Southern District of Alabama / Appointed 1917 / Served to 1949

Robert Tait Ervin

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama

Appointed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Tait Ervin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. He earned a law degree from University of Alabama School of Law in 1887. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived
1863–1949
Appointed by
Woodrow Wilson, 1917
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
University of Alabama Law 1887
Succeeded by
John McDuffie

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1917Southern District of AlabamaWilson (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

Judicial Record

In our data, Ervin authored 7 published opinions for the court (1925–1937). Most cited: Mobile Drug Co. v. United States (15 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
1930Mobile Drug Co. v. United States39 F.2d 94015
1929Benson v. Crowell33 F.2d 13710
1937The Hirondelle21 F. Supp. 2237
1934Cleveland v. Davis9 F. Supp. 3376
1931United States v. Chapman3 F. Supp. 9006
1925United States v. Henning7 F.2d 4883
1931United States v. Venturini1 F. Supp. 2130

Showing the 7 most-cited of 7 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 Robert Tait Ervin?
President Woodrow Wilson appointed Robert Tait Ervin to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in 1917.
Was Robert Tait Ervin appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Robert Tait Ervin was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Robert Tait Ervin's confirmation vote?
Robert Tait Ervin was confirmed by voice vote on January 23, 1917. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Robert Tait Ervin on?
Robert Tait Ervin was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.

Sources

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

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