Who appointed Elwood Hamilton?

President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Elwood Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1938.

Was Elwood Hamilton appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Elwood Hamilton was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Elwood Hamilton's confirmation vote?

Elwood Hamilton was confirmed by voice vote on March 1, 1938. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Sixth Circuit / Appointed 1938 / Served to 1945

Elwood Hamilton

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 and confirmed by voice vote, Elwood Hamilton was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of Louisville Law Department (now Louis D. Brandeis School of Law) in 1904. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1883–1945
Appointed by: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1938
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Louisville Law Department (now Louis D. Brandeis Law) 1904
Succeeded: Charles Harwood Moorman
Succeeded by: Shackelford Miller Jr.

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1935	Western District of Kentucky succeeded Charles I. Dawson	F.D. Roosevelt (D)	Voice vote
1938	Sixth Circuit succeeded Charles Harwood Moorman	F.D. Roosevelt (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 Louisville Law Department (now Louis D. Brandeis School of Law)

LL.B.

1904

Judicial Record

In our data, Hamilton authored 20 published opinions for the court (1935–1938). Most cited: United States v. Keown (47 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
1937	United States v. Keown	19 F. Supp. 639	47
1936	In Re Louisville Storage Co.	21 F. Supp. 897	18
1936	United States v. Miller	17 F. Supp. 65	17
1936	In Re Reichert	13 F. Supp. 1	13
1936	McCampbell v. McCampbell	13 F. Supp. 847	12
1935	In Re Kentucky Electric Power Corporation	11 F. Supp. 528	12
1936	United States v. One 1936 Model Lafayette Coupe Automobile, Motor No. LE-30499, Serial No. L-30999	14 F. Supp. 1003	11
1936	Davis v. Commissioners of Sewerage	13 F. Supp. 672	11
1937	In Re Louisville Daily News & Enquirer	20 F. Supp. 465	10
1936	Penn Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Meguire	13 F. Supp. 967	10
1936	Oertel Co. v. Glenn	13 F. Supp. 651	10
1935	United States v. Ballard	12 F. Supp. 321	9
1937	New Amsterdam Casualty Co. v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co.	18 F. Supp. 707	8
1937	Louisville Provision Co. v. Glenn	18 F. Supp. 423	7
1938	In Re Graham	22 F. Supp. 233	5

Showing the 15 most-cited of 20 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 Elwood Hamilton?: President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Elwood Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1938.
Was Elwood Hamilton appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Elwood Hamilton was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Elwood Hamilton's confirmation vote?: Elwood Hamilton was confirmed by voice vote on March 1, 1938. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Elwood Hamilton on?: Elwood Hamilton was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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7 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).