David Alan Ezra
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and confirmed by voice vote, David Alan Ezra is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. He earned a law degree from St. Mary's University School of Law, Texas in 1972. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1947 · age 79
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1988
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- St. Mary's, Texas 1969 · St. Mary's Law, Texas 1972
- Succeeded
- Samuel Pailthorpe King
- Succeeded by
- Derrick Kahala Watson
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | District of Hawaii succeeded Samuel Pailthorpe King | 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
| St. Mary's University, Texas | B.B.A. | 1969 |
| St. Mary's University School of Law, Texas | J.D. | 1972 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Ezra was assigned 3,821 district-court cases (1987–2022). Median time from filing to termination: 226 days across 3,821 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 114 of Ezra’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 96 were affirmed, 10 reversed or vacated, and 8 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, Ezra authored 242 published opinions for the court (1988–2011). Most cited: Blue Ocean Preservation Society v. Watkins (38 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Blue Ocean Preservation Society v. Watkins | 754 F. Supp. 1450 | 38 |
| 1992 | Corna v. American Hawaii Cruises, Inc. | 794 F. Supp. 1005 | 26 |
| 1992 | Richardson v. City and County of Honolulu | 802 F. Supp. 326 | 25 |
| 2010 | Sung v. Hamilton | 710 F. Supp. 2d 1036 | 24 |
| 2010 | Robinson v. Plourde | 717 F. Supp. 2d 1092 | 23 |
| 2004 | White v. Pacific Media Group, Inc. | 322 F. Supp. 2d 1101 | 20 |
| 1997 | Hawai'i County Green Party v. Clinton | 980 F. Supp. 1160 | 20 |
| 1991 | Field v. Liberty Mutual Insurance | 769 F. Supp. 1135 | 20 |
| 1999 | Eisermann v. Penarosa | 33 F. Supp. 2d 1269 | 18 |
| 1995 | Stone v. Continental Airlines, Inc. | 905 F. Supp. 823 | 18 |
| 1992 | La Voie v. Kualoa Ranch and Activity Club, Inc. | 797 F. Supp. 827 | 17 |
| 1991 | Arai v. Tachibana | 778 F. Supp. 1535 | 17 |
| 2007 | Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter v. City of Honolulu | 486 F. Supp. 2d 1185 | 15 |
| 1999 | Makin Ex Rel. Russell v. Hawaii | 114 F. Supp. 2d 1017 | 15 |
| 1998 | Whitman v. HAWAIIAN TUG & BARGE CORP./YOUNG BROS., LTD. | 27 F. Supp. 2d 1225 | 15 |
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 David Alan Ezra?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed David Alan Ezra to the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii in 1988.
- Was David Alan Ezra appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- David Alan Ezra was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was David Alan Ezra's confirmation vote?
- David Alan Ezra was confirmed by voice vote on May 19, 1988. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is David Alan Ezra on?
- David Alan Ezra is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the District of Hawaii (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.
38 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).