Francis Ryan Duffy (June 23, 1888 – August 16, 1979) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist from Wisconsin. He served 45 years in federal office, as a United States senator, United States district judge, and finally judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was also chief judge of the Seventh Circuit from 1954 through 1959.
Francis Ryan Duffy
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Born 1888 in Fond du Lac, WI
Died 1979 in Milwaukee, WI
FJC ID: 656
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 35/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 421/year
Wisconsin Eastern District Court · 1939–1949Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1949–1979
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 1954–1959
- Private practice, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin1912–1917, 1919–1933, 1939
- U.S. senator from Wisconsin1933–1939
U.S. Army1917–1919
Appointments
1949–1979 · Appointed by Harry S Truman (Democratic)Term ended: Death
1939–1949 · Appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
LL.B. · 1912- University of WisconsinB.A. · 1910