Quick facts
Court U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Position circuit
Status Retired 1971
Served 1967–1971
Appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)
Commissioned 1967-11-16
Education Pomona College, A.B. (1924); Harvard Law School (attended); University of Southern California Law School, J.D. (1927)
Signed orders read 25
Last updated 2026-07-18
Motion outcomes
AppealN = 24
counts only
3 21
Petition for reviewN = 1
counts only
1
Counted from classified signed orders. A “1 of 1” is one ruling, not a tendency.
About this data
A free Ezel research resource. This profile is built from public records: the judge's own signed orders, public docket records, and published biographies. It is not legal advice and is not affiliated with the court.
How Judge Carter decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
In bankruptcy enforcement, Carter treated repeated garnishments threatening employment as unusual circumstances supporting an injunction.
“We hold that this evidence of harassment reasonably constitutes “unusual circumstances” sufficient to warrant an injunction of state proceedings.”
On consent searches, he credited findings supported by the full record and the trial judge's observation of witness demeanor.
“His finding of voluntary consent has substantial support in the evidence.”
Carter generally declined to address issues that had not been presented to the district court.
“Such questions were not raised in the district court”
He used mandamus when a stay improperly displaced a federal action capable of resolving all parties and issues.
“The federal proceedings should not have been stayed.”
Carter resisted expanding plea colloquies to require an enumeration of every collateral consequence.
“The consequences of a plea are so numerous that’ a trial judge would have difficulty in enumerating all of them.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
Edward L. Suggs v. Lawrence E. Wilson
· 1968-11-13
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“The judgment is affirmed.”
United States v. John V. Wolosyn
· 1969-04-25
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“The judgment of the district court is Affirmed.”
Delbert Henry Witt v. United States
· 1969-09-16
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“The judgment is Affirmed.”
Forrest S. Tucker v. Walter E. Craven
· 1970-03-19
Appeal (appellant)
Granted
“Reversed and remanded.”
United States v. Jeffrey Paul Browning
· 1970-03-19
Appeal (appellant)
Granted
“The judgment is reversed.”
Ronald Dean Meeks v. United States
· 1970-06-18
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“The judgment is affirmed.”
George W. Bostick, Jr. v. Walter E. Craven
· 1970-06-23
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“Judgment affirmed.”
Edison R. Womack v. Walter E. Craven
· 1970-10-22
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“The judgment is affirmed.”
United States v. Aaron Odell Crank
· 1971-02-03
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“The judgment is affirmed.”
Katherine A. Silvey and Elmer R. Silvey v. Nielsen Corporation
· 1971-02-09
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“Affirmed.”
Manuel T. Paulino and Josefina C. Paulino v. Antonio Leon Guerrero Finona
· 1971-05-25
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“The judgment is affirmed.”
United States v. Michael Henry Ward
· 1971-06-28
Appeal (appellant)
Granted
“Accordingly, Ward’s conviction based upon refusal to submit to this invalid induction order is reversed.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Not applicable to this circuit-court record.
A historical record
Judge Carter no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.