James O. Ellison
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, James O. Ellison was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. He earned a law degree from University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1951. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1929–2014
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1979
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Oklahoma 1951 · University of Oklahoma College of Law 1951
- Succeeded
- Allen Edward Barrow
- Succeeded by
- Sven Erik Holmes
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Northern District of Oklahoma succeeded Allen Edward Barrow | 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 Oklahoma | B.A. | 1951 |
| University of Oklahoma College of Law | LL.B. | 1951 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Ellison was assigned 2,287 district-court cases (1980–2006). Median time from filing to termination: 281 days across 2,287 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.
On appeal
Of 15 of Ellison’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 13 were affirmed, 2 reversed or vacated. 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, Ellison authored 16 published opinions for the court (1981–2000). Most cited: Cardtoons, L.C. v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n (9 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Cardtoons, L.C. v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n | 868 F. Supp. 1266 | 9 |
| 1991 | Wheels, Inc. v. Otasco, Inc. (In Re Otasco, Inc.) | 196 B.R. 554 | 9 |
| 1984 | Gale v. Great Southwestern Exploration | 599 F. Supp. 55 | 9 |
| 1993 | Cardtoons, L.C. v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n | 838 F. Supp. 1501 | 7 |
| 1988 | Virginia Beach Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Wood | 97 B.R. 71 | 7 |
| 2000 | Tax & Accounting Software Corp. v. United States | 111 F. Supp. 2d 1153 | 5 |
| 1996 | Eck v. Willis (In Re Willis) | 197 B.R. 912 | 5 |
| 1994 | Oklahoma Plaza Investors, Ltd. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (In Re Oklahoma Plaza Investors, Ltd.) | 203 B.R. 479 | 4 |
| 1994 | CCF, Inc. v. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Okmulgee (In Re Slamans) | 175 B.R. 762 | 3 |
| 1988 | Cotton v. MERRILL, LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH, INC. | 699 F. Supp. 251 | 3 |
| 1993 | Gille v. United States | 838 F. Supp. 521 | 2 |
| 1981 | Estate of Adams v. United States | 550 F. Supp. 175 | 2 |
| 1994 | RCB Bank v. Carter (In Re Carter) | 177 B.R. 951 | 1 |
| 1989 | Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Lujan | 760 F. Supp. 882 | 1 |
| 1993 | Kelley v. Michaels | 830 F. Supp. 577 | 0 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 16 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 O. Ellison?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed James O. Ellison to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma in 1979.
- Was James O. Ellison appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James O. Ellison was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was James O. Ellison's confirmation vote?
- James O. Ellison was confirmed by voice vote on October 31, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was James O. Ellison on?
- James O. Ellison was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- 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.
35 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).