Who appointed John Richard Smoak Jr.?

President George W. Bush appointed John Richard Smoak Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in 2005.

Was John Richard Smoak Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

John Richard Smoak Jr. 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 Richard Smoak Jr.'s confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed John Richard Smoak Jr. 97–0 on October 27, 2005.

Northern District of Florida / Appointed 2005 / Served to 2022

John Richard Smoak Jr.

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005 and confirmed by the Senate 97–0, John Richard Smoak Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. He earned a law degree from University of Florida College of Law (now Fredric G. Levin College of Law) in 1972. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1943–2022
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2005
Confirmed: 97–0
Education: U.S. Military Academy 1965 · University of Florida College of Law (now Fredric G. Levin College of Law) 1972
Succeeded: Clyde Roger Vinson
Succeeded by: T. Kent Wetherell II

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2005	Northern District of Florida succeeded Clyde Roger Vinson	G.W. Bush (R)	97–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 97–0 on October 27, 2005 · 109th Congress, Roll Call 276. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 97

41 D, 55 R, 1 I

Did not vote · 3

3 D

Education

U.S. Military Academy	B.S.	1965
University of Florida College of Law (now Fredric G. Levin College of Law)	J.D.	1972

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Smoak was assigned 1,332 district-court cases (2002–2015). Median time from filing to termination: 199 days across 1,332 closed cases.

Civil rights30%

Prisoner & habeas14%

Labor & ERISA12%

Contract11%

Personal-injury torts9%

Other federal statutes8%

Other15%

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 263 of Smoak’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 231 were affirmed, 20 reversed or vacated, and 12 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, Smoak authored 14 published opinions for the court (2006–2010). Most cited: 316, Inc. v. Maryland Casualty Co. (10 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
2008	316, Inc. v. Maryland Casualty Co.	625 F. Supp. 2d 1187	10
2008	316, Inc. v. Maryland Casualty Co.	625 F. Supp. 2d 1179	7
2007	Army Aviation Heritage Foundation & Museum, Inc. v. Buis	504 F. Supp. 2d 1254	7
2010	Brayshaw v. City of Tallahassee, Fla.	709 F. Supp. 2d 1244	5
2009	Fields v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	751 F. Supp. 2d 1257	4
2008	Gillman Ex Rel. Gillman v. School Board for Holmes County	567 F. Supp. 2d 1359	4
2008	Harris v. Astrue	546 F. Supp. 2d 1267	4
2007	Davis v. City of Panama City, Fla	510 F. Supp. 2d 671	3
2010	O'Hara v. University of West Florida	750 F. Supp. 2d 1287	2
2009	Fields v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	751 F. Supp. 2d 1260	2
2007	Reheiser v. Terminix International Co.	509 F. Supp. 2d 1147	2
2007	Mathis v. Wachovia	509 F. Supp. 2d 1125	2
2007	Gifford v. Thinking Outside, LLC	506 F. Supp. 2d 1104	0
2006	Fuddruckers, Inc. v. Fudpucker's, Inc.	436 F. Supp. 2d 1260	0

Showing the 14 most-cited of 14 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 Richard Smoak Jr.?: President George W. Bush appointed John Richard Smoak Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in 2005.
Was John Richard Smoak Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: John Richard Smoak Jr. 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 Richard Smoak Jr.'s confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed John Richard Smoak Jr. 97–0 on October 27, 2005.
Which court was John Richard Smoak Jr. on?: John Richard Smoak Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

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.

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