John C. Coughenour
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by voice vote, John C. Coughenour is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. He earned a law degree from University of Iowa College of Law in 1966. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1941 · age 85
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1981
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State) 1963 · University of Iowa College of Law 1966
- Succeeded
- Morell Edward Sharp
- Succeeded by
- Richard A. Jones
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Western District of Washington succeeded Morell Edward Sharp | Reagan (R) | 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
| Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University) | B.S. | 1963 |
| University of Iowa College of Law | J.D. | 1966 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Coughenour was assigned 9,971 district-court cases (1977–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 196 days across 9,786 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 294 of Coughenour’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 259 were affirmed, 17 reversed or vacated, and 18 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, Coughenour authored 78 published opinions for the court (1982–2012). Most cited: United States Ex Rel. Lord Electric Co. v. Titan Pacific Construction Corp. (52 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | United States Ex Rel. Lord Electric Co. v. Titan Pacific Construction Corp. | 637 F. Supp. 1556 | 52 |
| 1995 | Young v. Weston | 898 F. Supp. 744 | 34 |
| 1982 | National Football League Properties, Inc. v. Wichita Falls Sportswear, Inc. | 532 F. Supp. 651 | 32 |
| 1982 | Sorenson v. Secretary of the Treasury of the United States | 557 F. Supp. 729 | 24 |
| 1996 | Staub v. Boeing Co. | 919 F. Supp. 366 | 16 |
| 1986 | Jugum v. Federal Sav. and Loan Ins. Corp. | 637 F. Supp. 1045 | 15 |
| 2006 | FMC Technologies, Inc. v. Edwards | 420 F. Supp. 2d 1153 | 14 |
| 1987 | United States v. Vallejo | 660 F. Supp. 535 | 14 |
| 2009 | Pelletz v. Weyerhaeuser Co. | 592 F. Supp. 2d 1322 | 12 |
| 2005 | South Ferry LP 2 v. Killinger | 399 F. Supp. 2d 1121 | 12 |
| 2003 | Sheehan v. Gregoire | 272 F. Supp. 2d 1135 | 12 |
| 2012 | EDUCATIONAL CREDIT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION v. Rhodes | 464 B.R. 918 | 11 |
| 2005 | In Re Expedia Hotel Taxes and Fees Litigation | 377 F. Supp. 2d 904 | 11 |
| 2006 | Bryant v. Country Life Insurance | 414 F. Supp. 2d 981 | 10 |
| 2001 | Chance v. Avenue A, Inc. | 165 F. Supp. 2d 1153 | 10 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 78 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 John C. Coughenour?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed John C. Coughenour to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in 1981.
- Was John C. Coughenour appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John C. Coughenour was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John C. Coughenour's confirmation vote?
- John C. Coughenour was confirmed by voice vote on September 25, 1981. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is John C. Coughenour on?
- John C. Coughenour is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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.
44 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).