Rebecca Beach Smith
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1989 and confirmed by voice vote, Rebecca Beach Smith is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. She earned a law degree from William and Mary Law School in 1979. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1949 · age 77
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1989
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- College of William and Mary 1971 · William and Mary Law School 1979
- Succeeded
- David Dortch Warriner
- Succeeded by
- Roderick Charles Young
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Eastern District of Virginia succeeded David Dortch Warriner | G.H.W. Bush (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
| College of William and Mary | B.A. | 1971 |
| University of Virginia | M.A. | 1973 |
| William and Mary Law School | J.D. | 1979 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Smith was assigned 4,486 district-court cases (1983–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 126 days across 4,343 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.
On appeal
Of 564 of Smith’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 498 were affirmed, 38 reversed or vacated, and 28 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, Smith authored 366 published opinions for the court (1990–2011). Most cited: White v. CMA Const. Co., Inc. (59 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | White v. CMA Const. Co., Inc. | 947 F. Supp. 231 | 59 |
| 2000 | Cognitronics Imaging Systems, Inc. v. Recognition Research Inc. | 83 F. Supp. 2d 689 | 56 |
| 1992 | Creekmore v. Food Lion, Inc. | 797 F. Supp. 505 | 54 |
| 1996 | International Longshoremen's Ass'n, Steamship Clerks Local 1624 v. Virginia International Terminals, Inc. | 914 F. Supp. 1335 | 53 |
| 2007 | JTH Tax, Inc. v. Lee | 482 F. Supp. 2d 731 | 51 |
| 1997 | Hatton v. Spencer (In Re Hatton) | 204 B.R. 477 | 49 |
| 1995 | Smithfield Ham & Products Co. v. Portion Pac, Inc. | 905 F. Supp. 346 | 49 |
| 2003 | D'ADDARIO v. Geller | 264 F. Supp. 2d 367 | 47 |
| 1995 | Davis v. Hudgins | 896 F. Supp. 561 | 44 |
| 1991 | Unlimited Screw Products, Inc. v. Malm | 781 F. Supp. 1121 | 36 |
| 2000 | O'Ryan v. Dehler Manufacturing Co. | 99 F. Supp. 2d 714 | 32 |
| 2002 | Shooting Point, L.L.C. v. Cumming | 238 F. Supp. 2d 729 | 31 |
| 1999 | Demuren v. Old Dominion University | 33 F. Supp. 2d 469 | 31 |
| 1996 | Atlantic Textile Group, Inc. v. Neal | 191 B.R. 652 | 31 |
| 1993 | Breeden v. Catron (In Re Catron) | 158 B.R. 629 | 31 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 366 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 Rebecca Beach Smith?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed Rebecca Beach Smith to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 1989.
- Was Rebecca Beach Smith appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Rebecca Beach Smith was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Rebecca Beach Smith's confirmation vote?
- Rebecca Beach Smith was confirmed by voice vote on October 24, 1989. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Rebecca Beach Smith on?
- Rebecca Beach Smith is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Courts (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.
36 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).