Who appointed Edward F. Shea?

President William J. Clinton appointed Edward F. Shea to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in 1998.

Was Edward F. Shea appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Edward F. Shea was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Edward F. Shea's confirmation vote?

Edward F. Shea was confirmed by voice vote on March 27, 1998. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Eastern District of Washington / Appointed 1998 / Senior status since 2012

Edward F. Shea

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

Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1998 and confirmed by voice vote, Edward F. Shea is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. He earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1970. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1942 · age 84
Appointed by: William J. Clinton, 1998
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Boston State College (now of Massachusetts Boston) 1965 · Georgetown Law Center 1970
Succeeded: Alan Angus McDonald
Succeeded by: Stanley Allen Bastian

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1998	Eastern District of Washington succeeded Alan Angus McDonald	Clinton (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

Boston State College (now University of Massachusetts Boston)	B.S.Ed.	1965
Georgetown University Law Center	J.D.	1970

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Shea was assigned 1,521 district-court cases (1996–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 225 days across 1,389 closed cases.

Other civil matters30%

Prisoner & habeas21%

Civil rights10%

Contract8%

Personal-injury torts8%

Other federal statutes6%

Other18%

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 136 of Shea’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 106 were affirmed, 17 reversed or vacated, and 13 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, Shea authored 32 published opinions for the court (1999–2011). Most cited: Tsarbopoulos v. Tsarbopoulos (28 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
2001	Tsarbopoulos v. Tsarbopoulos	176 F. Supp. 2d 1045	28
2002	Lands Council v. Vaught	198 F. Supp. 2d 1211	19
1999	Navajo Nation v. SUPERIOR COURT OF STATE OF WASH.	47 F. Supp. 2d 1233	16
2002	Good v. Fluor Daniel Corp.	222 F. Supp. 2d 1236	10
2007	Muhlenkamp v. Blizzard	521 F. Supp. 2d 1140	9
2009	Ramirez v. Olympic Health Management Systems, Inc.	610 F. Supp. 2d 1266	8
1999	Community Ass'n for Restoration of the Environment v. Sid Koopman Dairy	54 F. Supp. 2d 976	7
2003	In Re Washington State Apple Advertising Commission	257 F. Supp. 2d 1290	6
1999	Community Ass'n for Restoration of the Environment v. Henry Bosma Dairy	65 F. Supp. 2d 1129	6
2008	Brunner v. Armstrong (In Re Armstrong)	395 B.R. 127	5
2007	Stevens County v. U.S. Department of Interior	507 F. Supp. 2d 1127	4
2003	In Re Washington State Apple Advertising Commission	257 F. Supp. 2d 1274	4
2003	Benton County v. U.S. Department of Energy	256 F. Supp. 2d 1195	4
2000	Brandon H. Ex Rel. Richard H. v. Kennewick School District No. 17	82 F. Supp. 2d 1174	4
1999	United States v. Bossert (In Re Bossert)	230 B.R. 172	4

Showing the 15 most-cited of 32 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 F. Shea?: President William J. Clinton appointed Edward F. Shea to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in 1998.
Was Edward F. Shea appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Edward F. Shea was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Edward F. Shea's confirmation vote?: Edward F. Shea was confirmed by voice vote on March 27, 1998. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is Edward F. Shea on?: Edward F. Shea is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.

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.

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