Who appointed S. James Otero?

President George W. Bush appointed S. James Otero to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 2003.

Was S. James Otero appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

S. James Otero was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was S. James Otero's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed S. James Otero 94–0 on February 10, 2003.

Central District of California / Appointed 2003 / Served to 2020

S. James Otero

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 and confirmed by the Senate 94–0, S. James Otero was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He earned a law degree from Stanford Law School in 1976. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1951 · age 75
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2003
Confirmed: 94–0
Education: California State, Northridge 1973 · Stanford Law School 1976
Succeeded: Richard A. Paez
Succeeded by: Fernando Lazaro Aenlle-Rocha

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2003	Central District of California succeeded Richard A. Paez	G.W. Bush (R)	94–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 94–0 on February 10, 2003 · 108th Congress, Roll Call 32. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 94

43 D, 50 R, 1 I

Did not vote · 6

5 D, 1 R

Education

California State University, Northridge	B.A.	1973
Stanford Law School	J.D.	1976

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Otero was assigned 5,408 district-court cases (1994–2019). Median time from filing to termination: 151 days across 5,408 closed cases.

Civil rights16%

Intellectual property16%

Other federal statutes12%

Contract12%

Prisoner & habeas9%

Labor & ERISA9%

Other25%

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 302 of Otero’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 238 were affirmed, 45 reversed or vacated, and 19 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, Otero authored 42 published opinions for the court (2003–2011). Most cited: Metz v. US Life Ins. Co. in City of New York (67 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
2009	Metz v. US Life Ins. Co. in City of New York	674 F. Supp. 2d 1141	67
2005	RDF Media Ltd. v. Fox Broadcasting Co.	372 F. Supp. 2d 556	57
2008	Monaco v. Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corp.	554 F. Supp. 2d 1034	30
2009	Babcock v. United States	807 F. Supp. 2d 904	22
2004	Wolf Designs, Inc. v. DHR & Co.	322 F. Supp. 2d 1065	17
2008	Guadagno v. E Trade Bank	592 F. Supp. 2d 1263	16
2009	In Re Computer Sciences Corp. Erisa Litigation	635 F. Supp. 2d 1128	14
2010	Bangkok Broadcasting & T v. Co. v. IPTV Corp.	742 F. Supp. 2d 1101	12
2007	Edwards v. First American Corp.	517 F. Supp. 2d 1199	12
2005	Yanek v. Staar Surgical Co.	388 F. Supp. 2d 1110	11
2010	D.R. Ex Rel. Courtney R. v. Antelope Valley Union High School District	746 F. Supp. 2d 1132	9
2010	Meyer v. Irwin Industries, Inc.	723 F. Supp. 2d 1237	9
2008	Zavala v. BARNIK	545 F. Supp. 2d 1051	7
2006	Hernandez v. United States	450 F. Supp. 2d 1112	6
2005	Murphy v. Espinoza	401 F. Supp. 2d 1048	5

Showing the 15 most-cited of 42 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 S. James Otero?: President George W. Bush appointed S. James Otero to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 2003.
Was S. James Otero appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: S. James Otero was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was S. James Otero's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed S. James Otero 94–0 on February 10, 2003.
Which court was S. James Otero on?: S. James Otero was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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 Central District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).