William E. Smith
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and confirmed by voice vote, William E. Smith was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. He earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1987. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1959 · age 67
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2002
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Georgetown 1982 · Georgetown Law Center 1987
- Succeeded
- Ronald Rene Lagueux
- Succeeded by
- Melissa Raye DuBose
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | District of Rhode Island succeeded Ronald Rene Lagueux | G.W. Bush (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
| Georgetown University | B.A. | 1982 |
| Georgetown University Law Center | J.D. | 1987 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Smith was assigned 3,739 district-court cases (1996–2025). Median time from filing to termination: 273 days across 3,663 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.
On appeal
Of 226 of Smith’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 199 were affirmed, 19 reversed or vacated, and 8 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, Smith authored 198 published opinions for the court (2003–2011). Most cited: United States v. Perry (33 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | United States v. Perry | 389 F. Supp. 2d 278 | 33 |
| 2007 | Emhart Industries, Inc. v. Home Insurance | 515 F. Supp. 2d 228 | 25 |
| 2008 | Bowling v. Hasbro, Inc. | 582 F. Supp. 2d 192 | 16 |
| 2007 | York v. Day Transfer Co. | 525 F. Supp. 2d 289 | 15 |
| 2005 | Cardillo v. Cardillo | 360 F. Supp. 2d 402 | 15 |
| 2003 | Rathbun v. Autozone, Inc. | 253 F. Supp. 2d 226 | 15 |
| 2003 | Scritchfield v. Paolo | 274 F. Supp. 2d 163 | 14 |
| 2008 | Ferreira v. City of East Providence | 568 F. Supp. 2d 197 | 13 |
| 2007 | Kufner v. Kufner | 480 F. Supp. 2d 491 | 13 |
| 2004 | Feinstein v. Brown | 304 F. Supp. 2d 279 | 13 |
| 2005 | Buckley v. BROWN PLASTICS MACHINERY, LLC | 368 F. Supp. 2d 167 | 12 |
| 2003 | Brian Jackson & Co. v. EXIMIAS PRARMACEUTICAL CORP. | 248 F. Supp. 2d 31 | 12 |
| 2011 | Securities & Exchange Commission v. Locke Capital Management, Inc. | 794 F. Supp. 2d 355 | 11 |
| 2010 | Henry v. Sheffield | 749 F. Supp. 2d 3 | 11 |
| 2009 | Ciampi v. Zuczek Ex Rel. Town of Westerly | 598 F. Supp. 2d 257 | 11 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 198 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 E. Smith?
- President George W. Bush appointed William E. Smith to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island in 2002.
- Was William E. Smith appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William E. Smith was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William E. Smith's confirmation vote?
- William E. Smith was confirmed by voice vote on November 14, 2002. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William E. Smith on?
- William E. Smith was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island (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.
23 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).