Ralph B. Guy Jr.
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, Ralph B. Guy Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1953. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1929–2026
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1985
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Michigan 1951 · University of Michigan Law School 1953
- Succeeded by
- Eric L. Clay
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Eastern District of Michigan succeeded Frederick William Kaess | Ford (R) | Voice vote |
| 1985 | Sixth Circuit | Reagan (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 | A.B. | 1951 |
| University of Michigan Law School | J.D. | 1953 |
Judicial Record
In our data, Guy authored 25 published opinions for the court (1976–1985). Most cited: Fargo MacHine & Tool Co. v. Kearney & Trecker Corp. (71 citations).
Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Selected opinions
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Fargo MacHine & Tool Co. v. Kearney & Trecker Corp. | 428 F. Supp. 364 | 71 |
| 1981 | Bank of the Commonwealth v. Bevan | 13 B.R. 989 | 60 |
| 1980 | Genzer v. Cunningham | 498 F. Supp. 682 | 34 |
| 1978 | McAlpine v. AAMCO Automatic Transmissions, Inc. | 461 F. Supp. 1232 | 33 |
| 1977 | Van Horn v. Western Electric Co. | 424 F. Supp. 920 | 32 |
| 1976 | Mastie v. Great Lakes Steel Corp. | 424 F. Supp. 1299 | 29 |
| 1978 | Dickinson v. Chrysler Corp. | 456 F. Supp. 43 | 20 |
| 1984 | Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. Burns | 587 F. Supp. 161 | 19 |
| 1982 | Kennard v. United Parcel Service, Inc. | 531 F. Supp. 1139 | 19 |
| 1983 | Frent v. United States | 571 F. Supp. 739 | 18 |
| 1978 | Felix v. Milliken | 463 F. Supp. 1360 | 17 |
| 1976 | General Motors Corp. v. Townsend | 468 F. Supp. 466 | 16 |
| 1978 | Marshall v. Dist. Ct. for Forty-First-B Jud. Dist. | 444 F. Supp. 1110 | 15 |
| 1976 | Bigelow-Liptak Corp. v. Continental Insurance | 417 F. Supp. 1276 | 15 |
| 1980 | Smart v. First Federal S & L Ass'n of Detroit | 500 F. Supp. 1147 | 13 |
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 Ralph B. Guy Jr.?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Ralph B. Guy Jr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1985.
- Was Ralph B. Guy Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Ralph B. Guy Jr. was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Ralph B. Guy Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- Ralph B. Guy Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on October 16, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Ralph B. Guy Jr. on?
- Ralph B. Guy Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
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40 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).