Harold Albert Baker
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 and confirmed by voice vote, Harold Albert Baker was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. He earned a law degree from University of Illinois College of Law in 1956. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1929–2023
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1978
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Illinois 1951 · University of Illinois College of Law 1956
- Succeeded by
- Michael Patrick McCuskey
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Eastern District of Illinois succeeded Henry Seiler Wise | Carter (D) | Voice vote |
| 1979 | Central District of Illinois | Reassigned | – |
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
Caseload & case types
In our data, Baker was assigned 5,756 district-court cases (1982–2020). Median time from filing to termination: 269 days across 5,753 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.
On appeal
Of 113 of Baker’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 85 were affirmed, 21 reversed or vacated, and 7 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, Baker authored 82 published opinions for the court (1979–2009). Most cited: United States Ex Rel. Silagy v. Peters (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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | United States Ex Rel. Silagy v. Peters | 713 F. Supp. 1246 | 33 |
| 1981 | De La Fuente v. Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. | 514 F. Supp. 68 | 24 |
| 1980 | DeFries v. Haarhues | 488 F. Supp. 1037 | 18 |
| 1992 | McMillan v. McCrimon | 807 F. Supp. 475 | 16 |
| 1986 | Smith v. Chrans | 629 F. Supp. 606 | 16 |
| 1992 | Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. v. Nihiser | 799 F. Supp. 904 | 13 |
| 1986 | Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois | 641 F. Supp. 249 | 12 |
| 2000 | Skillings v. Illinois | 121 F. Supp. 2d 1235 | 11 |
| 1997 | Miller v. Champaign Community Unit School District | 983 F. Supp. 1201 | 11 |
| 1987 | United States Ex Rel. Lewis v. Lane | 656 F. Supp. 181 | 11 |
| 1985 | Malone v. Schenk | 638 F. Supp. 423 | 10 |
| 1987 | McNeil v. City of Springfield, Ill. | 658 F. Supp. 1015 | 9 |
| 1981 | Roy v. Secretary of Health & Human Services | 512 F. Supp. 1245 | 9 |
| 1989 | Kirby v. Sprouls | 722 F. Supp. 516 | 8 |
| 1986 | Upholsterer's International Union Health & Welfare Fund Trustees v. Pontiac Furniture, Inc. | 647 F. Supp. 1053 | 8 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 82 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 Harold Albert Baker?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Harold Albert Baker to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois in 1978.
- Was Harold Albert Baker appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Harold Albert Baker was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Harold Albert Baker's confirmation vote?
- Harold Albert Baker was confirmed by voice vote on September 22, 1978. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Harold Albert Baker on?
- Harold Albert Baker was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Administrative Office of the United States Courts (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.
42 years on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).