Howard Boyd Turrentine
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970 and confirmed by voice vote, Howard Boyd Turrentine was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. He earned a law degree from University of Southern California Law School (now Gould School of Law) in 1939. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1914–2010
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1970
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- San Diego State College 1936 · University of Southern California Law School (now Gould Law) 1939
- Succeeded
- Fred Kunzel
- Succeeded by
- Rudi M. Brewster
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Southern District of California succeeded Fred Kunzel | Nixon (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
| San Diego State College | A.B. | 1936 |
| University of Southern California Law School (now Gould School of Law) | LL.B. | 1939 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Turrentine was assigned 424 district-court cases (1981–2005). Median time from filing to termination: 254 days across 424 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.
In our data, Turrentine authored 29 published opinions for the court (1971–1994). Most cited: United States v. Kemmish (37 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | United States v. Kemmish | 869 F. Supp. 803 | 37 |
| 1984 | Bruns v. Ledbetter | 583 F. Supp. 1050 | 31 |
| 1973 | United States v. Baca | 368 F. Supp. 398 | 30 |
| 1984 | Milazzo v. United States | 578 F. Supp. 248 | 20 |
| 1971 | Rincon Band of Mission Indians v. County of San Diego | 324 F. Supp. 371 | 20 |
| 1984 | Levanti v. Tippen | 585 F. Supp. 499 | 15 |
| 1981 | Simonsen v. Secretary of Health & Human Services | 512 F. Supp. 1064 | 12 |
| 1972 | In Re Alvarez | 351 F. Supp. 1089 | 12 |
| 1971 | United States v. D'Annunzio Y Ellis DeMarchena | 330 F. Supp. 1223 | 12 |
| 1971 | Colden v. Asmus | 322 F. Supp. 1163 | 8 |
| 1979 | United States v. Otherson | 480 F. Supp. 1369 | 7 |
| 1974 | In Re Weir | 377 F. Supp. 919 | 7 |
| 1972 | Mihalinos v. Liberian S.S. Trikala | 342 F. Supp. 1237 | 7 |
| 1984 | Smith v. United Transportation Union Local No. 81 | 594 F. Supp. 96 | 6 |
| 1977 | California Ex Rel. California Department of Fish & Game v. Quechan Tribe of Indians | 424 F. Supp. 969 | 6 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 29 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 Howard Boyd Turrentine?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed Howard Boyd Turrentine to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 1970.
- Was Howard Boyd Turrentine appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Howard Boyd Turrentine was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Howard Boyd Turrentine's confirmation vote?
- Howard Boyd Turrentine was confirmed by voice vote on April 23, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Howard Boyd Turrentine on?
- Howard Boyd Turrentine 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.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- 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.
40 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).