Who appointed Harry Thomas Edwards?

President Jimmy Carter appointed Harry Thomas Edwards to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980.

Was Harry Thomas Edwards appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Harry Thomas Edwards was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Harry Thomas Edwards's confirmation vote?

Harry Thomas Edwards was confirmed by voice vote on February 20, 1980. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

District of Columbia Circuit / Appointed 1980 / Senior status since 2005

Harry Thomas Edwards

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and confirmed by voice vote, Harry Thomas Edwards is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1965. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1940 · age 86
Appointed by: Jimmy Carter, 1980
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Cornell 1962 · University of Michigan Law School 1965
Succeeded: David L. Bazelon

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1980	District of Columbia Circuit succeeded David L. Bazelon	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

Cornell University	B.S.	1962
University of Michigan Law School	J.D.	1965

Judicial Record

In our data, Edwards authored 1 published opinion for the court (1982). Most cited: Busbee v. Smith (63 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
1982	Busbee v. Smith	549 F. Supp. 494	63

Showing the 1 most-cited of 1 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 Harry Thomas Edwards?: President Jimmy Carter appointed Harry Thomas Edwards to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980.
Was Harry Thomas Edwards appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Harry Thomas Edwards was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Harry Thomas Edwards's confirmation vote?: Harry Thomas Edwards was confirmed by voice vote on February 20, 1980. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is Harry Thomas Edwards on?: Harry Thomas Edwards is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

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