James Milton Burns
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972 and confirmed by voice vote, James Milton Burns was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. He earned a law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1950. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1924–2001
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1972
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Portland 1947 · Loyola Chicago Law 1950
- Succeeded
- Gus Jerome Solomon
- Succeeded by
- Robert Edward Jones
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | District of Oregon succeeded Gus Jerome Solomon | 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
| University of Portland | B.A. | 1947 |
| Loyola University Chicago School of Law | J.D. | 1950 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Burns was assigned 121 district-court cases (1982–1999). Median time from filing to termination: 374 days across 120 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, Burns authored 63 published opinions for the court (1973–1994). Most cited: Southeast Legal Defense Group v. Adams (38 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Southeast Legal Defense Group v. Adams | 436 F. Supp. 891 | 38 |
| 1979 | Bartholomew v. Reed | 477 F. Supp. 223 | 33 |
| 1983 | Capps v. Atiyeh | 559 F. Supp. 894 | 31 |
| 1988 | United States v. Belgard | 694 F. Supp. 1488 | 30 |
| 1980 | Capps v. Atiyeh | 495 F. Supp. 802 | 26 |
| 1977 | Fellows v. Medford Corp. | 431 F. Supp. 199 | 25 |
| 1983 | Franklin v. State of Or. | 563 F. Supp. 1310 | 21 |
| 1976 | Gearhart v. State of Oregon | 410 F. Supp. 597 | 18 |
| 1976 | Wilson v. Chancellor | 418 F. Supp. 1358 | 17 |
| 1979 | Bilbrey v. Brown | 481 F. Supp. 26 | 16 |
| 1980 | Miller, Anderson, Nash, Yerke & Wiener v. United States Department of Energy | 499 F. Supp. 767 | 15 |
| 1974 | Beef & Brew, Inc. v. Beef & Brew, Inc. | 389 F. Supp. 179 | 15 |
| 1973 | Hernandez v. Erlenbusch | 368 F. Supp. 752 | 15 |
| 1974 | Lewis v. International Business MacHines Corp. | 393 F. Supp. 305 | 14 |
| 1973 | Claybaugh v. Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. | 355 F. Supp. 1 | 14 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 63 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 Milton Burns?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed James Milton Burns to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in 1972.
- Was James Milton Burns appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James Milton Burns 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 Milton Burns's confirmation vote?
- James Milton Burns was confirmed by voice vote on May 25, 1972. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was James Milton Burns on?
- James Milton Burns was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Administrative Office of the United States Courts (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- 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.
29 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).