James M. Ideman
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and confirmed by voice vote, James M. Ideman was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He earned a law degree from University of Southern California Law School (now Gould School of Law) in 1963. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1931 · age 95
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1984
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- The Citadel 1953 · University of Southern California Law School (now Gould Law) 1963
- Succeeded
- Lawrence Tupper Lydick
- Succeeded by
- Gary Allen Feess
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Central District of California succeeded Lawrence Tupper Lydick | Reagan (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, Ideman was assigned 2,177 district-court cases (1985–1998). Median time from filing to termination: 175 days across 2,176 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, Ideman authored 19 published opinions for the court (1987–1998). Most cited: Romero v. City of Pomona (17 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | Romero v. City of Pomona | 665 F. Supp. 853 | 17 |
| 1998 | Management Activities, Inc. v. United States | 21 F. Supp. 2d 1157 | 8 |
| 1989 | American Friends Service Committee v. Thornburgh | 718 F. Supp. 820 | 8 |
| 1997 | Zucker v. Occidental Petroleum Corp. | 968 F. Supp. 1396 | 7 |
| 1993 | Internal Revenue Service v. Sulmeyer (In Re Grand Chevrolet, Inc.) | 153 B.R. 296 | 6 |
| 1997 | Sussman v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. | 971 F. Supp. 432 | 5 |
| 1995 | Engel v. CBS, INC. | 886 F. Supp. 728 | 5 |
| 1990 | United States v. Isgro | 751 F. Supp. 846 | 5 |
| 1997 | Vashistha v. Allstate Insurance | 989 F. Supp. 1029 | 4 |
| 1993 | Aqua Queen Mfg., Inc. v. Charter Oak Fire Insurance | 830 F. Supp. 536 | 4 |
| 1989 | Careau Group v. United Farm Workers of America | 716 F. Supp. 1319 | 3 |
| 1995 | United States v. Klein (In Re Klein) | 189 B.R. 505 | 2 |
| 1987 | Apelian v. United States Shoe Corp. | 664 F. Supp. 1370 | 2 |
| 1987 | Southern Nights Music Co. v. Moses | 669 F. Supp. 305 | 2 |
| 1997 | Jenkins v. MCI Telecommunications Corp. | 973 F. Supp. 1133 | 1 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 19 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 M. Ideman?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed James M. Ideman to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 1984.
- Was James M. Ideman appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James M. Ideman was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was James M. Ideman's confirmation vote?
- James M. Ideman was confirmed by voice vote on June 15, 1984. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was James M. Ideman on?
- James M. Ideman was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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.
14 years on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).