He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 7, 1955, and received his commission the next day.
He assumed senior status due to a certified disability on April 10, 1967.
[1] In 1960, East issued an injunction against a local water district in a racially charged case where the African-American residents of a Parkrose, Portland, Oregon, were discriminated against by the local water district.
[3] From 1964 to 1965 future Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers was a law clerk for East.
[4] After assuming senior status, East often sat as a federal appeals court judge for the Ninth Circuit on three judge panels including the case Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Sony Corp. of America, 659 F.2d 963 (C.A.9) 1981.