Joseph Clemens Howard
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, Joseph Clemens Howard was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He earned a law degree from Drake University Law School in 1955. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1922–2000
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1979
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Iowa 1950 · Drake Law School 1955
- Succeeded by
- Peter Jo Messitte
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | District of Maryland | Carter (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 Iowa | B.A. | 1950 |
| Drake University Law School | LL.B. | 1955 |
| Drake University | M.A. | 1957 |
| Drake University Law School | J.D. | 1968 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Howard was assigned 1,919 district-court cases (1979–1992). Median time from filing to termination: 185 days across 1,919 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, Howard authored 28 published opinions for the court (1980–1992). Most cited: United States v. Mierzwicki (29 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | United States v. Mierzwicki | 500 F. Supp. 1331 | 29 |
| 1987 | Garrett v. Ford Motor Co. | 684 F. Supp. 407 | 25 |
| 1991 | Citizens for the Scenic Severn River Bridge, Inc. v. Skinner | 802 F. Supp. 1325 | 22 |
| 1983 | Riggs National Bank of Washington v. Perry (In Re Perry) | 29 B.R. 787 | 22 |
| 1992 | Wilson v. Amtrak National Railroad | 824 F. Supp. 55 | 19 |
| 1981 | United States v. Bradshaw | 541 F. Supp. 880 | 15 |
| 1980 | Savina v. Gebhart | 497 F. Supp. 65 | 13 |
| 1985 | Jeffrey Banks, Ltd. v. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. | 619 F. Supp. 998 | 12 |
| 1982 | LeFebre v. Westinghouse Electric Corp. | 549 F. Supp. 1021 | 10 |
| 1982 | United States v. Stanford | 551 F. Supp. 209 | 9 |
| 1988 | LJ by and Through Darr v. Massinga | 699 F. Supp. 508 | 8 |
| 1987 | Coley v. Secretary of the Army | 689 F. Supp. 519 | 8 |
| 1982 | United States v. Bradshaw | 541 F. Supp. 884 | 8 |
| 1982 | Free v. Travelers Insurance | 551 F. Supp. 554 | 6 |
| 1988 | United States v. ESIC Capital, Inc. | 685 F. Supp. 483 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 28 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 Clemens Howard?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Joseph Clemens Howard to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in 1979.
- Was Joseph Clemens Howard appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Joseph Clemens Howard was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Joseph Clemens Howard's confirmation vote?
- Joseph Clemens Howard was confirmed by voice vote on October 4, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Joseph Clemens Howard on?
- Joseph Clemens Howard was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- 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.
20 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).