John Donelson Martin Sr.
Appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 and confirmed by voice vote, John Donelson Martin Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1905. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1883–1962
- Appointed by
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1940
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Virginia Law 1905
- Succeeded by
- Harry Phillips
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Western District of Tennessee succeeded Harry Bennett Anderson | F.D. Roosevelt (D) | Voice vote |
| 1940 | Sixth Circuit | F.D. Roosevelt (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 Virginia School of Law | LL.B. | 1905 |
Judicial Record
In our data, Martin authored 9 published opinions for the court (1935–1940). Most cited: Wood v. Central Sand & Gravel Co. (51 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Wood v. Central Sand & Gravel Co. | 33 F. Supp. 40 | 51 |
| 1940 | Lewis v. Nailling | 36 F. Supp. 187 | 13 |
| 1939 | United States v. Reese | 27 F. Supp. 833 | 13 |
| 1939 | Waybright v. Columbian Mut. Life Ins. Co. | 30 F. Supp. 885 | 7 |
| 1936 | Collins v. City of Memphis | 16 F. Supp. 204 | 7 |
| 1935 | La Croix v. United States | 11 F. Supp. 817 | 7 |
| 1936 | Bemis Bro. Bag Co. v. Feidelson | 13 F. Supp. 153 | 5 |
| 1936 | United States v. Bogy | 16 F. Supp. 407 | 4 |
| 1939 | Joyner v. Browning | 30 F. Supp. 512 | 3 |
Showing the 9 most-cited of 9 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 Donelson Martin Sr.?
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed John Donelson Martin Sr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1940.
- Was John Donelson Martin Sr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John Donelson Martin Sr. was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John Donelson Martin Sr.'s confirmation vote?
- John Donelson Martin Sr. was confirmed by voice vote on August 27, 1940. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was John Donelson Martin Sr. on?
- John Donelson Martin Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
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21 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).