James Focht McClure Jr.
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and confirmed by voice vote, James Focht McClure Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He earned a law degree from University of Pennsylvania Law School (now Carey Law School) in 1957. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1931–2010
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1990
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Amherst College 1952 · University of Pennsylvania Law School (now Carey Law School) 1957
- Succeeded
- William Joseph Nealon Jr.
- Succeeded by
- John E. Jones III
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Middle District of Pennsylvania succeeded William Joseph Nealon Jr. | 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
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, McClure was assigned 4,284 district-court cases (1984–2010). Median time from filing to termination: 191 days across 4,283 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.
On appeal
Of 83 of McClure’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 75 were affirmed, 8 reversed or vacated. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, McClure authored 237 published opinions for the court (1990–2009). Most cited: Ogden v. Keystone Residence (115 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Ogden v. Keystone Residence | 226 F. Supp. 2d 588 | 115 |
| 1992 | Flanagan v. Shively | 783 F. Supp. 922 | 110 |
| 1994 | Waye v. First Citizen's National Bank | 846 F. Supp. 310 | 104 |
| 1995 | Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Ericksen | 903 F. Supp. 836 | 86 |
| 1996 | Little v. Lycoming County | 912 F. Supp. 809 | 74 |
| 1992 | Dodge v. Susquehanna University | 796 F. Supp. 829 | 69 |
| 1993 | Owens v. Beard | 829 F. Supp. 736 | 48 |
| 1996 | Chambers v. Holland | 920 F. Supp. 618 | 45 |
| 1997 | Powell v. Hoover | 956 F. Supp. 564 | 41 |
| 1994 | Violanti v. Emery Worldwide A-CF Co. | 847 F. Supp. 1251 | 36 |
| 1994 | United States v. Jennings | 855 F. Supp. 1427 | 35 |
| 1993 | McDowell Oil Service, Inc. v. Interstate Fire & Casualty Co. | 817 F. Supp. 538 | 32 |
| 2004 | Clark v. Richman | 339 F. Supp. 2d 631 | 26 |
| 1991 | Pell v. Weinstein | 759 F. Supp. 1107 | 26 |
| 1995 | Shoemaker v. City of Lock Haven | 906 F. Supp. 230 | 25 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 237 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 Focht McClure Jr.?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed James Focht McClure Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in 1990.
- Was James Focht McClure Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James Focht McClure Jr. 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 Focht McClure Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- James Focht McClure Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on April 27, 1990. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was James Focht McClure Jr. on?
- James Focht McClure Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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.
20 years on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).