John Winslow Bissell
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 and confirmed by voice vote, John Winslow Bissell was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. He earned a law degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1965. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1940 · age 86
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1982
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Princeton 1962 · University of Virginia Law 1965
- Succeeded
- Vincent Pasquale Biunno
- Succeeded by
- Susan Davis Wigenton
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | District of New Jersey succeeded Vincent Pasquale Biunno | Reagan (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
| Princeton University | A.B. | 1962 |
| University of Virginia School of Law | LL.B. | 1965 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Bissell was assigned 4,539 district-court cases (1982–2005). Median time from filing to termination: 224 days across 4,535 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 19 of Bissell’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 15 were affirmed, 0 reversed or vacated, and 4 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, Bissell authored 59 published opinions for the court (1983–2005). Most cited: W.P. v. Poritz (38 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | W.P. v. Poritz | 931 F. Supp. 1199 | 38 |
| 1995 | Weiss v. Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc. | 899 F. Supp. 1297 | 33 |
| 1998 | New Jersey Turnpike Authority v. PPG Industries, Inc. | 16 F. Supp. 2d 460 | 26 |
| 1999 | Mardini v. Viking Freight, Inc. | 92 F. Supp. 2d 378 | 24 |
| 1987 | T.B. Harms Co. v. Jem Records, Inc. | 655 F. Supp. 1575 | 24 |
| 1992 | Harrah Ex Rel. Joseph v. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. | 809 F. Supp. 313 | 22 |
| 2005 | In Re Royal Dutch/Shell Transport Securities Litigation | 380 F. Supp. 2d 509 | 20 |
| 1998 | Osteotech, Inc. v. Gensci Regeneration Sciences, Inc. | 6 F. Supp. 2d 349 | 20 |
| 1991 | Fineman v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. | 774 F. Supp. 225 | 20 |
| 1989 | Panek v. Bogucz | 718 F. Supp. 1228 | 18 |
| 1991 | Fineman v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. | 774 F. Supp. 266 | 17 |
| 1986 | Falter v. Veterans Administration | 632 F. Supp. 196 | 17 |
| 1991 | Grant v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of New York, Inc. | 780 F. Supp. 246 | 16 |
| 1991 | Carteret Savings Bank, FA v. Office of Thrift Supervision | 762 F. Supp. 1159 | 16 |
| 1988 | Meyer v. International Playtex, Inc. | 724 F. Supp. 288 | 14 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 59 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 John Winslow Bissell?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed John Winslow Bissell to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in 1982.
- Was John Winslow Bissell appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John Winslow Bissell was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John Winslow Bissell's confirmation vote?
- John Winslow Bissell was confirmed by voice vote on December 10, 1982. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was John Winslow Bissell on?
- John Winslow Bissell was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- 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.
22 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).