Clyde Roger Vinson
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and confirmed by voice vote, Clyde Roger Vinson was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. He earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1971. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1940–2023
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1983
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- U.S. Naval Academy 1962 · Vanderbilt Law School 1971
- Succeeded
- Lynn Carlton Higby
- Succeeded by
- John Richard Smoak Jr.
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Northern District of Florida succeeded Lynn Carlton Higby | Reagan (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
| U.S. Naval Academy | B.S. | 1962 |
| Vanderbilt University Law School | J.D. | 1971 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Vinson was assigned 4,992 district-court cases (1984–2023). Median time from filing to termination: 204 days across 4,992 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.
On appeal
Of 133 of Vinson’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 115 were affirmed, 11 reversed or vacated, and 7 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, Vinson authored 80 published opinions for the court (1983–2011). Most cited: United States v. Hill (41 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | United States v. Hill | 676 F. Supp. 1158 | 41 |
| 2010 | Florida Ex Rel. McCollum v. United States Department of Health & Human Services | 716 F. Supp. 2d 1120 | 32 |
| 1991 | Williams Elec. Co., Inc. v. Honeywell, Inc. | 772 F. Supp. 1225 | 32 |
| 1995 | Reichhold Chemicals, Inc. v. Textron, Inc. | 888 F. Supp. 1116 | 31 |
| 1995 | T.W.M. v. American Medical System, Inc. | 886 F. Supp. 842 | 31 |
| 1995 | Miner v. Bay Bank & Trust Co. (In Re Miner) | 185 B.R. 362 | 28 |
| 1989 | McClenon v. Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A. | 726 F. Supp. 822 | 26 |
| 1984 | McDougald v. Jenson | 596 F. Supp. 680 | 23 |
| 2009 | Rain Bird Corp. v. Taylor | 665 F. Supp. 2d 1258 | 21 |
| 1993 | Maleszewski v. United States | 827 F. Supp. 1553 | 15 |
| 1988 | Allstate Insurance v. Travers | 703 F. Supp. 911 | 15 |
| 1996 | Howard v. Globe Life Insurance | 973 F. Supp. 1412 | 13 |
| 1995 | Crenshaw v. City of Defuniak Springs | 891 F. Supp. 1548 | 13 |
| 1985 | United States v. Cantu | 625 F. Supp. 656 | 13 |
| 2006 | Greer v. Owners Insurance | 434 F. Supp. 2d 1267 | 12 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 80 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 Clyde Roger Vinson?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Clyde Roger Vinson to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in 1983.
- Was Clyde Roger Vinson appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Clyde Roger Vinson was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Clyde Roger Vinson's confirmation vote?
- Clyde Roger Vinson was confirmed by voice vote on October 4, 1983. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Clyde Roger Vinson on?
- Clyde Roger Vinson was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
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
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
39 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).