Who appointed James Lowell Oakes?

President Richard M. Nixon appointed James Lowell Oakes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1971.

Was James Lowell Oakes appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

James Lowell Oakes was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was James Lowell Oakes's confirmation vote?

James Lowell Oakes was confirmed by voice vote on May 20, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Second Circuit / Appointed 1971 / Served to 2007

James Lowell Oakes

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

Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971 and confirmed by voice vote, James Lowell Oakes was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1947. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1924–2007
Appointed by: Richard M. Nixon, 1971
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Harvard 1945 · Harvard Law School 1947
Succeeded: Sterry Robinson Waterman
Succeeded by: Fred I. Parker

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1970	District of Vermont succeeded Ernest William Gibson Jr.	Nixon (R)	Voice vote
1971	Second Circuit succeeded Sterry Robinson Waterman	Nixon (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

Harvard University	A.B.	1945
Harvard Law School	LL.B.	1947

Judicial Record

In our data, Oakes authored 14 published opinions for the court (1970–1983). Most cited: Conservation Society of Southern Vermont, Inc. v. Secretary of Transportation (43 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
1973	Conservation Society of Southern Vermont, Inc. v. Secretary of Transportation	362 F. Supp. 627	43
1973	United States v. Ira S. Bushey & Sons, Inc.	363 F. Supp. 110	36
1972	Conservation Society of Southern Vermont, Inc. v. Volpe	343 F. Supp. 761	28
1971	Century Arms, Inc. v. Kennedy	323 F. Supp. 1002	21
1972	United States v. Ira S. Bushey & Sons, Inc.	346 F. Supp. 145	19
1970	Ricker v. Lajoie	314 F. Supp. 401	17
1983	In Re Soter	31 B.R. 986	11
1972	United States Ex Rel. Joy v. Resor	342 F. Supp. 70	11
1972	Leopold v. Young	340 F. Supp. 1014	10
1970	Mauran v. Mary Fletcher Hospital	318 F. Supp. 297	10
1974	Morrisseau v. Mt. Mansfield Television, Inc.	380 F. Supp. 512	6
1972	St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County Railroad v. Canadian Pacific Railway Co.	341 F. Supp. 1368	4
1978	Conservation Society v. Secretary of Transportation	443 F. Supp. 1320	3
1975	NEW ENGLAND T. & T. CO. v. Central Vt. Pub. Serv. Corp.	391 F. Supp. 420	0

Showing the 14 most-cited of 14 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 Lowell Oakes?: President Richard M. Nixon appointed James Lowell Oakes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1971.
Was James Lowell Oakes appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: James Lowell Oakes was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was James Lowell Oakes's confirmation vote?: James Lowell Oakes was confirmed by voice vote on May 20, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was James Lowell Oakes on?: James Lowell Oakes was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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