Who appointed James B. Loken?

President George H.W. Bush appointed James B. Loken to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 1990.

Was James B. Loken appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

James B. Loken was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was James B. Loken's confirmation vote?

James B. Loken was confirmed by voice vote on October 12, 1990. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Eighth Circuit / Appointed 1990 / Active

James B. Loken

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and confirmed by voice vote, James B. Loken is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1965. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1940 · age 86
Appointed by: George H.W. Bush, 1990
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Wisconsin 1962 · Harvard Law School 1965
Succeeded: Gerald William Heaney

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1990	Eighth Circuit succeeded Gerald William Heaney	G.H.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

University of Wisconsin	B.S.	1962
Harvard Law School	LL.B.	1965

Judicial Record

In our data, Loken authored 63 published opinions for the court (2007–2011). Most cited: Glorvigen v. Cirrus Design Corp. (92 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

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
2009	Glorvigen v. Cirrus Design Corp.	581 F.3d 737	92
2010	United States v. Marquez	605 F.3d 604	78
2009	Abdelwahab v. Frazier	578 F.3d 817	73
2010	United States v. Burrell	622 F.3d 961	69
2009	United States v. Moore	581 F.3d 681	63
2010	True v. Nebraska	612 F.3d 676	57
2008	United States v. Bolden	545 F.3d 609	54
2009	United States v. Kiderlen	569 F.3d 358	53
2008	United States v. Two Elk	536 F.3d 890	51
2010	Northport Health Services of Arkansas, LLC v. Rutherford	605 F.3d 483	47
2011	United States v. Joos	638 F.3d 581	44
2010	Gillette v. North Dakota Disciplinary Board Counsel	610 F.3d 1045	43
2007	Missouri Protection & Advocacy Services, Inc. v. Carnahan	499 F.3d 803	42
2010	United States v. Jones	606 F.3d 964	38
2010	United States v. Mashek	606 F.3d 922	38

Showing the 15 most-cited of 63 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 B. Loken?: President George H.W. Bush appointed James B. Loken to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 1990.
Was James B. Loken appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: James B. Loken was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was James B. Loken's confirmation vote?: James B. Loken was confirmed by voice vote on October 12, 1990. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is James B. Loken on?: James B. Loken is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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