Who appointed Robert William Porter?

President Richard M. Nixon appointed Robert William Porter to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in 1974.

Was Robert William Porter appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Robert William Porter was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Robert William Porter's confirmation vote?

Robert William Porter was confirmed by voice vote on June 13, 1974. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Northern District of Texas / Appointed 1974 / Served to 1991

Robert William Porter

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

Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1974 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert William Porter was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1952. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1926–1991
Appointed by: Richard M. Nixon, 1974
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Monmouth College 1949 · University of Michigan Law School 1952
Succeeded: Leo Brewster
Succeeded by: Jorge Antonio Solis

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1974	Northern District of Texas succeeded Leo Brewster	Nixon (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

Monmouth College	A.B.	1949
University of Michigan Law School	J.D.	1952

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Porter was assigned 221 district-court cases (1983–1990). Median time from filing to termination: 468 days across 219 closed cases.

Contract30%

Prisoner & habeas16%

Other federal statutes10%

Civil rights9%

Personal-injury torts8%

Antitrust, securities & banking7%

Other19%

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.

In our data, Porter authored 72 published opinions for the court (1974–1991). Most cited: Smith v. Estelle (39 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1977	Smith v. Estelle	445 F. Supp. 647	39
1979	Rheuark v. Shaw	477 F. Supp. 897	36
1986	Texas Extrusion Corp. v. Palmer, Palmer & Coffee (In Re Texas Extrusion Corp.)	68 B.R. 712	27
1977	Burbank International, Ltd. v. Gulf Consolidated International Inc.	441 F. Supp. 819	26
1978	Doescher v. Estelle	454 F. Supp. 943	25
1978	Shermco Industries, Inc. v. Secretary of the United States Air Force	452 F. Supp. 306	22
1977	Supreme Beef Processors, Inc. v. American Consumer Industries, Inc.	441 F. Supp. 1064	22
1976	Lange v. H. Hentz & Co.	418 F. Supp. 1376	22
1976	Associated Radio Service Co. v. Page Airways, Inc.	414 F. Supp. 1088	21
1979	Rockland Industries, Inc. v. Frank Kasmir Associates	470 F. Supp. 1176	18
1980	National Western Life Insurance v. United States	512 F. Supp. 454	17
1974	Continental Bus System, Inc. v. City of Dallas	386 F. Supp. 359	17
1981	Hunt v. United States Securities & Exchange Commission	520 F. Supp. 580	16
1978	Jordan v. Century Natural Gas Corp.	446 F. Supp. 516	16
1978	In Re WINDOR INDUSTRIES INC.	459 F. Supp. 270	15

Showing the 15 most-cited of 72 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 William Porter?: President Richard M. Nixon appointed Robert William Porter to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in 1974.
Was Robert William Porter appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Robert William Porter was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Robert William Porter's confirmation vote?: Robert William Porter was confirmed by voice vote on June 13, 1974. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Robert William Porter on?: Robert William Porter was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

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.

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