Who appointed Paul Allen Simmons?

President Jimmy Carter appointed Paul Allen Simmons to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1978.

Was Paul Allen Simmons appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Paul Allen Simmons was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Paul Allen Simmons's confirmation vote?

Paul Allen Simmons was confirmed by voice vote on April 6, 1978. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Western District of Pennsylvania / Appointed 1978 / Served to 2014

Paul Allen Simmons

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 and confirmed by voice vote, Paul Allen Simmons was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1949. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1921–2014
Appointed by: Jimmy Carter, 1978
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Pittsburgh 1946 · Harvard Law School 1949
Succeeded: Ralph Francis Scalera
Succeeded by: Timothy K. Lewis

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1978	Western District of Pennsylvania succeeded Ralph Francis Scalera	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 Pittsburgh	B.A.	1946
Harvard Law School	J.D.	1949

Judicial Record

In our data, Simmons authored 57 published opinions for the court (1979–1990). Most cited: United States v. Abbott (26 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1984	United States v. Abbott	584 F. Supp. 442	26
1987	United States v. Gardner	658 F. Supp. 1573	19
1983	Compagnee Des Bauxites De Guinee v. Insurance Co. of North America	554 F. Supp. 1080	19
1989	Connors v. Peles	724 F. Supp. 1538	18
1989	Shetterly v. Crown Controls Corp.	719 F. Supp. 385	16
1985	Smith v. Duquesne University	612 F. Supp. 72	16
1986	Donohue v. Custom Management Corp.	634 F. Supp. 1190	15
1984	United States v. Miller	587 F. Supp. 1296	15
1982	Compagnie Des Bauxites De Guinee v. Insurance Co. of North America	551 F. Supp. 1239	15
1980	Marshall v. Brunner	500 F. Supp. 116	14
1990	O'CONNOR v. DeBolt Transfer, Inc.	737 F. Supp. 1430	13
1985	Peoples Natural Gas Co. v. Ashland Oil, Inc.	604 F. Supp. 1517	12
1980	Grove City College Ex Rel. Sickafuse v. Harris	500 F. Supp. 253	12
1989	United Steelworkers v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (In Re Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.)	103 B.R. 672	11
1985	Gales v. United States	617 F. Supp. 42	11

Showing the 15 most-cited of 57 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 Paul Allen Simmons?: President Jimmy Carter appointed Paul Allen Simmons to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1978.
Was Paul Allen Simmons appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Paul Allen Simmons was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Paul Allen Simmons's confirmation vote?: Paul Allen Simmons was confirmed by voice vote on April 6, 1978. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Paul Allen Simmons on?: Paul Allen Simmons was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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