Who appointed Hugh Henry Bownes?

President Jimmy Carter appointed Hugh Henry Bownes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1977.

Was Hugh Henry Bownes appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Hugh Henry Bownes was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Hugh Henry Bownes's confirmation vote?

Hugh Henry Bownes was confirmed by voice vote on October 7, 1977. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

First Circuit / Appointed 1977 / Served to 2003

Hugh Henry Bownes

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and confirmed by voice vote, Hugh Henry Bownes was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He earned a law degree from Columbia Law School in 1948. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1920–2003
Appointed by: Jimmy Carter, 1977
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Columbia 1941 · Columbia Law School 1948
Succeeded: Edward Matthew McEntee
Succeeded by: David Hackett Souter

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1968	District of New Hampshire succeeded Aloysius Joseph Connor	L.B. Johnson (D)	Voice vote
1977	First Circuit succeeded Edward Matthew McEntee	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

Columbia University	B.A.	1941
Columbia Law School	LL.B.	1948

Judicial Record

In our data, Bownes authored 96 published opinions for the court (1968–1977). Most cited: Laaman v. Helgemoe (160 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
1977	Laaman v. Helgemoe	437 F. Supp. 269	160
1973	Chimento v. Stark	353 F. Supp. 1211	92
1974	United States v. One 1972 Datsun, Vehicle Identification No. LB1100355950	378 F. Supp. 1200	61
1974	Sununu v. Stark	383 F. Supp. 1287	59
1974	Puntolillo v. New Hampshire Racing Commission	375 F. Supp. 1089	59
1973	Hoitt v. Vitek	361 F. Supp. 1238	52
1975	Skoglund v. Singer Company	403 F. Supp. 797	49
1972	Hagenbuch v. Snap-On Tools Corp.	339 F. Supp. 676	46
1976	Morale v. Grigel	422 F. Supp. 988	43
1975	Grappone, Inc. v. Subaru of America, Inc.	403 F. Supp. 123	43
1975	Appalachian Mountain Club v. Brinegar	394 F. Supp. 105	39
1977	Abbott v. Moore Business Forms, Inc.	439 F. Supp. 643	38
1976	Baker-Chaput v. Cammett	406 F. Supp. 1134	36
1976	Raymond v. Eli Lilly & Co.	412 F. Supp. 1392	29
1973	Clement v. Four North State Street Corporation	360 F. Supp. 933	23

Showing the 15 most-cited of 96 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 Hugh Henry Bownes?: President Jimmy Carter appointed Hugh Henry Bownes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1977.
Was Hugh Henry Bownes appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Hugh Henry Bownes was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Hugh Henry Bownes's confirmation vote?: Hugh Henry Bownes was confirmed by voice vote on October 7, 1977. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Hugh Henry Bownes on?: Hugh Henry Bownes was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First 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.

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