Richard J. Leon
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and confirmed by voice vote, Richard J. Leon is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He earned a law degree from Suffolk University Law School in 1974. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1949 · age 77
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2002
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- College of the Holy Cross 1971 · Suffolk Law School 1974
- Succeeded
- Norma Holloway Johnson
- Succeeded by
- Trevor Neil McFadden
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | District of Columbia succeeded Norma Holloway Johnson | G.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 the Holy Cross | A.B. | 1971 |
| Suffolk University Law School | J.D. | 1974 |
| Harvard Law School | LL.M. | 1981 |
Before the bench
Professional career before and outside the federal bench, as recorded by the Federal Judicial Center.
| Law clerk, Massachusetts Superior Court | 1974-1975 |
| Law clerk, Hon. Thomas F. Kelleher, Supreme Court of Rhode Island | 1975-1976 |
| Attorney, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program | 1976-1977 |
| Special assistant U.S. attorney, Civil Division, Southern District of New York | 1977-1978 |
| Assistant professor of law, St. John's University School of Law | 1979-1983 |
| Senior trial attorney, Criminal Section, Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice | 1983-1987 |
| Deputy chief minority counsel, U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran | 1987-1988 |
| Deputy assistant attorney general, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice | 1988-1989 |
| Private practice, Washington, D.C. | 1989-2002 |
| Commissioner, White House Fellows Commission | 1990-1993 |
| Chief minority counsel, October Surprise Task Force, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs | 1992-1993 |
| Special counsel, Whitewater investigation, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs | 1994 |
| Adjunct professor, Georgetown University Law Center | 1997- |
| Special counsel, U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Reform Task Force | 1997 |
| Commissioner, Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control | 2000-2001 |
| Adjunct professor, George Washington University Law School | 2004- |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Leon was assigned 2,473 district-court cases (1976–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 294 days across 2,208 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 410 of Leon’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 245 were affirmed, 109 reversed or vacated, and 56 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, Leon authored 1,647 published opinions for the court (2002–2026). Most cited: Skalka v. Johnson (181 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Skalka v. Johnson | 246 F. Supp. 3d 147 | 181 |
| 2006 | Jackson v. Bush | 448 F. Supp. 2d 198 | 75 |
| 2008 | Marcelus v. Corrections Corp. of America/Correctional Treatment Facility | 540 F. Supp. 2d 231 | 67 |
| 2002 | Shawnee Tribe v. United States | 298 F. Supp. 2d 21 | 67 |
| 2004 | Logan v. Department of Veterans Affairs | 357 F. Supp. 2d 149 | 64 |
| 2008 | Wolf v. Central Intelligence Agency | 569 F. Supp. 2d 1 | 59 |
| 2009 | Amuso v. United States Department of Justice | 600 F. Supp. 2d 78 | 57 |
| 2009 | Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security | 598 F. Supp. 2d 93 | 52 |
| 2004 | Brady v. Livingood | 360 F. Supp. 2d 94 | 52 |
| 2009 | Khalil v. L-3 COMMUNICATIONS TITAN GROUP | 656 F. Supp. 2d 134 | 48 |
| 2010 | Government Accountability Project v. U.S. Department of State | 699 F. Supp. 2d 97 | 47 |
| 2008 | Laurent v. Bureau of Rehabilitation, Inc. | 544 F. Supp. 2d 17 | 45 |
| 2008 | Banks v. ASTURE | 537 F. Supp. 2d 75 | 45 |
| 2010 | Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security | 736 F. Supp. 2d 202 | 44 |
| 2006 | Howerton v. Ogletree | 466 F. Supp. 2d 182 | 42 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 1,647 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 J. Leon?
- President George W. Bush appointed Richard J. Leon to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2002.
- Was Richard J. Leon appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Richard J. Leon was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Richard J. Leon's confirmation vote?
- Richard J. Leon was confirmed by voice vote on February 14, 2002. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Richard J. Leon on?
- Richard J. Leon is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Beverly Rezneck (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.
24 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Data as of 2026-09-28. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).