Who appointed Lonny R. Suko?

President George W. Bush appointed Lonny R. Suko to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in 2003.

Was Lonny R. Suko appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Lonny R. Suko was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Lonny R. Suko's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Lonny R. Suko 94–0 on July 15, 2003.

Eastern District of Washington / Appointed 2003 / Senior status since 2013

Lonny R. Suko

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 and confirmed by the Senate 94–0, Lonny R. Suko is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. He earned a law degree from University of Idaho College of Law in 1968. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1943 · age 83
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2003
Confirmed: 94–0
Education: Washington State 1965 · University of Idaho College of Law 1968
Succeeded: William Fremming Nielsen
Succeeded by: Salvador Mendoza Jr.

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2003	Eastern District of Washington succeeded William Fremming Nielsen	G.W. Bush (R)	94–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 94–0 on July 15, 2003 · 108th Congress, Roll Call 276. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 94

43 D, 50 R, 1 I

Did not vote · 6

5 D, 1 R

Education

Washington State University	B.A.	1965
University of Idaho College of Law	J.D.	1968

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Suko was assigned 1,501 district-court cases (1985–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 286 days across 1,490 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas29%

Social Security23%

Other civil matters12%

Contract9%

Personal-injury torts6%

Other federal statutes6%

Other17%

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 137 of Suko’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 116 were affirmed, 13 reversed or vacated, and 8 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, Suko authored 25 published opinions for the court (1996–2011). Most cited: Allen v. Wood (25 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
1997	Allen v. Wood	970 F. Supp. 824	25
2009	United States v. Grote	629 F. Supp. 2d 1201	20
2004	National Licensing Ass'n v. Inland Joseph Fruit Co.	361 F. Supp. 2d 1244	19
2005	Griffin v. J-RECORDS	398 F. Supp. 2d 1137	7
2009	ESTATE OF ECKSTEIN EX REL. LUCKEY v. Life Care Centers of America	623 F. Supp. 2d 1235	6
1996	Schenck v. Edwards	921 F. Supp. 679	6
2010	Fleetwood v. Stanley Steemer International, Inc.	725 F. Supp. 2d 1258	5
2010	Wild Fish Conservancy v. Salazar	688 F. Supp. 2d 1225	4
2010	Teck Metals, Ltd. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's	735 F. Supp. 2d 1231	3
2009	Balkenbush v. Ortho Biotech Products, L.P.	653 F. Supp. 2d 1115	3
2006	Van Well Nursery, Inc. v. Mony Life Insurance	421 F. Supp. 2d 1321	3
2010	Teck Metals, Ltd. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's	735 F. Supp. 2d 1246	2
2010	Teck Metals, Ltd. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's	735 F. Supp. 2d 1260	2
2009	Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd.	632 F. Supp. 2d 1029	2
2007	Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakama v. United States	616 F. Supp. 2d 1094	2

Showing the 15 most-cited of 25 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 Lonny R. Suko?: President George W. Bush appointed Lonny R. Suko to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in 2003.
Was Lonny R. Suko appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Lonny R. Suko was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Lonny R. Suko's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Lonny R. Suko 94–0 on July 15, 2003.
Which court is Lonny R. Suko on?: Lonny R. Suko is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.

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.

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