Who appointed James Rodney Gilstrap?

President Barack Obama appointed James Rodney Gilstrap to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in 2011.

Was James Rodney Gilstrap appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

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

What was James Rodney Gilstrap's confirmation vote?

James Rodney Gilstrap was confirmed by voice vote on December 5, 2011. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Eastern District of Texas / Appointed 2011 / Active

James Rodney Gilstrap

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

Appointed by President Barack Obama in 2011 and confirmed by voice vote, James Rodney Gilstrap is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He earned a law degree from Baylor University School of Law in 1981. Sources ↓

Born: 1957 · age 69
Appointed by: Barack Obama, 2011
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Baylor 1978 · Baylor Law 1981
Succeeded: Thad Heartfield

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2011	Eastern District of Texas succeeded Thad Heartfield	Obama (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

Baylor University	B.A.	1978
Baylor University School of Law	J.D.	1981

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Gilstrap was assigned 11,318 district-court cases (1997–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 200 days across 9,594 closed cases.

Intellectual property68%

Other civil matters14%

Personal-injury torts5%

Prisoner & habeas3%

Labor & ERISA2%

Civil rights2%

Other7%

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 310 of Gilstrap’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 255 were affirmed, 26 reversed or vacated, and 29 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.

Questions & answers

Who appointed James Rodney Gilstrap?: President Barack Obama appointed James Rodney Gilstrap to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in 2011.
Was James Rodney Gilstrap appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: James Rodney Gilstrap was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was James Rodney Gilstrap's confirmation vote?: James Rodney Gilstrap was confirmed by voice vote on December 5, 2011. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is James Rodney Gilstrap on?: James Rodney Gilstrap is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

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