William Matthew Byrne Sr.
Appointed by President Harry S Truman in 1950 and confirmed by voice vote, William Matthew Byrne Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He earned a law degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California in 1929. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1896–1974
- Appointed by
- Harry S Truman, 1950
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California 1929
- Succeeded by
- Leon Rene Yankwich
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Southern District of California succeeded James Francis Thaddeus O'Connor | Truman (D) | Voice vote |
| 1966 | Central District of California | Reassigned | – |
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
Judicial Record
In our data, Byrne authored 43 published opinions for the court (1951–1966). Most cited: Doran v. Sunset House Distributing Corp. (28 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Doran v. Sunset House Distributing Corp. | 197 F. Supp. 940 | 28 |
| 1964 | United States v. Cobert | 227 F. Supp. 915 | 19 |
| 1961 | United States v. Allen | 193 F. Supp. 954 | 19 |
| 1963 | United States v. Person | 223 F. Supp. 982 | 18 |
| 1960 | Winter v. D. J. & M. Investment & Construction Corp. | 185 F. Supp. 943 | 17 |
| 1952 | Lockheed Aircraft Corp. v. Rathman | 106 F. Supp. 810 | 17 |
| 1964 | King Trailer Company v. United States | 228 F. Supp. 1013 | 16 |
| 1954 | Acosta v. Landon | 125 F. Supp. 434 | 16 |
| 1954 | In Re Mathews Const. Co. | 120 F. Supp. 818 | 14 |
| 1951 | Minoru Hamamoto v. Acheson | 98 F. Supp. 904 | 14 |
| 1964 | Bacher v. Patencio | 232 F. Supp. 939 | 13 |
| 1951 | Kasumi Nakashima v. Acheson | 98 F. Supp. 11 | 13 |
| 1951 | Akio Kuwahara v. Acheson | 96 F. Supp. 38 | 13 |
| 1961 | Tobman v. Cottage Woodcraft Shop | 194 F. Supp. 83 | 12 |
| 1961 | Interstate Commerce Commission v. Dudgeon | 213 F. Supp. 710 | 11 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 43 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 William Matthew Byrne Sr.?
- President Harry S Truman appointed William Matthew Byrne Sr. to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 1950.
- Was William Matthew Byrne Sr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Matthew Byrne Sr. was appointed by President Harry S Truman, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Matthew Byrne Sr.'s confirmation vote?
- William Matthew Byrne Sr. was confirmed by voice vote on December 13, 1950. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Matthew Byrne Sr. on?
- William Matthew Byrne Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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.
7 years on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).