Judith Nelsen Keep
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and confirmed by voice vote, Judith Nelsen Keep was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. She earned a law degree from San Diego School of Law (now University of San Diego School of Law) in 1970. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1944–2004
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1980
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Scripps College 1966 · San Diego Law (now of San Diego School of Law) 1970
- Succeeded by
- Janis Lynn Sammartino
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Southern District of California | 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
| Scripps College | B.A. | 1966 |
| San Diego School of Law (now University of San Diego School of Law) | J.D. | 1970 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Keep was assigned 4,631 district-court cases (1980–2004). Median time from filing to termination: 175 days across 4,627 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 10 of Keep’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 10 were affirmed, 0 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, Keep authored 32 published opinions for the court (1983–2004). Most cited: Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. McSweeney (28 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. McSweeney | 772 F. Supp. 1154 | 28 |
| 2001 | Khan v. Fasano | 194 F. Supp. 2d 1134 | 22 |
| 1999 | Alikhani v. Fasano | 70 F. Supp. 2d 1124 | 22 |
| 2004 | Sprint Telephony PCS, L.P. v. County of San Diego | 311 F. Supp. 2d 898 | 19 |
| 1997 | Unigard Insurance v. Department of the Treasury | 997 F. Supp. 1339 | 19 |
| 1988 | Ogden Environmental Services v. City of San Diego | 687 F. Supp. 1436 | 19 |
| 1998 | In Re Maruko, Inc. | 219 B.R. 567 | 18 |
| 1992 | United States Ex Rel. Torres-Martinez Band of Mission Indians & the Allottees v. Imperial Irrigation District | 799 F. Supp. 1052 | 18 |
| 1999 | Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Terri Welles, Inc. | 78 F. Supp. 2d 1066 | 13 |
| 1998 | Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Welles | 7 F. Supp. 2d 1098 | 13 |
| 1990 | Hassard, Bonnington, Roger & Huber v. Home Insurance | 740 F. Supp. 789 | 13 |
| 1994 | M.P. Ex Rel. D.P. v. Governing Board of the Grossmont Union High School District | 858 F. Supp. 1044 | 9 |
| 1987 | Judd v. United States | 650 F. Supp. 1503 | 9 |
| 1987 | Keller v. United States | 667 F. Supp. 1351 | 8 |
| 2003 | Myers v. United States | 297 B.R. 774 | 7 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 32 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 Judith Nelsen Keep?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Judith Nelsen Keep to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 1980.
- Was Judith Nelsen Keep appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Judith Nelsen Keep was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Judith Nelsen Keep's confirmation vote?
- Judith Nelsen Keep was confirmed by voice vote on June 26, 1980. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Judith Nelsen Keep on?
- Judith Nelsen Keep was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Public Information Office for the Office of the Circuit Executive for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (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.
24 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).