Who appointed William Ernest Miller?

President Richard M. Nixon appointed William Ernest Miller to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1970.

Was William Ernest Miller appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

William Ernest Miller 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 Ernest Miller's confirmation vote?

William Ernest Miller was confirmed by voice vote on June 26, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Sixth Circuit / Appointed 1970 / Served to 1976

William Ernest Miller

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970 and confirmed by voice vote, William Ernest Miller was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 1933. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1908–1976
Appointed by: Richard M. Nixon, 1970
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Tennessee 1930 · Yale Law School 1933
Succeeded: Clifford Patrick O'Sullivan
Succeeded by: Gilbert Stroud Merritt Jr.

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1955	Middle District of Tennessee	Eisenhower (R)	Voice vote
1970	Sixth Circuit succeeded Clifford Patrick O'Sullivan	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 Tennessee	A.B.	1930
Yale Law School	LL.B.	1933

Judicial Record

In our data, Miller authored 54 published opinions for the court (1955–1970). Most cited: Hancock v. Avery (78 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
1969	Hancock v. Avery	301 F. Supp. 786	78
1968	Kelley v. METROPOLITAN COUNTY BD. OF ED. OF NASHVILLE, ETC.	293 F. Supp. 485	49
1962	Baker v. Carr	206 F. Supp. 341	46
1968	Jones v. State Board of Education of and for State of Tenn.	279 F. Supp. 190	44
1961	Knight v. State Board of Education	200 F. Supp. 174	34
1963	Tampa Electric Company v. Nashville Coal Company	214 F. Supp. 647	32
1959	Baker v. Carr	179 F. Supp. 824	30
1956	Farmer v. Rountree	149 F. Supp. 327	29
1963	Coffman v. Bomar	220 F. Supp. 343	27
1966	Johnson v. Avery	252 F. Supp. 783	26
1958	Kelly v. Board of Education of City of Nashville	159 F. Supp. 272	26
1966	Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Public Service Commission of Tennessee	249 F. Supp. 894	23
1970	Pinkard v. Neil	311 F. Supp. 711	22
1960	United States v. an Easement & Right of Way 150 Feet Wide & 582.4 Feet Long Over Certain Land in De Kalb County	182 F. Supp. 899	21
1960	Arnold v. Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company	180 F. Supp. 429	19

Showing the 15 most-cited of 54 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 Ernest Miller?: President Richard M. Nixon appointed William Ernest Miller to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1970.
Was William Ernest Miller appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: William Ernest Miller 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 Ernest Miller's confirmation vote?: William Ernest Miller was confirmed by voice vote on June 26, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was William Ernest Miller on?: William Ernest Miller was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

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. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).