Who appointed William W. Knox?

President Richard M. Nixon appointed William W. Knox to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1970.

Was William W. Knox appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

William W. Knox was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was William W. Knox's confirmation vote?

William W. Knox was confirmed by voice vote on October 8, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Western District of Pennsylvania / Appointed 1970 / Served to 1981

William W. Knox

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970 and confirmed by voice vote, William W. Knox was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1935. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1911–1981
Appointed by: Richard M. Nixon, 1970
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Michigan 1932 · University of Michigan Law School 1935
Succeeded by: Carol Los Mansmann

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1970	Western District of Pennsylvania	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

University of Michigan	A.B.	1932
University of Michigan Law School	J.D.	1935

Judicial Record

In our data, Knox authored 130 published opinions for the court (1971–1981). Most cited: Johnson v. University of Pittsburgh (60 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1977	Johnson v. University of Pittsburgh	435 F. Supp. 1328	60
1973	Rea v. Ford Motor Company	355 F. Supp. 842	42
1981	Teleprompter of Erie, Inc. v. City of Erie	537 F. Supp. 6	39
1976	West Virginia Housing Development Fund v. Sroka	415 F. Supp. 1107	39
1973	Ostapowicz v. Johnson Bronze Company	369 F. Supp. 522	31
1971	Dennis v. Ford Motor Company	332 F. Supp. 901	31
1973	Johnson v. University of Pittsburgh	359 F. Supp. 1002	29
1972	Raible v. Newsweek, Inc.	341 F. Supp. 804	27
1975	Arpet, Ltd. v. Homans	390 F. Supp. 908	22
1976	Hussey Metals Division of Copper Range Co. v. Lectromelt Furnace Division, McGraw Edison Co.	417 F. Supp. 964	19
1974	Roseman v. Hassler	382 F. Supp. 1328	19
1971	Axtell Ex Rel. Axtell v. LaPenna	323 F. Supp. 1077	18
1981	Pittsburgh Terminal Corp. v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co.	509 F. Supp. 1002	16
1979	Pennsylvania v. Porter	480 F. Supp. 686	16
1979	Universal Athletic Sales Co. v. American Gym	480 F. Supp. 408	16

Showing the 15 most-cited of 130 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 W. Knox?: President Richard M. Nixon appointed William W. Knox to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1970.
Was William W. Knox appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: William W. Knox was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was William W. Knox's confirmation vote?: William W. Knox was confirmed by voice vote on October 8, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was William W. Knox on?: William W. Knox was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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