Who appointed Joseph H. Rodriguez?

President Ronald Reagan appointed Joseph H. Rodriguez to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in 1985.

Was Joseph H. Rodriguez appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Joseph H. Rodriguez was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Joseph H. Rodriguez's confirmation vote?

Joseph H. Rodriguez was confirmed by voice vote on May 3, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

District of New Jersey / Appointed 1985 / Senior status since 1998

Joseph H. Rodriguez

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, Joseph H. Rodriguez is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. He earned a law degree from Rutgers School of Law -- Camden in 1958. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1930 · age 96
Appointed by: Ronald Reagan, 1985
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: La Salle 1955 · Rutgers Law -- Camden 1958
Succeeded by: Faith S. Hochberg

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1985	District of New Jersey	Reagan (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

La Salle University	A.B.	1955
Rutgers School of Law -- Camden	LL.B.	1958

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Rodriguez was assigned 6,138 district-court cases (1981–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 274 days across 6,112 closed cases.

Personal-injury torts20%

Contract18%

Civil rights15%

Prisoner & habeas14%

Other federal statutes9%

Labor & ERISA9%

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 86 of Rodriguez’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 69 were affirmed, 12 reversed or vacated, and 5 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, Rodriguez authored 95 published opinions for the court (1985–2011). Most cited: United States v. Sensient Colors, Inc. (44 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
2009	United States v. Sensient Colors, Inc.	649 F. Supp. 2d 309	44
2010	Santi v. National Business Records Management, LLC	722 F. Supp. 2d 602	31
1995	Perna v. Electronic Data Systems, Corp.	916 F. Supp. 388	31
1989	In Re Harris	94 B.R. 832	31
1988	United States v. Villard	700 F. Supp. 803	29
2008	Northlight Harbor, LLC v. United States	561 F. Supp. 2d 517	25
1993	Moyer v. Wrecked & Abandoned Vessel	836 F. Supp. 1099	21
1987	Pedi-Care, Inc. v. Pedi-A-Care Nursing, Inc.	656 F. Supp. 449	19
1986	Sea Girt Restaurant & Tavern Owners Ass'n v. Borough of Sea Girt	625 F. Supp. 1482	19
1999	3608 Sounds Avenue Condominium Ass'n v. South Carolina Insurance	58 F. Supp. 2d 499	18
1986	DeHart v. First Fidelity Bank, NA/South Jersey	67 B.R. 740	17
1999	Coalition of New Jersey Sportsmen, Inc. v. Whitman	44 F. Supp. 2d 666	16
2007	Cunningham v. Lenape Regional High District Board of Education	492 F. Supp. 2d 439	15
1989	Bowman v. Township of Pennsauken	709 F. Supp. 1329	15
2008	United States v. Sensient Colors, Inc.	580 F. Supp. 2d 369	14

Showing the 15 most-cited of 95 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 H. Rodriguez?: President Ronald Reagan appointed Joseph H. Rodriguez to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in 1985.
Was Joseph H. Rodriguez appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Joseph H. Rodriguez was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Joseph H. Rodriguez's confirmation vote?: Joseph H. Rodriguez was confirmed by voice vote on May 3, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is Joseph H. Rodriguez on?: Joseph H. Rodriguez is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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.

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