Who appointed Thomas Emerson Scott Jr.?

President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 1985.

Was Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Thomas Emerson Scott Jr.'s confirmation vote?

Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on July 16, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Southern District of Florida / Appointed 1985 / Served to 1990

Thomas Emerson Scott Jr.

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He earned a law degree from University of Miami School of Law in 1972. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1948 · age 78
Appointed by: Ronald Reagan, 1985
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Miami 1969 · University of Miami Law 1972
Succeeded by: Shelby Highsmith

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1985	Southern District of Florida	Reagan (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

University of Miami	B.A.	1969
University of Miami School of Law	J.D.	1972
University of Virginia School of Law	LL.M.	1989

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Scott was assigned 1,043 district-court cases (1980–2007). Median time from filing to termination: 152 days across 1,043 closed cases.

Contract31%

Prisoner & habeas16%

Personal-injury torts9%

Forfeiture & penalty9%

Civil rights7%

Other federal statutes6%

Other22%

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, Scott authored 72 published opinions for the court (1985–1990). Most cited: United States v. One 1977 36 Foot Cigarette Ocean Racer, Florida Registration FL9350CT (43 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
1985	United States v. One 1977 36 Foot Cigarette Ocean Racer, Florida Registration FL9350CT	624 F. Supp. 290	43
1986	Luby v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc.	633 F. Supp. 40	38
1987	Metsch v. First Alabama Bank of Mobile (In Re Colombian Coffee Co.)	75 B.R. 177	29
1986	In Re Evans Products Co.	60 B.R. 863	18
1986	Kendall Grove Joint Venture v. Martinez-Esteve	59 B.R. 407	17
1990	United States v. One Single Family Residence Located at 6960 Miraflores Avenue	731 F. Supp. 1563	16
1986	Carrier Corp. v. Mid Corp. (In Re Daikin Miami Overseas, Inc.)	65 B.R. 396	16
1990	Bayshore Executive Plaza Partnership v. Federal Deposit Insurance	750 F. Supp. 507	15
1989	United States v. Arrow Air, Inc. (In Re Arrow Air, Inc.)	101 B.R. 332	15
1990	Employers Insurance of Wausau v. Able Green, Inc.	749 F. Supp. 1100	14
1990	Southern Entertainment Co. v. City of Boynton Beach	736 F. Supp. 1094	14
1990	Heller v. Plave	743 F. Supp. 1553	13
1986	United States v. One Lot of U.S. Currency Totalling $506,537.00	628 F. Supp. 1473	12
1990	Nadler v. Mann	731 F. Supp. 493	11
1989	ARCA Airlines Ltda. v. United States Customs Service	726 F. Supp. 827	11

Showing the 15 most-cited of 72 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 Emerson Scott Jr.?: President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 1985.
Was Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Thomas Emerson Scott Jr.'s confirmation vote?: Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on July 16, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. on?: Thomas Emerson Scott Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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