Eastern District of North Carolina / Appointed 1961 / Served to 1990

John Davis Larkins Jr.

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

Appointed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and confirmed by voice vote, John Davis Larkins Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1909–1990
Appointed by
John F. Kennedy, 1961
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
Wake Forest College 1929
Succeeded by
William Earl Britt

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1961Eastern District of North CarolinaKennedy (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

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Larkins was assigned 80 district-court cases (1983–1989). Median time from filing to termination: 176 days across 80 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas100%

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.

In our data, Larkins authored 70 published opinions for the court (1963–1987). Most cited: Spencer v. Rhodes (423 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
1987Spencer v. Rhodes656 F. Supp. 458423
1972Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Grant341 F. Supp. 35649
1967Moody v. Albemarle Paper Company271 F. Supp. 2730
1966Hamilton v. State of North Carolina260 F. Supp. 63224
1974Staley v. Homeland, Inc.368 F. Supp. 134423
1973Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Grant355 F. Supp. 28021
1965Downes v. United States249 F. Supp. 62621
1974Wetherington v. Phillips380 F. Supp. 42620
1967United States Ex Rel. F. E. Robinson Co. of N. C., Inc. v. Alpha-Continental273 F. Supp. 75820
1976Isaacson v. Toyota Motor Sales, U. S. A., Inc.438 F. Supp. 117
1975Conservation Council of North Carolina v. Costanzo398 F. Supp. 65314
1978Cole v. Stevenson447 F. Supp. 126813
1975United States v. Sea Gate, Inc.397 F. Supp. 135113
1974Stevens v. Dobs, Inc.373 F. Supp. 61813
1972United States v. Buchanan340 F. Supp. 128513

Showing the 15 most-cited of 70 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 Davis Larkins Jr.?
President John F. Kennedy appointed John Davis Larkins Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in 1961.
Was John Davis Larkins Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
John Davis Larkins Jr. was appointed by President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was John Davis Larkins Jr.'s confirmation vote?
John Davis Larkins Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on August 21, 1961. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was John Davis Larkins Jr. on?
John Davis Larkins Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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