Who appointed James Franklin Battin?

President Richard M. Nixon appointed James Franklin Battin to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in 1969.

Was James Franklin Battin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

James Franklin Battin was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was James Franklin Battin's confirmation vote?

James Franklin Battin was confirmed by voice vote on February 25, 1969. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

District of Montana / Appointed 1969 / Served to 1996

James Franklin Battin

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

Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1969 and confirmed by voice vote, James Franklin Battin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. He earned a law degree from George Washington University Law School in 1951. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1925–1996
Appointed by: Richard M. Nixon, 1969
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Eastern Montana College (now Montana State Billings) 1948 · George Washington Law School 1951
Succeeded: William James Jameson
Succeeded by: Jack D. Shanstrom

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1969	District of Montana succeeded William James Jameson	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

Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University Billings)	B.A.	1948
George Washington University Law School	J.D.	1951

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Battin was assigned 119 district-court cases (1981–1995). Median time from filing to termination: 445 days across 119 closed cases.

Personal-injury torts32%

Contract22%

Other federal statutes10%

Prisoner & habeas8%

Bankruptcy7%

Real property7%

Other15%

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, Battin authored 82 published opinions for the court (1970–1992). Most cited: Towe Antique Ford Foundation v. Internal Revenue Service, Department of Treasury, United States (51 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
1992	Towe Antique Ford Foundation v. Internal Revenue Service, Department of Treasury, United States	791 F. Supp. 1450	51
1974	Huffman v. Montana Supreme Court	372 F. Supp. 1175	31
1989	Decker Coal Co. v. Hartman	706 F. Supp. 745	30
1981	Rollwitz v. Burlington Northern Railroad	507 F. Supp. 582	28
1977	Stands Over Bull v. Bureau of Indian Affairs	442 F. Supp. 360	26
1985	National Wildlife Federation v. Burford	677 F. Supp. 1445	24
1981	R. C. Hedreen Co. v. Crow Tribal Housing Authority	521 F. Supp. 599	23
1970	Union Pacific Railroad Company v. Woodahl	308 F. Supp. 1002	20
1985	Wolfe v. United States	612 F. Supp. 605	19
1981	Holladay v. State of Mont.	506 F. Supp. 1317	18
1977	Empire Steel Manufacturing Co. v. Marshall	437 F. Supp. 873	18
1977	Levno v. United States	440 F. Supp. 8	16
1977	Montana Power Co. v. Environmental Protection Agency	429 F. Supp. 683	14
1979	Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation v. Tongue River Water Users Ass'n	484 F. Supp. 31	13
1972	American States Insurance Co. v. Angstman Motors, Inc.	343 F. Supp. 576	13

Showing the 15 most-cited of 82 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 James Franklin Battin?: President Richard M. Nixon appointed James Franklin Battin to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in 1969.
Was James Franklin Battin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: James Franklin Battin was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was James Franklin Battin's confirmation vote?: James Franklin Battin was confirmed by voice vote on February 25, 1969. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was James Franklin Battin on?: James Franklin Battin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.

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 Montana. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).