Who appointed Leland Clure Morton?

President Richard M. Nixon appointed Leland Clure Morton to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in 1970.

Was Leland Clure Morton appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Leland Clure Morton was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Leland Clure Morton's confirmation vote?

Leland Clure Morton was confirmed by voice vote on October 8, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Middle District of Tennessee / Appointed 1970 / Served to 1998

Leland Clure Morton

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970 and confirmed by voice vote, Leland Clure Morton was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. He earned a law degree from University of Tennessee College of Law in 1936. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1916–1998
Appointed by: Richard M. Nixon, 1970
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Tennessee 1934 · University of Tennessee College of Law 1936
Succeeded: William Ernest Miller
Succeeded by: Thomas Aquinas Higgins

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1970	Middle District of Tennessee succeeded William Ernest Miller	Nixon (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 Tennessee	B.A.	1934
University of Tennessee College of Law	J.D.	1936

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Morton was assigned 607 district-court cases (1986–1995). Median time from filing to termination: 285 days across 607 closed cases.

Social Security42%

Prisoner & habeas12%

Civil rights9%

Personal-injury torts9%

Contract9%

Real property5%

Other14%

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, Morton authored 152 published opinions for the court (1971–1995). Most cited: Grubbs v. Bradley (107 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1982	Grubbs v. Bradley	552 F. Supp. 1052	107
1995	Brannon v. OshKosh B'Gosh, Inc.	897 F. Supp. 1028	74
1974	Cecil Corley Motor Co., Inc. v. General Motors Corp.	380 F. Supp. 819	70
1978	Riverside Park Realty Co. v. Federal Deposit Insurance	465 F. Supp. 305	69
1977	United States v. Baker	441 F. Supp. 612	42
1979	Oman Construction Co. v. Tennessee Valley Authority	486 F. Supp. 375	38
1974	Koehler v. Cummings	380 F. Supp. 1294	38
1983	Walter E. Heller & Co. Southeast, Inc. v. Matlock Trailer Corp. (In Re Matlock Trailer Corp.)	27 B.R. 318	33
1980	Croushorn v. Board of Trustees of Univ. of Tenn.	518 F. Supp. 9	28
1985	Richards v. United States (In Re Richards)	50 B.R. 339	27
1972	United States Ex Rel. E & R Construction Co. v. Guy H. James Construction Co.	390 F. Supp. 1193	26
1989	Tate v. Trialco Scrap, Inc.	745 F. Supp. 458	25
1987	Tennessee Wheel & Rubber Co. v. American Express Travel Related Services, Co.	75 B.R. 1	25
1974	Crafton v. Luttrell	378 F. Supp. 521	25
1971	Schwinn Bicycle Co. v. Murray Ohio Manufacturing Co.	339 F. Supp. 973	25

Showing the 15 most-cited of 152 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 Leland Clure Morton?: President Richard M. Nixon appointed Leland Clure Morton to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in 1970.
Was Leland Clure Morton appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Leland Clure Morton was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Leland Clure Morton's confirmation vote?: Leland Clure Morton was confirmed by voice vote on October 8, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Leland Clure Morton on?: Leland Clure Morton was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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