James R. Carrigan
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, James R. Carrigan was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. He earned a law degree from University of North Dakota School of Law in 1953. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1929–2014
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1979
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of North Dakota 1953 · University of North Dakota Law 1953
- Succeeded by
- Walker David Miller
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | District of Colorado | 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
| University of North Dakota | Ph.B. | 1953 |
| University of North Dakota School of Law | J.D. | 1953 |
| New York University School of Law | LL.M. | 1956 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Carrigan was assigned 2,154 district-court cases (1982–1995). Median time from filing to termination: 200 days across 2,154 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, Carrigan authored 245 published opinions for the court (1980–1995). Most cited: United States v. Shell Oil Co. (84 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | United States v. Shell Oil Co. | 605 F. Supp. 1064 | 84 |
| 1991 | Stump v. Gates | 777 F. Supp. 808 | 59 |
| 1985 | State of Colo. v. Asarco, Inc. | 608 F. Supp. 1484 | 55 |
| 1980 | McClanahan v. American Gilsonite Co. | 494 F. Supp. 1334 | 47 |
| 1988 | Camacho v. Martin (In Re Martin) | 88 B.R. 319 | 44 |
| 1988 | Rosales v. AT & T Information Systems, Inc. | 702 F. Supp. 1489 | 41 |
| 1988 | Lee v. Grandcor Medical Systems, Inc. | 702 F. Supp. 252 | 36 |
| 1984 | Pierce v. Airport Development Corp. (In Re Pierce) | 44 B.R. 601 | 33 |
| 1993 | Copeland v. MBNA America, N.A. | 820 F. Supp. 537 | 32 |
| 1984 | Ritter v. Colorado Interstate Gas Co. | 593 F. Supp. 1279 | 30 |
| 1993 | United States v. Smuggler-Durant Mining Corp. | 823 F. Supp. 873 | 28 |
| 1990 | Miller v. Ibarra | 746 F. Supp. 19 | 28 |
| 1989 | Jordan v. U.S. West Direct Co. | 716 F. Supp. 1366 | 28 |
| 1986 | City of Northglenn v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc. | 634 F. Supp. 217 | 24 |
| 1993 | Thaete v. Shalala | 826 F. Supp. 1250 | 23 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 245 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 R. Carrigan?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed James R. Carrigan to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in 1979.
- Was James R. Carrigan appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James R. Carrigan was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was James R. Carrigan's confirmation vote?
- James R. Carrigan was confirmed by voice vote on September 25, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was James R. Carrigan on?
- James R. Carrigan was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
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.
15 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).