James Harvey
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1973 and confirmed by voice vote, James Harvey was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1948. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1922–2019
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1973
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Michigan Law School 1948
- Succeeded
- Ralph McKenzie Freeman
- Succeeded by
- Richard Fred Suhrheinrich
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Eastern District of Michigan succeeded Ralph McKenzie Freeman | Nixon (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
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Harvey was assigned 284 district-court cases (1981–1990). Median time from filing to termination: 549 days across 284 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, Harvey authored 85 published opinions for the court (1974–1991). Most cited: Melchi v. Burns International Security Services, Inc. (47 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Melchi v. Burns International Security Services, Inc. | 597 F. Supp. 575 | 47 |
| 1977 | O'BRYAN v. County of Saginaw, Mich. | 437 F. Supp. 582 | 39 |
| 1985 | 15192 Thirteen Mile Road, Inc. v. City of Warren | 626 F. Supp. 803 | 36 |
| 1979 | Dow Chemical Co. v. Blum | 469 F. Supp. 892 | 30 |
| 1976 | Collins v. Retail Credit Co. | 410 F. Supp. 924 | 22 |
| 1974 | United States v. Winston | 373 F. Supp. 1005 | 21 |
| 1990 | William L. Comer Family Equity Trust v. United States | 732 F. Supp. 755 | 20 |
| 1981 | United States v. $22,287.00 in U. S. Currency | 520 F. Supp. 675 | 19 |
| 1981 | Rowe v. Chrysler Corp. | 520 F. Supp. 15 | 19 |
| 1978 | Joseph v. Adams | 467 F. Supp. 141 | 17 |
| 1982 | Dow Chemical Co. v. US, by and Through Gorsuch | 536 F. Supp. 1355 | 14 |
| 1985 | Kasom v. City of Sterling Heights | 600 F. Supp. 1555 | 13 |
| 1983 | Allstate Insurance v. Sherrill | 566 F. Supp. 1286 | 13 |
| 1986 | United States v. Lakeshore Terminal and Pipeline Co. | 639 F. Supp. 958 | 12 |
| 1985 | Harris v. Michigan National Bank-Valley (In Re Gullifor) | 47 B.R. 450 | 12 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 85 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 Harvey?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed James Harvey to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1973.
- Was James Harvey appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James Harvey 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 Harvey's confirmation vote?
- James Harvey was confirmed by voice vote on December 13, 1973. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was James Harvey on?
- James Harvey was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: US Government Printing Office (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.
45 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).