Who appointed Richard Bevan Austin?

President John F. Kennedy appointed Richard Bevan Austin to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1961.

Was Richard Bevan Austin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Richard Bevan Austin was appointed by President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Richard Bevan Austin's confirmation vote?

Richard Bevan Austin was confirmed by voice vote on August 15, 1961. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Northern District of Illinois / Appointed 1961 / Served to 1977

Richard Bevan Austin

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Appointed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and confirmed by voice vote, Richard Bevan Austin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He earned a law degree from University of Chicago Law School in 1926. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1901–1977
Appointed by: John F. Kennedy, 1961
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Denison 1923 · University of Chicago Law School 1926
Succeeded: Walter J. LaBuy
Succeeded by: John Powers Crowley

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1961	Northern District of Illinois succeeded Walter J. LaBuy	Kennedy (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

Denison University	Ph.B.	1923
University of Chicago Law School	J.D.	1926

Judicial Record

In our data, Austin authored 64 published opinions for the court (1965–1976). Most cited: Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority (90 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1969	Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority	296 F. Supp. 907	90
1974	Skil Corporation v. Rockwell International Corp.	375 F. Supp. 777	67
1969	Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority	304 F. Supp. 736	64
1967	Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority	265 F. Supp. 582	41
1972	Bucha v. Illinois High School Association	351 F. Supp. 69	35
1973	Burkhart v. Allson Realty Trust	363 F. Supp. 1286	32
1973	Rotstein v. Reynolds & Co.	359 F. Supp. 109	26
1973	Wilson v. Weaver	358 F. Supp. 1147	23
1973	Green v. Laird	357 F. Supp. 227	21
1970	J. W. Petersen Coal & Oil Co. v. United States	323 F. Supp. 1198	19
1966	General Pool Corporation v. Hallmark Pool Corporation	259 F. Supp. 383	19
1973	Standard Packaging Corporation v. Curwood, Inc.	365 F. Supp. 134	18
1972	Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority	342 F. Supp. 827	18
1975	Collum v. Yurkovich	409 F. Supp. 557	17
1976	Clark v. Universal Builders, Inc.	409 F. Supp. 1274	16

Showing the 15 most-cited of 64 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 Richard Bevan Austin?: President John F. Kennedy appointed Richard Bevan Austin to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1961.
Was Richard Bevan Austin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Richard Bevan Austin was appointed by President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Richard Bevan Austin's confirmation vote?: Richard Bevan Austin was confirmed by voice vote on August 15, 1961. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Richard Bevan Austin on?: Richard Bevan Austin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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