Born December 3, 1917, in Clifton, New Jersey, Feikens received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1939 from Calvin College and a Juris Doctor in 1941 from the University of Michigan Law School.

A previous nomination by President Eisenhower on June 10, 1960, expired without action by the Senate, prior to his recess appointment.

[2] On Wednesday, September 13, 1995, Bankers Trust Co, and Procter and Gamble Co. alerted Judge Feikens that Business Week, a magazine owned by McGraw-Hill, had obtained documents from ongoing litigation between the two parties.

[3] That same day, without notice or hearing, Judge Feikens issued an order enjoining and prohibiting McGraw-Hill from publishing the documents without consent of the court.

[4] On March 5, 1996, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled 2 to 1 that Feikens had been wrong to bar the publication of an article based on the documents.