John Watkins Oliver
Appointed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and confirmed by voice vote, John Watkins Oliver was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He earned a law degree from University of Missouri School of Law in 1936. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1914–1990
- Appointed by
- John F. Kennedy, 1962
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Missouri 1933 · University of Missouri Law 1936
- Succeeded
- Randle Jasper Smith
- Succeeded by
- D. Brook Bartlett
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Western District of Missouri succeeded Randle Jasper Smith | Kennedy (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 Missouri | A.B. | 1933 |
| University of Missouri School of Law | LL.B. | 1936 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Oliver was assigned 120 district-court cases (1983–1990). Median time from filing to termination: 167 days across 119 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.
In our data, Oliver authored 244 published opinions for the court (1962–2001). Most cited: Brizendine v. Swenson (59 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Brizendine v. Swenson | 302 F. Supp. 1011 | 59 |
| 1968 | Goodwin v. Swenson | 287 F. Supp. 166 | 54 |
| 1973 | Luetkemeyer v. Kaufmann | 364 F. Supp. 376 | 35 |
| 1974 | United States v. Duardi | 384 F. Supp. 874 | 33 |
| 1977 | Ahrens v. Thomas | 434 F. Supp. 873 | 32 |
| 1968 | Adams Dairy Company v. National Dairy Products Corp. | 293 F. Supp. 1135 | 32 |
| 1982 | Nelson Ex Rel. Wharton v. Freeman | 537 F. Supp. 602 | 31 |
| 1973 | Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. v. Froehlke | 368 F. Supp. 231 | 31 |
| 1974 | Hardison v. Trans World Airlines | 375 F. Supp. 877 | 30 |
| 1970 | Wertzberger v. United States | 315 F. Supp. 34 | 29 |
| 1972 | Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. v. Froehlke | 348 F. Supp. 338 | 27 |
| 1986 | Blinde v. Spader (In Re Spader) | 66 B.R. 618 | 26 |
| 1968 | Scoggin v. Lincoln University | 291 F. Supp. 161 | 24 |
| 1963 | United States Ex Rel. Fine v. Travelers Indemnity Co. | 215 F. Supp. 455 | 24 |
| 1982 | Continental Builders v. McElmurry (In Re McElmurry) | 23 B.R. 533 | 22 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 244 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 Watkins Oliver?
- President John F. Kennedy appointed John Watkins Oliver to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in 1962.
- Was John Watkins Oliver appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John Watkins Oliver 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 Watkins Oliver's confirmation vote?
- John Watkins Oliver was confirmed by voice vote on April 2, 1962. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was John Watkins Oliver on?
- John Watkins Oliver was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
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.
28 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).