Who appointed Janis Lynn Sammartino?

President George W. Bush appointed Janis Lynn Sammartino to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 2007.

Was Janis Lynn Sammartino appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Janis Lynn Sammartino was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Janis Lynn Sammartino's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Janis Lynn Sammartino 90–0 on September 10, 2007.

Southern District of California / Appointed 2007 / Active

Janis Lynn Sammartino

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2007 and confirmed by the Senate 90–0, Janis Lynn Sammartino is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. She earned a law degree from Notre Dame Law School in 1975. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1950 · age 76
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2007
Confirmed: 90–0
Education: Occidental College 1972 · Notre Dame Law School 1975
Succeeded: Judith Nelsen Keep

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2007	Southern District of California succeeded Judith Nelsen Keep	G.W. Bush (R)	90–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 90–0 on September 10, 2007 · 110th Congress, Roll Call 328. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 90

43 D, 46 R, 1 I

Did not vote · 10

6 D, 3 R, 1 I

Education

Occidental College	A.B.	1972
Notre Dame Law School	J.D.	1975

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Sammartino was assigned 3,086 district-court cases (1993–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 162 days across 2,617 closed cases.

Other civil matters24%

Prisoner & habeas17%

Other federal statutes12%

Intellectual property9%

Civil rights8%

Contract6%

Other24%

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 218 of Sammartino’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 170 were affirmed, 36 reversed or vacated, and 12 affirmed in part and reversed in part. 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, Sammartino authored 23 published opinions for the court (2008–2011). Most cited: Mehta v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA (21 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
2010	Mehta v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA	737 F. Supp. 2d 1185	21
2008	Federal Trade Commission v. Neovi, Inc.	598 F. Supp. 2d 1104	15
2011	Dilts v. Penske Logistics LLC	819 F. Supp. 2d 1109	13
2011	Marchante v. Sony Corp. of America, Inc.	801 F. Supp. 2d 1013	12
2008	Bell v. Harley Davidson Motor Co.	539 F. Supp. 2d 1249	9
2008	In Re DOT Hill Systems Corp. Securities Litigation	594 F. Supp. 2d 1150	5
2010	INTERNATIONAL GAMCO, INC. v. Multimedia Games, Inc.	732 F. Supp. 2d 1082	4
2010	Hart v. San Diego Credit Union	449 B.R. 783	4
2008	In Re Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Securities Litigation	548 F. Supp. 2d 1126	4
2011	Southern California Stroke Rehabilitation Associates, Inc. v. Nautilus, Inc.	782 F. Supp. 2d 1096	3
2009	City of Carlsbad v. Shah	666 F. Supp. 2d 1159	3
2008	Yang v. DTS Financial Group	570 F. Supp. 2d 1257	3
2011	Hammes Co. Healthcare, LLC v. Tri-City Healthcare District	801 F. Supp. 2d 1023	2
2011	CITIZENS LEGAL ENFORCEMENT & RESTORATION v. Connor	762 F. Supp. 2d 1214	2
2010	Ruiz v. AFFINITY LOGISTICS CORP.	697 F. Supp. 2d 1199	2

Showing the 15 most-cited of 23 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 Janis Lynn Sammartino?: President George W. Bush appointed Janis Lynn Sammartino to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 2007.
Was Janis Lynn Sammartino appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Janis Lynn Sammartino was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Janis Lynn Sammartino's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Janis Lynn Sammartino 90–0 on September 10, 2007.
Which court is Janis Lynn Sammartino on?: Janis Lynn Sammartino is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

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