District of Columbia / Appointed 1950 / Served to 1958

James Robert Kirkland

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Appointed by President Harry S Truman in 1950 and confirmed by voice vote, James Robert Kirkland was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He earned a law degree from George Washington University Law School in 1928. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1903–1958
Appointed by
Harry S Truman, 1950
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
George Washington 1927 · George Washington Law School 1928

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1950District of ColumbiaTruman (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

George Washington UniversityA.B.1927
George Washington University Law SchoolLL.B.1928
George Washington University Law SchoolLL.M.1929
Benjamin Franklin University (now George Washington University)B.C.S.1930

Judicial Record

In our data, Kirkland authored 11 published opinions for the court (1951–1955). Most cited: In Re Bullock (36 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
1952In Re Bullock103 F. Supp. 63936
1955Sunshine Book Company v. Summerfield128 F. Supp. 56430
1955William Dunbar Co. v. Painters & Glaziers District Council No. 51129 F. Supp. 41719
1951United States v. Emspak95 F. Supp. 101210
1951United States v. Emspak95 F. Supp. 10108
1952United States v. Weinberg108 F. Supp. 5677
1952United States v. Nelson103 F. Supp. 2156
1951Republic of China v. Pang-Tsu Mow101 F. Supp. 6466
1953Gaudio v. Dulles110 F. Supp. 7064
1955Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Summerfield128 F. Supp. 2662
1955Gulf Oil Corporation v. Federal Power Commission128 F. Supp. 4460

Showing the 11 most-cited of 11 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 Robert Kirkland?
President Harry S Truman appointed James Robert Kirkland to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 1950.
Was James Robert Kirkland appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
James Robert Kirkland was appointed by President Harry S Truman, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was James Robert Kirkland's confirmation vote?
James Robert Kirkland was confirmed by voice vote on March 8, 1950. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was James Robert Kirkland on?
James Robert Kirkland was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Sources

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

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