Who appointed Richard K. Eaton?

President William J. Clinton appointed Richard K. Eaton to the U.S. Court of International Trade in 1999.

Was Richard K. Eaton appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Richard K. Eaton was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Richard K. Eaton's confirmation vote?

Richard K. Eaton was confirmed by voice vote on October 22, 1999. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

U.S. Court of International Trade / Appointed 1999 / Senior status since 2014

Richard K. Eaton

Judge, U.S. Court of International Trade

Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1999 and confirmed by voice vote, Richard K. Eaton is a Judge on the U.S. Court of International Trade. He earned a law degree from Albany Law School in 1974. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1948 · age 78
Appointed by: William J. Clinton, 1999
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Ithaca College 1970 · Albany Law School 1974
Succeeded: R. Kenton Musgrave
Succeeded by: Timothy Mark Reif

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1999	U.S. Court of International Trade succeeded R. Kenton Musgrave	Clinton (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

Ithaca College	B.A.	1970
Albany Law School	J.D.	1974

Judicial Record

In our data, Eaton authored 89 published opinions for the court (2000–2024). Most cited: Xinjiamei Furniture (Zhangzhou) Co., Ltd. v. United States (86 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
2014	Xinjiamei Furniture (Zhangzhou) Co., Ltd. v. United States	968 F. Supp. 2d 1255	86
2006	Shandong Huarong MacHinery Co. v. United States	435 F. Supp. 2d 1261	46
2003	Hontex Enterprises, Inc. v. United States	248 F. Supp. 2d 1323	24
2014	Jacobi Carbons AB v. United States	992 F. Supp. 2d 1360	19
2004	Dofasco Inc. v. United States	326 F. Supp. 2d 1340	19
2006	Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. v. United States	460 F. Supp. 2d 1338	18
2001	Elkem Metals Co. v. United States	135 F. Supp. 2d 1324	18
2002	Elkem Metals Co. v. United States	193 F. Supp. 2d 1314	15
2019	Clearon Corp. v. United States	359 F. Supp. 3d 1344	14
2017	Maverick Tube Corp. v. United States	273 F. Supp. 3d 1293	14
2015	Beijing Tianhai Industry Co. v. United States	52 F. Supp. 3d 1351	13
2014	Shenyang Yuanda Aluminum Industry Engineering Co. v. United States	961 F. Supp. 2d 1291	12
2011	Tianjin MacHinery Import & Export Corp. v. United States	752 F. Supp. 2d 1336	11
2008	Canadian Wheat Board v. United States	580 F. Supp. 2d 1350	11
2005	Nippon Steel Corp. v. United States	391 F. Supp. 2d 1258	11

Showing the 15 most-cited of 89 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 K. Eaton?: President William J. Clinton appointed Richard K. Eaton to the U.S. Court of International Trade in 1999.
Was Richard K. Eaton appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Richard K. Eaton was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Richard K. Eaton's confirmation vote?: Richard K. Eaton was confirmed by voice vote on October 22, 1999. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is Richard K. Eaton on?: Richard K. Eaton is a Judge on the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

26 years on the U.S. Court of International Trade. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).