James E. Gritzner
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and confirmed by voice vote, James E. Gritzner is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. He earned a law degree from Drake University Law School in 1979. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1947 · age 79
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2002
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Dakota Wesleyan 1969 · Drake Law School 1979
- Succeeded
- Charles Robert Wolle
- Succeeded by
- Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Southern District of Iowa succeeded Charles Robert Wolle | G.W. Bush (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
| Dakota Wesleyan University | B.A. | 1969 |
| University of Northern Iowa | M.A. | 1974 |
| Drake University Law School | J.D. | 1979 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Gritzner was assigned 2,559 district-court cases (1991–2023). Median time from filing to termination: 213 days across 2,555 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 313 of Gritzner’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 292 were affirmed, 10 reversed or vacated, and 11 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.
In our data, Gritzner authored 146 published opinions for the court (2002–2011). Most cited: Brown Ex Rel. Rhiner v. Kerkhoff (27 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Brown Ex Rel. Rhiner v. Kerkhoff | 504 F. Supp. 2d 464 | 27 |
| 2009 | NCMIC Finance Corporation v. Artino | 638 F. Supp. 2d 1042 | 22 |
| 2003 | RK Dixon Co. v. Dealer Marketing Services, Inc. | 284 F. Supp. 2d 1204 | 15 |
| 2006 | Napreljac v. John Q. Hammons Hotels, Inc. | 461 F. Supp. 2d 981 | 14 |
| 2005 | Wright v. Keokuk County Health Center | 399 F. Supp. 2d 938 | 14 |
| 2005 | Iowa Network Services, Inc. v. Qwest Corp. | 385 F. Supp. 2d 850 | 13 |
| 2004 | Davidson v. Wal-Mart Associates Health and Welfare Plan | 305 F. Supp. 2d 1059 | 13 |
| 2007 | Lucht v. Encompass Corp. | 491 F. Supp. 2d 856 | 12 |
| 2003 | Audio Odyssey, Ltd. v. United States | 243 F. Supp. 2d 951 | 12 |
| 2009 | United States v. Allison | 637 F. Supp. 2d 657 | 11 |
| 2005 | United States v. $159,880.00 in U.S. Currency, More or Less | 387 F. Supp. 2d 1000 | 10 |
| 2007 | Schoonover v. Schneider National Carriers, Inc. | 492 F. Supp. 2d 1103 | 9 |
| 2011 | Lyngholm v. Fedex Ground Package Systems, Inc. | 827 F. Supp. 2d 912 | 8 |
| 2010 | Mahony v. UNIVERSAL PEDIATRIC SERVICES, INC. | 753 F. Supp. 2d 839 | 8 |
| 2008 | United States v. Handley | 564 F. Supp. 2d 996 | 8 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 146 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 E. Gritzner?
- President George W. Bush appointed James E. Gritzner to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in 2002.
- Was James E. Gritzner appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James E. Gritzner was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was James E. Gritzner's confirmation vote?
- James E. Gritzner was confirmed by voice vote on February 14, 2002. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is James E. Gritzner on?
- James E. Gritzner is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
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.
24 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).