James Hughes

Judge, Court of Claims

Appointed by President James Buchanan in 1860 and confirmed by voice vote, James Hughes was a Judge on the Court of Claims. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived

1823–1873

Appointed by

James Buchanan, 1860

Confirmed

by voice vote

Succeeded

Isaac Newton Blackford

Succeeded by

Charles Cooper Nott

Federal judicial service

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

In our data, Hughes authored 1 published opinion for the court (1933). Most cited: Wiltsie v. United States (3 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Showing the 1 most-cited of 1 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 Hughes?

President James Buchanan appointed James Hughes to the Court of Claims in 1860.

Was James Hughes appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

James Hughes was appointed by President James Buchanan, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was James Hughes's confirmation vote?

James Hughes was confirmed by voice vote on January 18, 1860. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Which court was James Hughes on?

James Hughes was a Judge on the Court of Claims.

4 years on the Court of Claims. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).