Who appointed Thomas Roberts McMillen?

President Richard M. Nixon appointed Thomas Roberts McMillen to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1971.

Was Thomas Roberts McMillen appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Thomas Roberts McMillen was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Thomas Roberts McMillen's confirmation vote?

Thomas Roberts McMillen was confirmed by voice vote on April 21, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Northern District of Illinois / Appointed 1971 / Served to 1985

Thomas Roberts McMillen

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

Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971 and confirmed by voice vote, Thomas Roberts McMillen was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1941. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1916–2002
Appointed by: Richard M. Nixon, 1971
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Princeton 1938 · Harvard Law School 1941
Succeeded: William Joseph Campbell
Succeeded by: Suzanne B. Conlon

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1971	Northern District of Illinois succeeded William Joseph Campbell	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

Princeton University	A.B.	1938
Harvard Law School	LL.B.	1941

Judicial Record

In our data, McMillen authored 66 published opinions for the court (1971–1985). Most cited: Rutyna v. Collection Accounts Terminal, Inc. (27 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1979	Rutyna v. Collection Accounts Terminal, Inc.	478 F. Supp. 980	27
1973	United States Ex Rel. Scott v. United States Steel Corp.	356 F. Supp. 556	27
1973	Kiepura v. LOCAL UNION 1091, UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AM.	358 F. Supp. 987	18
1975	Weiland v. Byrne	392 F. Supp. 21	16
1974	Cohen v. Illinois Institute of Technology	384 F. Supp. 202	16
1974	Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. v. Village of Arlington Heights	373 F. Supp. 208	15
1977	American Medicorp, Inc. v. Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co.	475 F. Supp. 5	14
1975	Henry Pratt Co. v. Stor Dor Freight Systems, Inc.	416 F. Supp. 714	13
1980	Turner v. Bell Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n	490 F. Supp. 104	12
1980	National Conference of Bar Examiners v. Multistate Legal Studies, Inc.	495 F. Supp. 34	11
1977	Finn v. CHICAGO NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS'ASSOCIATION-DRIVERS UNION PENSION PLAN	432 F. Supp. 1178	11
1979	Met-L-Wood Corp. v. Lifetime Pools, Inc.	475 F. Supp. 149	10
1976	Joyce v. Ritchie Tower Properties	417 F. Supp. 53	10
1975	Captain International Industries, Inc. v. Westbury, Chicago, Inc.	416 F. Supp. 721	10
1971	Schemanski v. Tarr	331 F. Supp. 65	9

Showing the 15 most-cited of 66 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 Roberts McMillen?: President Richard M. Nixon appointed Thomas Roberts McMillen to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1971.
Was Thomas Roberts McMillen appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Thomas Roberts McMillen was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Thomas Roberts McMillen's confirmation vote?: Thomas Roberts McMillen was confirmed by voice vote on April 21, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Thomas Roberts McMillen on?: Thomas Roberts McMillen was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

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