Who appointed Fred Dickinson Letts?

President Herbert Hoover appointed Fred Dickinson Letts to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Supreme Court of the District of Columbia) in 1932.

Was Fred Dickinson Letts appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Fred Dickinson Letts was appointed by President Herbert Hoover, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Fred Dickinson Letts's confirmation vote?

Fred Dickinson Letts was confirmed by voice vote on February 17, 1932. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

District of Columbia (Supreme Court of the District of Columbia) / Appointed 1932 / Served to 1965

Fred Dickinson Letts

Associate Justice, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Supreme Court of the District of Columbia)

Appointed by President Herbert Hoover in 1932 and confirmed by voice vote, Fred Dickinson Letts was an Associate Justice on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Supreme Court of the District of Columbia). He earned a law degree from University of Iowa College of Law in 1899. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1875–1965
Appointed by: Herbert Hoover, 1932
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Parsons College, Fairfield, Iowa 1897 · University of Iowa College of Law 1899
Succeeded: Wendell Phillips Stafford
Succeeded by: William Blakely Jones

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1932	District of Columbia (Supreme Court of the District of Columbia) succeeded Wendell Phillips Stafford	Hoover (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

Columbia University
Parsons College, Fairfield, Iowa	B.S.	1897
University of Iowa College of Law	LL.B.	1899

Judicial Record

In our data, Letts authored 12 published opinions for the court (1940–1961). Most cited: Brown v. Hecht Co. (25 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1943	Brown v. Hecht Co.	49 F. Supp. 528	25
1947	United States v. Groen	72 F. Supp. 713	16
1940	Van Horne v. Hines	31 F. Supp. 346	15
1940	In Re Flanagan	31 F. Supp. 402	14
1950	Parker v. Marzall	92 F. Supp. 736	12
1947	Citron v. United States	69 F. Supp. 830	12
1953	United Electrical, Radio & MacHine Workers v. Herzog	110 F. Supp. 220	9
1958	Cunningham v. English	175 F. Supp. 764	7
1961	Neuffer v. Bakery & Confectionery Workers International Union	193 F. Supp. 699	6
1947	Kraft Walker Cheese Co. v. Kingsland	75 F. Supp. 105	6
1941	United States v. Auhagen	39 F. Supp. 590	2
1949	United Electrical, Radio & MacHine Workers of America v. Lilienthal	84 F. Supp. 640	0

Showing the 12 most-cited of 12 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 Dickinson Letts?: President Herbert Hoover appointed Fred Dickinson Letts to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Supreme Court of the District of Columbia) in 1932.
Was Fred Dickinson Letts appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Fred Dickinson Letts was appointed by President Herbert Hoover, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Fred Dickinson Letts's confirmation vote?: Fred Dickinson Letts was confirmed by voice vote on February 17, 1932. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Fred Dickinson Letts on?: Fred Dickinson Letts was an Associate Justice on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Supreme Court of the District of Columbia).

Sources

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

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