Barbara Brandriff Crabb
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, Barbara Brandriff Crabb is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. She earned a law degree from University of Wisconsin Law School in 1962. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1939 · age 87
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1979
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Wisconsin 1960 · University of Wisconsin Law School 1962
- Succeeded by
- William Martin Conley
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Western District of Wisconsin | Carter (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 Wisconsin | B.A. | 1960 |
| University of Wisconsin Law School | LL.B. | 1962 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Crabb was assigned 10,372 district-court cases (1982–2022). Median time from filing to termination: 121 days across 8,490 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
On appeal
Of 593 of Crabb’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 446 were affirmed, 112 reversed or vacated, and 35 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, Crabb authored 730 published opinions for the court (1980–2012). Most cited: Carter v. Bennett (488 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Carter v. Bennett | 399 F. Supp. 2d 936 | 488 |
| 1986 | Sahagian v. Dickey | 646 F. Supp. 1502 | 65 |
| 1982 | American Motorists Insurance v. Trane Co. | 544 F. Supp. 669 | 65 |
| 2010 | Grice Engineering, Inc. v. JG Innovations, Inc. | 691 F. Supp. 2d 915 | 61 |
| 1988 | Woods v. White | 689 F. Supp. 874 | 58 |
| 1984 | In Re Osborne | 42 B.R. 988 | 58 |
| 1989 | Whitt v. DeLeu | 707 F. Supp. 1011 | 53 |
| 1992 | Prosser v. Elections Board | 793 F. Supp. 859 | 42 |
| 1983 | In Re Polytherm Industries, Inc. | 33 B.R. 823 | 38 |
| 1983 | Matter of Schaller | 27 B.R. 959 | 36 |
| 1993 | Petersen v. University of Wisconsin Board of Regents | 818 F. Supp. 1276 | 35 |
| 1991 | Lac Du Flambeau Indians v. State of Wis. | 770 F. Supp. 480 | 33 |
| 2007 | Spoerle v. Kraft Foods Global, Inc. | 527 F. Supp. 2d 860 | 32 |
| 1982 | Kealey Pharmacy & Home Care Service, Inc. v. Walgreen Co. | 539 F. Supp. 1357 | 32 |
| 1981 | Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wis. v. State of Wis. | 518 F. Supp. 712 | 31 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 730 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 Barbara Brandriff Crabb?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Barbara Brandriff Crabb to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in 1979.
- Was Barbara Brandriff Crabb appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Barbara Brandriff Crabb was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Barbara Brandriff Crabb's confirmation vote?
- Barbara Brandriff Crabb was confirmed by voice vote on October 31, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Barbara Brandriff Crabb on?
- Barbara Brandriff Crabb is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
46 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).