John Thomas Copenhaver Jr.
Appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1976 and confirmed by voice vote, John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. He earned a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law in 1950. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1925–2026
- Appointed by
- Gerald Ford, 1976
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- West Virginia 1947 · West Virginia College of Law 1950
- Succeeded
- Kenneth Keller Hall
- Succeeded by
- Frank William Volk
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Southern District of West Virginia succeeded Kenneth Keller Hall | Ford (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
| West Virginia University | A.B. | 1947 |
| West Virginia University College of Law | LL.B. | 1950 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Copenhaver was assigned 5,892 district-court cases (1976–2025). Median time from filing to termination: 210 days across 5,858 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 164 of Copenhaver’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 152 were affirmed, 6 reversed or vacated, and 6 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, Copenhaver authored 123 published opinions for the court (1977–2011). Most cited: Landmark Corp. v. Apogee Coal Co. (56 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | Landmark Corp. v. Apogee Coal Co. | 945 F. Supp. 932 | 56 |
| 1981 | Dawson v. Kendrick | 527 F. Supp. 1252 | 51 |
| 1992 | In Re Heck's Properties, Inc. | 151 B.R. 739 | 29 |
| 1991 | Tipton v. Secretary of Education of the United States | 768 F. Supp. 540 | 21 |
| 1980 | Medley v. Ginsberg | 492 F. Supp. 1294 | 20 |
| 1992 | Smith v. Monsanto Co. | 822 F. Supp. 327 | 19 |
| 1995 | Rhodes v. Smithers | 939 F. Supp. 1256 | 18 |
| 1994 | Hobet Mining, Inc. v. International Union, United Mine Workers | 877 F. Supp. 1011 | 17 |
| 2007 | Green Tree Servicing, LLC v. Taylor (Taylor) | 369 B.R. 282 | 16 |
| 2004 | Barge v. Western Southern Life Insurance | 307 B.R. 541 | 16 |
| 1988 | Socialist Workers Party v. Hechler | 696 F. Supp. 190 | 16 |
| 2011 | Keffer v. Wyeth | 791 F. Supp. 2d 539 | 15 |
| 2010 | Croye v. Greenpoint Mortgage Funding, Inc. | 740 F. Supp. 2d 788 | 15 |
| 1984 | Brinzer v. Pennsylvania State University (In Re Brinzer) | 45 B.R. 831 | 15 |
| 2005 | Ashworth v. Albers Medical, Inc. | 395 F. Supp. 2d 395 | 14 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 123 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 Thomas Copenhaver Jr.?
- President Gerald Ford appointed John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in 1976.
- Was John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John Thomas Copenhaver Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on September 1, 1976. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. on?
- John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
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.
49 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).