Ralph McKenzie Freeman
Appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954 and confirmed by voice vote, Ralph McKenzie Freeman was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1926. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1902–1990
- Appointed by
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Michigan Law School 1926
- Succeeded by
- James Harvey
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Eastern District of Michigan | Eisenhower (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 Michigan Law School | LL.B. | 1926 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Freeman was assigned 291 district-court cases (1981–1990). Median time from filing to termination: 218 days across 291 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.
In our data, Freeman authored 135 published opinions for the court (1955–1989). Most cited: Sims v. Parke Davis & Co. (73 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Sims v. Parke Davis & Co. | 334 F. Supp. 774 | 73 |
| 1983 | Barker v. Underwriters at Lloyd's, London | 564 F. Supp. 352 | 40 |
| 1977 | Munford v. James T. Barnes & Co. | 441 F. Supp. 459 | 38 |
| 1979 | Schultz v. Reader's Digest Ass'n | 468 F. Supp. 551 | 34 |
| 1985 | United States v. Swanson | 618 F. Supp. 1231 | 31 |
| 1963 | United States v. an Article of Drug Consisting of 250 Jars | 218 F. Supp. 208 | 30 |
| 1970 | Stapleton v. Clerk for City of Inkster | 311 F. Supp. 1187 | 29 |
| 1955 | Buffa v. General Motors Corporation | 131 F. Supp. 478 | 26 |
| 1982 | Hill v. BASF Wyandotte Corp. | 547 F. Supp. 348 | 24 |
| 1974 | Schaefer v. Tannian | 394 F. Supp. 1128 | 24 |
| 1974 | Koehring Company v. API, INCORPORATED | 369 F. Supp. 882 | 23 |
| 1966 | Henry J. Kaiser Company v. McLouth Steel Corp. | 257 F. Supp. 372 | 22 |
| 1989 | Hall American Center Associates Ltd. Partnership v. Dick | 726 F. Supp. 1083 | 21 |
| 1989 | United States v. Certain Real Property Located at 987 Fisher Road | 719 F. Supp. 1396 | 20 |
| 1987 | United States v. Nagaro-Garbin | 653 F. Supp. 586 | 20 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 135 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 Ralph McKenzie Freeman?
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Ralph McKenzie Freeman to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1954.
- Was Ralph McKenzie Freeman appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Ralph McKenzie Freeman was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Ralph McKenzie Freeman's confirmation vote?
- Ralph McKenzie Freeman was confirmed by voice vote on June 8, 1954. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Ralph McKenzie Freeman on?
- Ralph McKenzie Freeman was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Government (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.
35 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).