Who appointed John Lewis Smith Jr.?

President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed John Lewis Smith Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 1966.

Was John Lewis Smith Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

John Lewis Smith Jr. was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was John Lewis Smith Jr.'s confirmation vote?

John Lewis Smith Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on October 20, 1966. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

District of Columbia / Appointed 1966 / Served to 1992

John Lewis Smith Jr.

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 and confirmed by voice vote, John Lewis Smith Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He earned a law degree from Georgetown College Law School (now Georgetown University Law Center) in 1938. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1912–1992
Appointed by: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Princeton 1935 · Georgetown College Law School (now Georgetown Law Center) 1938
Succeeded: Luther Wallace Youngdahl
Succeeded by: Stanley S. Harris

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1966	District of Columbia succeeded Luther Wallace Youngdahl	L.B. Johnson (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

Princeton University	A.B.	1935
Georgetown College Law School (now Georgetown University Law Center)	LL.B.	1938
Georgetown College Law School (now Georgetown University Law Center)	LL.M.	1939

Judicial Record

In our data, Smith authored 109 published opinions for the court (1967–1988). Most cited: Montgomery Environmental Coalition v. Fri (41 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1973	Montgomery Environmental Coalition v. Fri	366 F. Supp. 261	41
1979	King v. Califano	471 F. Supp. 180	26
1967	Public Affairs Associates, Inc. v. Rickover	268 F. Supp. 444	26
1982	D. C. Transit System, Inc. v. United States	531 F. Supp. 808	25
1976	Cherry v. Mathews	419 F. Supp. 922	24
1977	National Retired Teachers Ass'n v. United States Postal Service	430 F. Supp. 141	23
1973	Walker v. Kleindienst	357 F. Supp. 749	23
1984	Benvenuti v. Department of Defense	587 F. Supp. 348	21
1981	Sanders v. United States	518 F. Supp. 728	21
1969	Marjorie Webster Junior College, Inc. v. Middle States Ass'n of Colleges & Secondary Schools, Inc.	302 F. Supp. 459	19
1976	Halperin v. Kissinger	424 F. Supp. 838	18
1974	United States v. National Society of Professional Engineers	389 F. Supp. 1193	18
1984	Lovell v. Department of Justice	589 F. Supp. 150	17
1984	Penick v. Frank E. Basil, Inc. of Delaware	579 F. Supp. 160	16
1972	Bermudez v. U. S. Department of Agriculture	348 F. Supp. 1279	16

Showing the 15 most-cited of 109 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 Lewis Smith Jr.?: President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed John Lewis Smith Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 1966.
Was John Lewis Smith Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: John Lewis Smith Jr. was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was John Lewis Smith Jr.'s confirmation vote?: John Lewis Smith Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on October 20, 1966. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was John Lewis Smith Jr. on?: John Lewis Smith Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

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