Franklin S. Billings Jr.
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and confirmed by voice vote, Franklin S. Billings Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont. He earned a law degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1947. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1922–2014
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1984
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Harvard College 1943 · University of Virginia Law 1947
- Succeeded
- James Stuart Holden
- Succeeded by
- John Garvan Murtha
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | District of Vermont succeeded James Stuart Holden | 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
| Harvard College | B.S. | 1943 |
| University of Virginia School of Law | J.D. | 1947 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Billings was assigned 681 district-court cases (1987–1995). Median time from filing to termination: 288 days across 681 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, Billings authored 76 published opinions for the court (1984–1995). Most cited: United States v. Jakobetz (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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | United States v. Jakobetz | 747 F. Supp. 250 | 28 |
| 1987 | Sollinger v. Nasco International, Inc. | 655 F. Supp. 1385 | 24 |
| 1993 | Federal Deposit Insurance v. Purcell (In Re Purcell) | 150 B.R. 111 | 22 |
| 1992 | United States v. Bloomer | 791 F. Supp. 100 | 21 |
| 1992 | O'Neill v. Berkshire Mutual Insurance | 786 F. Supp. 397 | 19 |
| 1990 | First Brandon National Bank v. Kerwin-White | 109 B.R. 626 | 19 |
| 1987 | Merrow v. Goldberg | 672 F. Supp. 766 | 19 |
| 1988 | In Re Vermont Fiberglass, Inc. | 88 B.R. 41 | 15 |
| 1989 | Dague v. City of Burlington | 732 F. Supp. 458 | 14 |
| 1987 | Ware Ex Rel. Ware v. Gifford Memorial Hospital | 664 F. Supp. 169 | 12 |
| 1987 | Sprague v. University of Vermont | 661 F. Supp. 1132 | 12 |
| 1987 | Brunet v. American Insurance | 660 F. Supp. 843 | 11 |
| 1985 | United States v. Lang | 621 F. Supp. 1182 | 11 |
| 1995 | United States v. Brophil | 899 F. Supp. 1257 | 10 |
| 1993 | Marcoux-Norton v. Kmart Corp. | 907 F. Supp. 766 | 10 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 76 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 Franklin S. Billings Jr.?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Franklin S. Billings Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont in 1984.
- Was Franklin S. Billings Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Franklin S. Billings Jr. was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Franklin S. Billings Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- Franklin S. Billings Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on June 15, 1984. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Franklin S. Billings Jr. on?
- Franklin S. Billings Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Jsbillin (CC BY-SA 4.0), 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 Vermont. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).