Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr.
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and confirmed by voice vote, Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. He earned a law degree from University of Louisville School of Law (now Louis D. Brandeis School of Law) in 1954. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1926–1992
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1977
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Kentucky 1948 · University of Louisville Law (now Louis D. Brandeis School of Law) 1954
- Succeeded
- Clifton Rhodes Bratcher
- Succeeded by
- John Gilpin Heyburn II
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Western District of Kentucky succeeded Clifton Rhodes Bratcher | Carter (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
| University of Kentucky | B.A. | 1948 |
| University of Louisville School of Law (now Louis D. Brandeis School of Law) | LL.B. | 1954 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Ballantine was assigned 97 district-court cases (1981–1991). Median time from filing to termination: 413 days across 97 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, Ballantine authored 48 published opinions for the court (1978–1991). Most cited: Snawder v. Cohen (23 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Snawder v. Cohen | 749 F. Supp. 1473 | 23 |
| 1980 | Coleman v. Brown (In Re Coleman) | 5 B.R. 812 | 22 |
| 1991 | Davenport v. United States | 136 B.R. 125 | 18 |
| 1991 | Hood v. Smith's Transfer Corp. | 762 F. Supp. 1274 | 17 |
| 1978 | Thermothrift Industries, Inc. v. Mono-Therm Insulation Systems, Inc. | 450 F. Supp. 398 | 16 |
| 1982 | KFC Corp. v. Darsam Corp. | 543 F. Supp. 222 | 12 |
| 1982 | Ellis v. Logan Co. | 543 F. Supp. 586 | 12 |
| 1985 | McCarthy v. KFC Corp. | 607 F. Supp. 343 | 11 |
| 1983 | Walker v. Adams | 578 F. Supp. 50 | 11 |
| 1979 | Fluhr v. Roberts | 463 F. Supp. 745 | 10 |
| 1978 | Raymer v. United States | 455 F. Supp. 165 | 10 |
| 1991 | Howard v. Allard | 122 B.R. 696 | 9 |
| 1986 | Clare v. Liberty National Bank & Trust Co. (In Re Torco Equipment Co.) | 65 B.R. 353 | 9 |
| 1978 | Herm v. Stafford | 455 F. Supp. 650 | 9 |
| 1988 | McCart v. Brown-Forman Corp. | 713 F. Supp. 981 | 8 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 48 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 Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr.?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky in 1977.
- Was Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr. was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on October 12, 1977. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr. on?
- Thomas Austin Ballantine Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Administrative Office of the United States Courts (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- 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.
14 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).