Sam Clyde Pointer Jr.
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970 and confirmed by voice vote, Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He earned a law degree from University of Alabama School of Law in 1957. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1934–2008
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1970
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Vanderbilt 1955 · University of Alabama Law 1957
- Succeeded by
- Karon O. Bowdre
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Northern District of Alabama | 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
| Vanderbilt University | A.B. | 1955 |
| University of Alabama School of Law | J.D. | 1957 |
| New York University School of Law | LL.M. | 1958 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Pointer was assigned 3,371 district-court cases (1971–2000). Median time from filing to termination: 224 days across 3,371 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.
In our data, Pointer authored 38 published opinions for the court (1970–2000). Most cited: Greer v. Skilcraft (54 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Greer v. Skilcraft | 704 F. Supp. 1570 | 54 |
| 1972 | Buckner v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company | 339 F. Supp. 1108 | 46 |
| 1975 | Ball v. Woods | 402 F. Supp. 803 | 31 |
| 1974 | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Union Oil Co. of California | 369 F. Supp. 579 | 24 |
| 1973 | United States v. United States Steel Corporation | 371 F. Supp. 1045 | 24 |
| 1993 | In Re Silicone Gel Breast Implants Products Liability Litigation | 837 F. Supp. 1128 | 22 |
| 1980 | Austin v. General American Life Insurance | 498 F. Supp. 844 | 21 |
| 1973 | National Insurance Underwriters v. King Craft Custom Products, Inc. | 368 F. Supp. 476 | 19 |
| 1995 | In Re Silicone Gel Breast Implants Products Liability Litigation | 887 F. Supp. 1455 | 18 |
| 1974 | DeKalb Agresearch, Inc. v. Abbott | 391 F. Supp. 152 | 16 |
| 2000 | Wright v. Circuit City Stores, Inc. | 82 F. Supp. 2d 1279 | 14 |
| 2000 | Bryan v. Rainwater | 254 B.R. 273 | 13 |
| 1995 | In Re Silicone Gel Breast Implants Products Liability Litigation | 887 F. Supp. 1463 | 9 |
| 1971 | Miglionico v. United States | 323 F. Supp. 197 | 9 |
| 1970 | Ramsey v. Hopkins | 320 F. Supp. 477 | 9 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 38 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 Sam Clyde Pointer Jr.?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in 1970.
- Was Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Sam Clyde Pointer Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on October 8, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. on?
- Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- 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.
29 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).