John A. Mendez
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2008 and confirmed by voice vote, John A. Mendez is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1980. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1955 · age 71
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2008
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Stanford 1977 · Harvard Law School 1980
- Succeeded
- David F. Levi
- Succeeded by
- Daniel Joe Powell Calabretta
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Eastern District of California succeeded David F. Levi | G.W. Bush (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
| Stanford University | B.A. | 1977 |
| Harvard Law School | J.D. | 1980 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Mendez was assigned 4,011 district-court cases (1986–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 160 days across 3,553 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 581 of Mendez’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 452 were affirmed, 81 reversed or vacated, and 48 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, Mendez authored 13 published opinions for the court (2008–2011). Most cited: CONTRERAS, EX REL. CONTRERAS v. County of Glenn (18 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | CONTRERAS, EX REL. CONTRERAS v. County of Glenn | 725 F. Supp. 2d 1157 | 18 |
| 2010 | International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 2376 v. City of Vallejo, CA | 432 B.R. 262 | 9 |
| 2010 | Fontana v. ALPINE COUNTY | 750 F. Supp. 2d 1148 | 5 |
| 2008 | Calkins v. Playboy Enterprises International, Inc. | 561 F. Supp. 2d 1136 | 5 |
| 2009 | Barnes v. County of Placer | 654 F. Supp. 2d 1066 | 4 |
| 2010 | CONTRERAS EX REL. CONTRERAS v. County of Glenn | 725 F. Supp. 2d 1151 | 3 |
| 2010 | United States v. Iron Mountain Mines | 724 F. Supp. 2d 1086 | 3 |
| 2008 | Video Gaming Technologies, Inc. v. Bureau of Gambling Control | 621 F. Supp. 2d 918 | 3 |
| 2008 | Tinker v. Versata, Inc. Group Disability Income Insurance Plan | 566 F. Supp. 2d 1158 | 3 |
| 2011 | United States v. Sierra Pacific Industries | 759 F. Supp. 2d 1215 | 2 |
| 2008 | Hughes v. Arnold | 393 B.R. 712 | 2 |
| 2010 | PMA CAPITAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. American Safety Indem. Co. | 695 F. Supp. 2d 1124 | 1 |
| 2008 | Anthoine v. North Central Counties Consortium | 571 F. Supp. 2d 1173 | 1 |
Showing the 13 most-cited of 13 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 A. Mendez?
- President George W. Bush appointed John A. Mendez to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in 2008.
- Was John A. Mendez appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John A. Mendez was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John A. Mendez's confirmation vote?
- John A. Mendez was confirmed by voice vote on April 10, 2008. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is John A. Mendez on?
- John A. Mendez is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- 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.
18 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).