Who appointed Cynthia M. Rufe?

President George W. Bush appointed Cynthia M. Rufe to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2002.

Was Cynthia M. Rufe appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Cynthia M. Rufe was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Cynthia M. Rufe's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Cynthia M. Rufe 98–0 on April 30, 2002.

Eastern District of Pennsylvania / Appointed 2002 / Senior status since 2021

Cynthia M. Rufe

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and confirmed by the Senate 98–0, Cynthia M. Rufe is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She earned a law degree from State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 1977. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1948 · age 78
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2002
Confirmed: 98–0
Education: Adelphi 1970 · State of New York at Buffalo Law School 1977
Succeeded: Norma Levy Shapiro
Succeeded by: Mary Kathleen Costello

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2002	Eastern District of Pennsylvania succeeded Norma Levy Shapiro	G.W. Bush (R)	98–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 98–0 on April 30, 2002 · 107th Congress, Roll Call 99. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 98

49 D, 48 R, 1 I

Did not vote · 2

1 D, 1 R

Christopher Dodd(D-CT)
Jesse Helms(R-NC)

Education

Adelphi University	B.A.	1970
State University of New York at Buffalo Law School	J.D.	1977

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Rufe was assigned 10,747 district-court cases (1990–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 622 days across 10,485 closed cases.

Personal-injury torts66%

Civil rights7%

Prisoner & habeas5%

Contract4%

Other federal statutes4%

Other civil matters4%

Other11%

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 338 of Rufe’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 282 were affirmed, 34 reversed or vacated, and 22 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, Rufe authored 94 published opinions for the court (2002–2011). Most cited: McInerney v. Moyer Lumber and Hardware, Inc. (109 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
2002	McInerney v. Moyer Lumber and Hardware, Inc.	244 F. Supp. 2d 393	109
2004	Walden v. Saint Gobain Corp.	323 F. Supp. 2d 637	91
2009	Bro-Tech Corp. v. Thermax, Inc.	651 F. Supp. 2d 378	54
2005	EVCO Technology & Development Co. v. Precision Shooting Equipment, Inc.	379 F. Supp. 2d 728	52
2003	Ankele v. Hambrick	286 F. Supp. 2d 485	26
2004	Joyner v. School District of Philadelphia	313 F. Supp. 2d 495	23
2011	Medevac MidAtlantic, LLC v. Keystone Mercy Health Plan	817 F. Supp. 2d 515	21
2003	Reynolds v. RUCK'S MUSHROOM SERVICE, INC.	246 F. Supp. 2d 449	20
2011	Davis v. Abington Memorial Hospital	817 F. Supp. 2d 556	18
2011	Country Classics at Morgan Hill Homeowners' Ass'n v. Country Classics at Morgan Hill, LLC	780 F. Supp. 2d 367	18
2008	Shire U.S., Inc. v. Johnson Matthey, Inc.	543 F. Supp. 2d 404	17
2009	In Re Avandia Mktg., Sales Practices and Products	624 F. Supp. 2d 396	16
2003	Kanaji v. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia	276 F. Supp. 2d 399	13
2010	R.B. Ex Rel. Parent v. Mastery Charter School	762 F. Supp. 2d 745	12
2011	SigmaPharm, Inc. v. MUTUAL PHARMACEUTICAL CO.	772 F. Supp. 2d 660	11

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 Cynthia M. Rufe?: President George W. Bush appointed Cynthia M. Rufe to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2002.
Was Cynthia M. Rufe appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Cynthia M. Rufe was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Cynthia M. Rufe's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Cynthia M. Rufe 98–0 on April 30, 2002.
Which court is Cynthia M. Rufe on?: Cynthia M. Rufe is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

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