Southern District of California / Appointed 1959 / Served to 1969

Fred Kunzel

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

Appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959 and confirmed by voice vote, Fred Kunzel was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. He earned a law degree from Stanford Law School in 1927. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1901–1969
Appointed by
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1959
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
Stanford 1925 · Stanford Law School 1927

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1959Southern District of CaliforniaEisenhower (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

Judicial Record

In our data, Kunzel authored 13 published opinions for the court (1960–1969). Most cited: Carlsbad Union Sch. Dist. of San Diego County v. Rafferty (17 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
1969Carlsbad Union Sch. Dist. of San Diego County v. Rafferty300 F. Supp. 43417
1961Fematt v. City of Los Angeles, Cal.196 F. Supp. 8916
1960Mitchell v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.188 F. Supp. 86916
1964Armstrong v. United States233 F. Supp. 18814
1969Gist v. United States296 F. Supp. 52613
1967Stork v. United States278 F. Supp. 86910
1968Pope v. United States296 F. Supp. 179
1961Fematt v. Nedlloyd Line191 F. Supp. 9077
1966Baldauf v. Nitze261 F. Supp. 1673
1960Hotel Sherman, Inc. v. Harlow186 F. Supp. 6183
1965Tampa Tugs and Towing, Inc. v. M/V SANDANGER242 F. Supp. 5761
1964Lettice v. United States237 F. Supp. 1231
1967Yourman v. United States277 F. Supp. 8180

Showing the 13 most-cited of 13 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 Fred Kunzel?
President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Fred Kunzel to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 1959.
Was Fred Kunzel appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Fred Kunzel was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Fred Kunzel's confirmation vote?
Fred Kunzel was confirmed by voice vote on September 9, 1959. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Fred Kunzel on?
Fred Kunzel was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Sources

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

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