Who appointed Thomas E. Johnston?

President George W. Bush appointed Thomas E. Johnston to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in 2006.

Was Thomas E. Johnston appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Thomas E. Johnston was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Thomas E. Johnston's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Thomas E. Johnston 89–0 on March 6, 2006.

Southern District of West Virginia / Appointed 2006 / Active

Thomas E. Johnston

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006 and confirmed by the Senate 89–0, Thomas E. Johnston is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. He earned a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law in 1992. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1967 · age 59
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2006
Confirmed: 89–0
Education: West Virginia 1989 · West Virginia College of Law 1992
Succeeded: Charles Harold Haden II

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2006	Southern District of West Virginia succeeded Charles Harold Haden II	G.W. Bush (R)	89–0

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

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 89–0 on March 6, 2006 · 109th Congress, Roll Call 32. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 89

39 D, 50 R

Did not vote · 11

5 D, 5 R, 1 I

Education

West Virginia University	B.A.	1989
West Virginia University College of Law	J.D.	1992

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Johnston was assigned 1,888 district-court cases (1993–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 329 days across 1,696 closed cases.

Personal-injury torts24%

Prisoner & habeas17%

Other civil matters16%

Contract13%

Other federal statutes7%

Civil rights7%

Other16%

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 114 of Johnston’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 101 were affirmed, 7 reversed or vacated, and 6 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, Johnston authored 22 published opinions for the court (2006–2010). Most cited: Green v. Rubenstein (233 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	Green v. Rubenstein	644 F. Supp. 2d 723	233
2009	McPherson v. Astrue	605 F. Supp. 2d 744	75
2008	Kitchen v. Summers Continuous Care Center, LLC	552 F. Supp. 2d 589	25
2010	United States v. Smith	742 F. Supp. 2d 855	11
2009	Ballard v. PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP, INC.	620 F. Supp. 2d 733	10
2009	Dwyer v. First National Bank (In Re O'Brien)	414 B.R. 92	9
2009	PINNACLE MIN. CO., LLC v. Bluestone Coal Corp.	624 F. Supp. 2d 530	8
2007	Evans v. CDX SERVICES, LLC	528 F. Supp. 2d 599	8
2009	United States v. Talada	631 F. Supp. 2d 797	6
2010	Jefferson v. Berkebile	688 F. Supp. 2d 474	5
2006	Lawson v. American General Assurance Co.	455 F. Supp. 2d 526	5
2007	United States v. McMillion	528 F. Supp. 2d 620	4
2010	United States v. Wellman	716 F. Supp. 2d 447	3
2009	Stover v. FINGERHUT DIRECT MARKETING, INC.	709 F. Supp. 2d 473	3
2009	Center for Individual Freedom, Inc. v. Ireland	613 F. Supp. 2d 777	3

Showing the 15 most-cited of 22 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 E. Johnston?: President George W. Bush appointed Thomas E. Johnston to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in 2006.
Was Thomas E. Johnston appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Thomas E. Johnston was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Thomas E. Johnston's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Thomas E. Johnston 89–0 on March 6, 2006.
Which court is Thomas E. Johnston on?: Thomas E. Johnston is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

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.

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