James L. Foreman
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972 and confirmed by voice vote, James L. Foreman was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. He earned a law degree from University of Illinois College of Law in 1952. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1927–2012
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1972
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Illinois 1950 · University of Illinois College of Law 1952
- Succeeded by
- John Phil Gilbert
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Eastern District of Illinois succeeded William George Juergens | Nixon (R) | Voice vote |
| 1979 | Southern District of Illinois | Reassigned | – |
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 Illinois | B.S. | 1950 |
| University of Illinois College of Law | J.D. | 1952 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Foreman was assigned 1,717 district-court cases (1983–2006). Median time from filing to termination: 254 days across 1,716 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, Foreman authored 158 published opinions for the court (1972–2000). Most cited: Bruscino v. Carlson (100 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Bruscino v. Carlson | 654 F. Supp. 609 | 100 |
| 1984 | United States v. a & F Materials Co., Inc. | 578 F. Supp. 1249 | 76 |
| 1984 | United States v. a & F Materials Co., Inc. | 582 F. Supp. 842 | 58 |
| 1974 | Perrin v. Walker | 385 F. Supp. 945 | 40 |
| 1990 | Anna Ready Mix, Inc. v. N.E. Pierson Construction Co. | 747 F. Supp. 1299 | 34 |
| 1980 | Lightfoot v. Walker | 486 F. Supp. 504 | 34 |
| 1985 | Jones v. Irvin | 602 F. Supp. 399 | 31 |
| 1987 | First National Bank of Harrisburg v. Jones (In Re Jones) | 71 B.R. 682 | 30 |
| 1979 | Western Casualty & Surety Co. v. Branon | 463 F. Supp. 1208 | 23 |
| 1978 | Bono v. Saxbe | 450 F. Supp. 934 | 23 |
| 1975 | Patmore v. Carlson | 392 F. Supp. 737 | 22 |
| 1985 | Lingle v. Norge Division of Magic Chef, Inc. | 618 F. Supp. 1448 | 21 |
| 1980 | Roberson v. Wood | 500 F. Supp. 854 | 20 |
| 1986 | Strandell v. Jackson County, Ill. | 648 F. Supp. 126 | 19 |
| 1984 | Martin v. Granite City Steel Corp. | 596 F. Supp. 293 | 19 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 158 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 L. Foreman?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed James L. Foreman to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois in 1972.
- Was James L. Foreman appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James L. Foreman 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 L. Foreman's confirmation vote?
- James L. Foreman was confirmed by voice vote on March 2, 1972. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was James L. Foreman on?
- James L. Foreman was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
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.
33 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).