William Kernahan Thomas
Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 and confirmed by voice vote, William Kernahan Thomas was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He earned a law degree from Ohio State University College of Law (now Michael E. Moritz College of Law) in 1935. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1911–2001
- Appointed by
- Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Ohio State 1932 · Ohio State College of Law (now Michael E. Moritz College of Law) 1935
- Succeeded
- Paul J. Jones
- Succeeded by
- John William Potter
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Northern District of Ohio succeeded Paul J. Jones | L.B. Johnson (D) | 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
| Ohio State University | B.A. | 1932 |
| Ohio State University College of Law (now Michael E. Moritz College of Law) | J.D. | 1935 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Thomas was assigned 304 district-court cases (1981–1998). Median time from filing to termination: 402 days across 304 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.
In our data, Thomas authored 50 published opinions for the court (1966–1996). Most cited: Detrex Chemical Industries, Inc. v. Employers Insurance of Wausau (39 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Detrex Chemical Industries, Inc. v. Employers Insurance of Wausau | 681 F. Supp. 438 | 39 |
| 1980 | Edmonds v. Dillin | 485 F. Supp. 722 | 38 |
| 1967 | Sayre v. United States | 282 F. Supp. 175 | 34 |
| 1971 | Hammond v. Brown | 323 F. Supp. 326 | 33 |
| 1966 | Busch v. Service Plastics, Inc. | 261 F. Supp. 136 | 31 |
| 1978 | Winpisinger v. AURORA CORP. OF ILL., ETC. | 456 F. Supp. 559 | 30 |
| 1971 | Hodgson v. Cleveland Municipal Court | 326 F. Supp. 419 | 26 |
| 1967 | Wasilko v. United States | 300 F. Supp. 573 | 20 |
| 1990 | Detrex Chemical Industries, Inc. v. Employers Insurance of Wausau | 746 F. Supp. 1310 | 19 |
| 1981 | Washington Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Federal Home Loan Bank Board | 526 F. Supp. 343 | 18 |
| 1977 | Vanko v. Finley | 440 F. Supp. 656 | 16 |
| 1975 | Lott v. Goodyear Aerospace Corporation | 395 F. Supp. 866 | 16 |
| 1968 | Frank Chevrolet Co. v. General Motors Corp. | 304 F. Supp. 307 | 16 |
| 1977 | Michell v. General Motors Corp. | 439 F. Supp. 24 | 14 |
| 1974 | Perry v. Linke | 394 F. Supp. 323 | 14 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 50 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 Kernahan Thomas?
- President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed William Kernahan Thomas to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in 1966.
- Was William Kernahan Thomas appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Kernahan Thomas was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Kernahan Thomas's confirmation vote?
- William Kernahan Thomas was confirmed by voice vote on March 4, 1966. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Kernahan Thomas on?
- William Kernahan Thomas was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (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.
35 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).