Francis Joseph Boyle
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and confirmed by voice vote, Francis Joseph Boyle was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. He earned a law degree from Boston College Law School in 1952. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1927–2006
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1977
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Boston College Law School 1952
- Succeeded
- Edward William Day
- Succeeded by
- Mary M. Lisi
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | District of Rhode Island succeeded Edward William Day | 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
| Boston College Law School | J.D. | 1952 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Boyle was assigned 994 district-court cases (1989–1997). Median time from filing to termination: 243 days across 994 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, Boyle authored 102 published opinions for the court (1977–1997). Most cited: Avnet, Inc. v. Allied-Signal, Inc. (45 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Avnet, Inc. v. Allied-Signal, Inc. | 825 F. Supp. 1132 | 45 |
| 1989 | United States v. Kayser-Roth Corp. | 724 F. Supp. 15 | 30 |
| 1983 | Hurry Ex Rel. Hurry v. Jones | 560 F. Supp. 500 | 23 |
| 1996 | Coleman v. Metropolitan Life Insurance | 919 F. Supp. 573 | 21 |
| 1990 | Weisman v. Lee | 728 F. Supp. 68 | 21 |
| 1993 | Fleet National Bank v. Anchor Media Television, Inc. | 831 F. Supp. 16 | 17 |
| 1978 | Weiss v. Patrick | 453 F. Supp. 717 | 17 |
| 1992 | Mokover v. Neco Enterprises, Inc. | 785 F. Supp. 1083 | 15 |
| 1985 | Dial Media, Inc. v. Schiff | 612 F. Supp. 1483 | 15 |
| 1983 | Sweeney v. Affleck | 560 F. Supp. 1118 | 15 |
| 1995 | Bogosian v. Woloohojian | 882 F. Supp. 258 | 12 |
| 1993 | Cedar Island Builders, Inc. v. South County Sand & Gravel, Inc. | 151 B.R. 298 | 12 |
| 1987 | Home Gas Corp. of Massachusetts, Inc. v. DeBlois Oil Co. | 691 F. Supp. 567 | 12 |
| 1981 | T & S Service Associates Inc. v. Crenson | 505 F. Supp. 938 | 12 |
| 1980 | Robert E. Derecktor of Rhode Island, Inc. v. Goldschmidt | 506 F. Supp. 1059 | 12 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 102 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 Francis Joseph Boyle?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Francis Joseph Boyle to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island in 1977.
- Was Francis Joseph Boyle appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Francis Joseph Boyle was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Francis Joseph Boyle's confirmation vote?
- Francis Joseph Boyle was confirmed by voice vote on June 30, 1977. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Francis Joseph Boyle on?
- Francis Joseph Boyle was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island (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.
29 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).