Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr.
Appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1974 and confirmed by voice vote, Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He earned a law degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1945. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1920–2004
- Appointed by
- Gerald Ford, 1974
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Virginia 1945 · University of Virginia Law 1945
- Succeeded
- Walter Edward Hoffman
- Succeeded by
- Robert E. Payne
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Eastern District of Virginia succeeded Walter Edward Hoffman | Ford (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
| University of Virginia | B.S. | 1945 |
| University of Virginia School of Law | LL.B. | 1945 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Clarke was assigned 3,493 district-court cases (1976–1999). Median time from filing to termination: 62 days across 3,493 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 60 of Clarke’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 58 were affirmed, 2 reversed or vacated. 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, Clarke authored 196 published opinions for the court (1975–1999). Most cited: Bracey v. Buchanan (157 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Bracey v. Buchanan | 55 F. Supp. 2d 416 | 157 |
| 1990 | Tessier v. Plastic Surgery Specialists, Inc. | 731 F. Supp. 724 | 65 |
| 1979 | Moore v. Allied Chemical Corp. | 480 F. Supp. 364 | 51 |
| 1977 | Willis v. Semmes, Bowen & Semmes | 441 F. Supp. 1235 | 47 |
| 1992 | Equitable Life Assurance Society v. James River Associates (In Re James River Associates) | 148 B.R. 790 | 40 |
| 1980 | Jacobs v. College of William and Mary | 495 F. Supp. 183 | 33 |
| 1991 | Jesselson v. Outlet Associates of Williamsburg, Ltd. Partnership | 784 F. Supp. 1223 | 29 |
| 1997 | Moore v. Flagstar Bank | 6 F. Supp. 2d 496 | 24 |
| 1985 | United States v. Douglas | 626 F. Supp. 621 | 23 |
| 1988 | Hawks v. City of Newport News, Va. | 707 F. Supp. 212 | 22 |
| 1997 | Cardservice International, Inc. v. McGee | 950 F. Supp. 737 | 21 |
| 1987 | Levy v. Runnells (In Re Landbank Equity Corp. ) | 83 B.R. 362 | 21 |
| 1997 | McLee v. Angelone | 967 F. Supp. 152 | 20 |
| 1986 | Yoder v. Heinold Commodities, Inc. | 630 F. Supp. 756 | 20 |
| 1991 | Superfos Investments Ltd. v. Firstmiss Fertilizer, Inc. | 774 F. Supp. 393 | 19 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 196 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 Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr.?
- President Gerald Ford appointed Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 1974.
- Was Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr. was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on December 19, 1974. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr. on?
- Joseph Calvitt Clarke Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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.
29 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).