Edward Francis Harrington
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and confirmed by voice vote, Edward Francis Harrington was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He earned a law degree from Boston College Law School in 1960. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1933–2025
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1988
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- College of the Holy Cross 1955 · Boston College Law School 1960
- Succeeded
- Andrew Augustine Caffrey
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | District of Massachusetts succeeded Andrew Augustine Caffrey | 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
| College of the Holy Cross | A.B. | 1955 |
| Boston College Law School | J.D. | 1960 |
Before the bench
Professional career before and outside the federal bench, as recorded by the Federal Judicial Center.
| U.S. Navy lieutenant and law specialist | 1955-1957 |
| U.S. Naval Reserve lieutenant | 1957-1972 |
| Law clerk, Hon. Paul C. Reardon, Massachusetts Superior Court | 1960-1961 |
| Private practice, Boston, Massachusetts | 1961, 1973-1977 |
| Trial attorney, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice | 1961-1965 |
| Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Massachusetts | 1965-1969 |
| Private practice, Taunton, Massachusetts | 1969 |
| Attorney-in-charge, Strike Force Against Organized Crime, U.S. Department of Justice | 1970-1973 |
| U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts | 1977-1981 |
| Private practice, Framingham, Massachusetts | 1981-1988 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Harrington was assigned 4,124 district-court cases (1981–2013). Median time from filing to termination: 310 days across 4,123 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 28 of Harrington’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 24 were affirmed, 4 reversed or vacated. 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, Harrington authored 182 published opinions for the court (1988–2011). Most cited: Nollet v. Justices of the Trial Court of Massachusetts (217 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
Showing the 15 most-cited of 182 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 Edward Francis Harrington?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Edward Francis Harrington to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 1988.
- Was Edward Francis Harrington appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Edward Francis Harrington was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Edward Francis Harrington's confirmation vote?
- Edward Francis Harrington was confirmed by voice vote on February 19, 1988. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Edward Francis Harrington on?
- Edward Francis Harrington was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Unknown author (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.
37 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Data as of 2026-09-28. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).