973 | Alders v. AFA Corporation of Florida | 353 F. Supp. 654 | 21 |
| 1991 | Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Haddad | 778 F. Supp. 1559 | 19 |
| 1981 | United States v. Board of Trustees of Florida Keys Community College | 531 F. Supp. 267 | 19 |
| 1981 | Fine v. Semet | 514 F. Supp. 34 | 18 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 132 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 Carl Clyde Atkins?
- President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Carl Clyde Atkins to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 1966.
- Was Carl Clyde Atkins appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Carl Clyde Atkins was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Carl Clyde Atkins's confirmation vote?
- Carl Clyde Atkins was confirmed by voice vote on July 22, 1966. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Carl Clyde Atkins on?
- Carl Clyde Atkins was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Administrative Office of the United States Courts (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
32 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).