Who appointed Emett Clay Choate?

President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Emett Clay Choate to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 1954.

Was Emett Clay Choate appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Emett Clay Choate was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Emett Clay Choate's confirmation vote?

Emett Clay Choate was confirmed by voice vote on July 20, 1954. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Southern District of Florida / Appointed 1954 / Served to 1974

Emett Clay Choate

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954 and confirmed by voice vote, Emett Clay Choate was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He earned a law degree from Indiana University School of Law -- Bloomington (now Maurer School of Law) in 1914. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1891–1974
Appointed by: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Indiana Law -- Bloomington (now Maurer School of Law) 1914
Succeeded by: William Osborne Mehrtens

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1954	Southern District of Florida	Eisenhower (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

Indiana University School of Law -- Bloomington (now Maurer School of Law)

LL.B.

1914

Judicial Record

In our data, Choate authored 16 published opinions for the court (1956–1969). Most cited: Continental Casualty Co. v. St. Paul Mercury Fire & Marine Insurance (33 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1958	Continental Casualty Co. v. St. Paul Mercury Fire & Marine Insurance	163 F. Supp. 325	33
1963	Securities & Exchange Commission v. Gulf Intercontinental Finance Corp.	223 F. Supp. 987	18
1963	Blanco v. Pan-American Life Insurance Company	221 F. Supp. 219	16
1957	Moorhead v. City of Fort Lauderdale	152 F. Supp. 131	12
1957	Ward v. City of Miami, Florida	151 F. Supp. 593	11
1956	Florida State Turnpike Authority v. Van Kirk	146 F. Supp. 364	11
1965	Goolsby v. Tomlinson	246 F. Supp. 674	10
1964	Foreman v. United States	232 F. Supp. 134	9
1961	Kolesar v. United States	198 F. Supp. 517	7
1958	Moran v. the M/V Georgie May	164 F. Supp. 881	7
1969	Dominica Mining Co. v. Port Everglades Towing Co.	318 F. Supp. 500	6
1961	Braniff Airways, Inc. v. United States	203 F. Supp. 602	6
1965	Chas. Pfizer & Co. v. Barry-Martin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	241 F. Supp. 191	5
1960	United States v. Alperstein	183 F. Supp. 548	5
1957	Kimmel v. Tomlinson	151 F. Supp. 901	5

Showing the 15 most-cited of 16 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 Emett Clay Choate?: President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Emett Clay Choate to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 1954.
Was Emett Clay Choate appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Emett Clay Choate was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Emett Clay Choate's confirmation vote?: Emett Clay Choate was confirmed by voice vote on July 20, 1954. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Emett Clay Choate on?: Emett Clay Choate was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Sources

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

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