Who appointed Robert Porter Patterson Sr.?

President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Robert Porter Patterson Sr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1939.

Was Robert Porter Patterson Sr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Robert Porter Patterson Sr. was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Robert Porter Patterson Sr.'s confirmation vote?

Robert Porter Patterson Sr. was confirmed by voice vote on March 20, 1939. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Second Circuit / Appointed 1939 / Served to 1940

Robert Porter Patterson Sr.

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Porter Patterson Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1915. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1891–1952
Appointed by: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1939
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Union College 1912 · Harvard Law School 1915
Succeeded: Martin Thomas Manton
Succeeded by: Jerome New Frank

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1930	Southern District of New York succeeded Thomas Day Thacher	Hoover (R)	Voice vote
1939	Second Circuit succeeded Martin Thomas Manton	F.D. Roosevelt (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

Union College	A.B.	1912
Harvard Law School	LL.B.	1915

Judicial Record

In our data, Patterson authored 134 published opinions for the court (1930–1940). Most cited: Conway v. O'BRIEN (58 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
1940	Conway v. O'BRIEN	111 F.2d 611	58
1939	Dellar v. Samuel Goldwyn, Inc.	104 F.2d 661	54
1935	Zenie Bros. v. Miskend	10 F. Supp. 779	45
1940	Coates v. United States	111 F.2d 609	33
1935	In Re McCrory Stores Corporation	12 F. Supp. 267	31
1938	Seaboard Terminals Corporation v. Standard Oil Co.	24 F. Supp. 1018	30
1940	Higgins v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue	111 F.2d 795	28
1936	Securities & Exchange Commission v. Torr	15 F. Supp. 315	28
1933	Willcox v. Harriman Securities Corporation	10 F. Supp. 532	28
1932	Irving Trust Co. v. Frimitt	1 F. Supp. 16	28
1940	United States Ex Rel. Berlandi v. Reimer	113 F.2d 429	27
1940	Long Island Drug Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue	111 F.2d 593	27
1935	In Re Chase Commissary Corporation	11 F. Supp. 288	26
1939	Baron v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique	108 F.2d 21	25
1939	Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. v. President & Directors of Manhattan Co.	105 F.2d 130	25

Showing the 15 most-cited of 134 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 Porter Patterson Sr.?: President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Robert Porter Patterson Sr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1939.
Was Robert Porter Patterson Sr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Robert Porter Patterson Sr. was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Robert Porter Patterson Sr.'s confirmation vote?: Robert Porter Patterson Sr. was confirmed by voice vote on March 20, 1939. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Robert Porter Patterson Sr. on?: Robert Porter Patterson Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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1 year on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).