Who appointed James Emanuel Boasberg?

President Barack Obama appointed James Emanuel Boasberg to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2011.

Was James Emanuel Boasberg appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

James Emanuel Boasberg was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was James Emanuel Boasberg's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed James Emanuel Boasberg 96–0 on March 14, 2011.

District of Columbia / Appointed 2011 / Active

James Emanuel Boasberg

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

Appointed by President Barack Obama in 2011 and confirmed by the Senate 96–0, James Emanuel Boasberg is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 1990. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1963 · age 63
Appointed by: Barack Obama, 2011
Confirmed: 96–0
Education: Yale College 1985 · Yale Law School 1990
Succeeded: Thomas Francis Hogan

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2011	District of Columbia succeeded Thomas Francis Hogan	Obama (D)	96–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 96–0 on March 14, 2011 · 112th Congress, Roll Call 39. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 96

50 D, 44 R, 2 I

Did not vote · 4

1 D, 3 R

Education

Yale College	B.A.	1985
University of Oxford	M.St.	1986
Yale Law School	J.D.	1990

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Boasberg was assigned 2,211 district-court cases (1978–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 174 days across 1,722 closed cases.

Other federal statutes30%

Other civil matters20%

Criminal13%

Civil rights10%

Labor & ERISA5%

Contract5%

Other17%

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 235 of Boasberg’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 163 were affirmed, 59 reversed or vacated, and 13 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, Boasberg authored 1,503 published opinions for the court (2011–2026). Most cited: Center for Science in the Public Interest v. United States Food and Drug Administration (112 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
2014	Center for Science in the Public Interest v. United States Food and Drug Administration	74 F. Supp. 3d 295	112
2015	R.I.L-R v. Johnson	80 F. Supp. 3d 164	110
2013	American Chemistry Council, Inc. v. United States Department of Health and Human Services	922 F. Supp. 2d 56	102
2013	American Immigration Council v. United States Department of Homeland Security	950 F. Supp. 2d 221	75
2015	Kenley v. District of Columbia	83 F. Supp. 3d 20	68
2014	In Re: Science Applications International Corp. (Saic) Backup Tape Data Theft Litigation	45 F. Supp. 3d 14	66
2012	Center for Food Safety v. Salazar	898 F. Supp. 2d 130	65
2015	Elzeneiny v. District of Columbia	125 F. Supp. 3d 18	64
2012	Preservation Society of Charleston v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers	893 F. Supp. 2d 49	63
2012	National Whistleblower Center v. Department of Health and Human Services	849 F. Supp. 2d 13	59
2013	Douglas v. Chariots for Hire	918 F. Supp. 2d 24	58
2013	Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission	916 F. Supp. 2d 141	56
2012	American Immigration Council v. United States Department of Homeland Security	905 F. Supp. 2d 206	47
2011	Mahoney v. Donovan	824 F. Supp. 2d 49	45
2013	Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. U.S. Department of Justice	955 F. Supp. 2d 4	42

Showing the 15 most-cited of 1,503 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 Emanuel Boasberg?: President Barack Obama appointed James Emanuel Boasberg to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2011.
Was James Emanuel Boasberg appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: James Emanuel Boasberg was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was James Emanuel Boasberg's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed James Emanuel Boasberg 96–0 on March 14, 2011.
Which court is James Emanuel Boasberg on?: James Emanuel Boasberg is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

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.

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