Who appointed Harry Hunter MacLaughlin?

President Jimmy Carter appointed Harry Hunter MacLaughlin to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in 1977.

Was Harry Hunter MacLaughlin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

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

What was Harry Hunter MacLaughlin's confirmation vote?

Harry Hunter MacLaughlin was confirmed by voice vote on September 16, 1977. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

District of Minnesota / Appointed 1977 / Served to 2005

Harry Hunter MacLaughlin

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and confirmed by voice vote, Harry Hunter MacLaughlin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. He earned a law degree from University of Minnesota Law School in 1956. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1927–2005
Appointed by: Jimmy Carter, 1977
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Minnesota 1949 · University of Minnesota Law School 1956
Succeeded: Earl Richard Larson
Succeeded by: Michael James Davis

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1977	District of Minnesota succeeded Earl Richard Larson	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

University of Minnesota	B.B.A.	1949
University of Minnesota Law School	LL.B.	1956

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, MacLaughlin was assigned 1,210 district-court cases (1983–1994). Median time from filing to termination: 246 days across 1,210 closed cases.

Contract23%

Personal-injury torts14%

Prisoner & habeas13%

Civil rights11%

Labor & ERISA11%

Other federal statutes7%

Other20%

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, MacLaughlin authored 226 published opinions for the court (1977–1996). Most cited: Carlock v. Pillsbury Co. (86 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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	Carlock v. Pillsbury Co.	719 F. Supp. 791	86
1986	Corum v. Farm Credit Services	628 F. Supp. 707	65
1987	In Re Scott County Master Docket	672 F. Supp. 1152	62
1986	Surgidev Corp. v. Eye Technology, Inc.	648 F. Supp. 661	47
1990	First National Bank v. Minnesota Utility Contracting, Inc. (In Re Minnesota Utility Contracting, Inc.)	110 B.R. 414	44
1982	RJM Sales & Marketing, Inc. v. Banfi Products Corp.	546 F. Supp. 1368	44
1980	Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Murphy Motor Freight Lines, Inc.	488 F. Supp. 381	44
1987	Greseth v. Federal Land Bank (In Re Greseth)	78 B.R. 936	40
1992	Soo Line Railroad Ex Rel. Minnesota v. B.J. Carney & Co.	797 F. Supp. 1472	35
1985	EF Johnson Co. v. Uniden Corp. of America	623 F. Supp. 1485	33
1981	Schmitt-Norton Ford, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co.	524 F. Supp. 1099	33
1991	Nelson v. Master Lease Corp.	759 F. Supp. 1397	32
1989	Aveda Corp. v. Evita Marketing, Inc.	706 F. Supp. 1419	32
1986	Minstar, Inc. v. Plastech Research, Inc. (In Re Arctic Enterprises, Inc.)	68 B.R. 71	32
1981	Medtronic, Inc. v. Gibbons	527 F. Supp. 1085	31

Showing the 15 most-cited of 226 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 Hunter MacLaughlin?: President Jimmy Carter appointed Harry Hunter MacLaughlin to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in 1977.
Was Harry Hunter MacLaughlin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Harry Hunter MacLaughlin was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Harry Hunter MacLaughlin's confirmation vote?: Harry Hunter MacLaughlin was confirmed by voice vote on September 16, 1977. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Harry Hunter MacLaughlin on?: Harry Hunter MacLaughlin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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