Western District of Virginia / Appointed 1981 / Served to 2020

Jackson L. Kiser

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by voice vote, Jackson L. Kiser was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. He earned a law degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1952. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1929–2020
Appointed by
Ronald Reagan, 1981
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
Concord College 1951 · Washington and Lee Law 1952
Succeeded by
Norman K. Moon

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1981Western District of VirginiaReagan (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

Concord CollegeB.A.1951
Washington and Lee University School of LawLL.B.1952

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Kiser was assigned 6,056 district-court cases (1956–2020). Median time from filing to termination: 161 days across 6,055 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas56%
Personal-injury torts13%
Contract7%
Civil rights6%
Social Security5%
Other federal statutes3%
Other9%

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 244 of Kiser’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 222 were affirmed, 16 reversed or vacated, and 6 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, Kiser authored 140 published opinions for the court (1982–2009). Most cited: Goodbar v. Whitehead Bros. (88 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
1984Goodbar v. Whitehead Bros.591 F. Supp. 55288
2000Riley v. Apfel88 F. Supp. 2d 57252
1984Barger v. General Electric Co.599 F. Supp. 115438
1995Commonwealth State Education Assistance Authority v. Dillon189 B.R. 38233
1992Piedmont Trust Bank v. Linkous (In Re Linkous)141 B.R. 89032
2003Brown v. Barnhart270 F. Supp. 2d 76931
2002Hancock v. Barnhart206 F. Supp. 2d 75731
1995Howze v. Virginia Polytechnic901 F. Supp. 109130
1985Lintz v. Gulf Partners Ltd.613 F. Supp. 54328
2001Glover v. Oppleman178 F. Supp. 2d 62225
1994Nance v. Petty, Livingston, Dawson, & Devening881 F. Supp. 22323
1996Brzonkala v. Va. Polytechnic & State University935 F. Supp. 77922
1995Roto-Die Co., Inc. v. Lesser899 F. Supp. 151522
1984Bruce v. Smith581 F. Supp. 90222
2002Schieszler v. Ferrum College236 F. Supp. 2d 60218

Showing the 15 most-cited of 140 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 Jackson L. Kiser?
President Ronald Reagan appointed Jackson L. Kiser to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in 1981.
Was Jackson L. Kiser appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Jackson L. Kiser was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Jackson L. Kiser's confirmation vote?
Jackson L. Kiser was confirmed by voice vote on December 3, 1981. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Jackson L. Kiser on?
Jackson L. Kiser was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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