Donald James Porter
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, Donald James Porter was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. He earned a law degree from University of South Dakota School of Law (now Knudson School of Law) in 1943. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1921–2003
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1979
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of South Dakota 1942 · University of South Dakota Law (now Knudson School of Law) 1943
- Succeeded by
- Lawrence L. Piersol
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | District of South Dakota | Carter (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
| University of South Dakota | B.S. | 1942 |
| University of South Dakota School of Law (now Knudson School of Law) | LL.B. | 1943 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Porter was assigned 102 district-court cases (1987–1993). Median time from filing to termination: 336 days across 102 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, Porter authored 115 published opinions for the court (1979–1993). Most cited: St. Cloud v. United States (58 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | St. Cloud v. United States | 702 F. Supp. 1456 | 58 |
| 1984 | Cody v. Hillard | 599 F. Supp. 1025 | 39 |
| 1988 | United States Ex Rel. Small Business Administration v. Rinehart | 88 B.R. 1014 | 36 |
| 1983 | McElhaney v. Eli Lilly & Co. | 564 F. Supp. 265 | 31 |
| 1987 | Agristor Leasing v. Spindler | 656 F. Supp. 653 | 21 |
| 1979 | United States v. Mound | 477 F. Supp. 156 | 21 |
| 1986 | South Dakota Cement Plant v. Jimco Ready Mix Co. | 57 B.R. 396 | 20 |
| 1982 | Stratton v. Sioux Falls Paint & Glass (In Re Stratton) | 23 B.R. 284 | 20 |
| 1982 | Lamont v. Haig | 539 F. Supp. 552 | 19 |
| 1983 | Farmers & Merchants Bank & Trust of Watertown v. Trail West, Inc. | 28 B.R. 389 | 18 |
| 1988 | Lower Brule Construction Co. v. Sheesley's Plumbing & Heating Co. | 84 B.R. 638 | 17 |
| 1992 | Moeller v. Bertrang | 801 F. Supp. 291 | 15 |
| 1990 | Weiszhaar Farms, Inc. v. Livestock State Bank | 113 B.R. 1017 | 15 |
| 1987 | Schick v. Chrysler Corp. | 675 F. Supp. 1183 | 15 |
| 1985 | Brown v. United States Ex Rel. Farmers Home Administration of the Department of Agriculture | 622 F. Supp. 1047 | 14 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 115 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 Donald James Porter?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Donald James Porter to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota in 1979.
- Was Donald James Porter appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Donald James Porter was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Donald James Porter's confirmation vote?
- Donald James Porter was confirmed by voice vote on May 10, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Donald James Porter on?
- Donald James Porter was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota.
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.
23 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).