Who appointed John Decker Butzner Jr.?

President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed John Decker Butzner Jr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1967.

Was John Decker Butzner Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

John Decker Butzner Jr. was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was John Decker Butzner Jr.'s confirmation vote?

John Decker Butzner Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on July 31, 1967. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Fourth Circuit / Appointed 1967 / Served to 2006

John Decker Butzner Jr.

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

Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967 and confirmed by voice vote, John Decker Butzner Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1941. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1917–2006
Appointed by: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1967
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Scranton 1938 · University of Virginia Law 1941
Succeeded: J. Spencer Bell
Succeeded by: James Harvie Wilkinson III

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1962	Eastern District of Virginia succeeded Albert Vickers Bryan	Kennedy (D)	Voice vote
1967	Fourth Circuit succeeded J. Spencer Bell	L.B. Johnson (D)	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 Scranton	B.A.	1938
University of Virginia School of Law	LL.B.	1941

Judicial Record

In our data, Butzner authored 21 published opinions for the court (1963–1968). Most cited: Quarles v. Philip Morris, Incorporated (167 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
1968	Quarles v. Philip Morris, Incorporated	279 F. Supp. 505	167
1967	Quarles v. Philip Morris, Incorporated	271 F. Supp. 842	43
1966	Evans v. Laurel Links, Inc.	261 F. Supp. 474	26
1966	Wright v. County School Board of Greensville County, Va.	252 F. Supp. 378	24
1963	United States v. County School Bd., Prince George County, Va.	221 F. Supp. 93	21
1966	Thompson v. International Association of MacHinists	258 F. Supp. 235	16
1964	Richardson v. United States	226 F. Supp. 49	16
1965	Philip Morris, Inc. v. IMPERIAL TOBACCO CO.(GR. BRIT. & IRE.) LTD.	251 F. Supp. 362	14
1964	Warwick v. United States	236 F. Supp. 761	12
1967	Grinnell Corporation v. VIRGINIA ELECTRIC & POWER COMPANY	277 F. Supp. 507	11
1966	Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp. v. Molins Organizations, Ltd.	261 F. Supp. 436	11
1966	Commonwealth Natural Gas Corporation v. United States	266 F. Supp. 298	10
1966	Holt v. Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority	266 F. Supp. 397	9
1964	Allied Chemical Corp. v. Gulf Atlantic Towing Corp.	244 F. Supp. 2	7
1964	Pettaway v. County School Board of Surry County, Va.	230 F. Supp. 480	7

Showing the 15 most-cited of 21 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 Decker Butzner Jr.?: President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed John Decker Butzner Jr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1967.
Was John Decker Butzner Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: John Decker Butzner Jr. was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was John Decker Butzner Jr.'s confirmation vote?: John Decker Butzner Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on July 31, 1967. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was John Decker Butzner Jr. on?: John Decker Butzner Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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