Who appointed Willis William Ritter?

President Harry S Truman appointed Willis William Ritter to the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah in 1950.

Was Willis William Ritter appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Willis William Ritter was appointed by President Harry S Truman, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Willis William Ritter's confirmation vote?

Willis William Ritter was confirmed by voice vote on June 29, 1950. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

District of Utah / Appointed 1950 / Served to 1978

Willis William Ritter

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah

Appointed by President Harry S Truman in 1950 and confirmed by voice vote, Willis William Ritter was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. He earned a law degree from University of Chicago Law School in 1924. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1899–1978
Appointed by: Harry S Truman, 1950
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Utah · University of Chicago Law School 1924
Succeeded: Tillman Davis Johnson
Succeeded by: Bruce Sterling Jenkins

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1950	District of Utah succeeded Tillman Davis Johnson	Truman (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

University of Utah	A.B.
University of Chicago Law School	LL.B.	1924
Harvard Law School	S.J.D.	1940

Judicial Record

In our data, Ritter authored 19 published opinions for the court (1950–1975). Most cited: Tidwell v. American Oil Company (55 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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
1971	Tidwell v. American Oil Company	332 F. Supp. 424	55
1952	Ex Parte Sullivan	107 F. Supp. 514	34
1951	Christensen v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.	95 F. Supp. 446	25
1970	Reynolds v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Company	309 F. Supp. 548	23
1950	Abegglen v. Burnham	94 F. Supp. 484	19
1971	Murray v. United States	327 F. Supp. 835	13
1950	North v. United States	94 F. Supp. 824	11
1972	Trans-American Collections, Inc. v. Continental Account Servicing House, Inc.	342 F. Supp. 1303	10
1968	Platis v. United States	288 F. Supp. 254	9
1974	Albright v. Bergendahl	391 F. Supp. 754	7
1972	Anderson v. Salt Lake City Corporation	348 F. Supp. 1170	7
1969	Petuskey v. Rampton	307 F. Supp. 235	7
1973	Friends of the Earth v. Armstrong	360 F. Supp. 165	6
1954	Utah Poultry & Farmers Cooperative v. United States	119 F. Supp. 846	5
1951	Aboitiz & Co. v. Price	99 F. Supp. 602	5

Showing the 15 most-cited of 19 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 Willis William Ritter?: President Harry S Truman appointed Willis William Ritter to the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah in 1950.
Was Willis William Ritter appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Willis William Ritter was appointed by President Harry S Truman, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Willis William Ritter's confirmation vote?: Willis William Ritter was confirmed by voice vote on June 29, 1950. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Willis William Ritter on?: Willis William Ritter was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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