John Skylstead Rhoades Sr.
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, John Skylstead Rhoades Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. He earned a law degree from University of California Hastings College of the Law (now UC College of the Law, San Francisco) in 1951. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1925–2007
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1985
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Stanford 1948 · University of California Hastings College of the Law (now UC College of the Law, San Francisco) 1951
- Succeeded
- Leland Chris Nielsen
- Succeeded by
- Thomas J. Whelan
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Southern District of California succeeded Leland Chris Nielsen | 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
| Stanford University | A.B. | 1948 |
| University of California Hastings College of the Law (now UC College of the Law, San Francisco) | J.D. | 1951 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Rhoades was assigned 2,412 district-court cases (1977–2006). Median time from filing to termination: 244 days across 2,411 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.
In our data, Rhoades authored 65 published opinions for the court (1986–2007). Most cited: Saleh v. Titan Corp. (55 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 | Saleh v. Titan Corp. | 361 F. Supp. 2d 1152 | 55 |
| 1998 | Price v. County of San Diego | 990 F. Supp. 1230 | 46 |
| 1998 | United States v. Esparza-Ponce | 7 F. Supp. 2d 1084 | 36 |
| 1998 | Botosan v. Fitzhugh | 13 F. Supp. 2d 1047 | 35 |
| 1999 | United States v. Alvarado-Torres | 45 F. Supp. 2d 986 | 31 |
| 1994 | Goomar v. Centennial Life Insurance | 855 F. Supp. 319 | 27 |
| 2001 | Smith v. Allstate Insurance | 160 F. Supp. 2d 1150 | 26 |
| 1994 | Williams v. Shell Oil Co. | 169 B.R. 684 | 22 |
| 1989 | Skorepa v. City of Chula Vista | 723 F. Supp. 1384 | 19 |
| 1994 | Reynolds v. County of San Diego | 858 F. Supp. 1064 | 17 |
| 1994 | United States v. Fingers (In Re Fingers) | 170 B.R. 419 | 17 |
| 2002 | Metabolife International, Inc. v. Wornick | 213 F. Supp. 2d 1220 | 16 |
| 1993 | Alvernaz v. Ratelle | 831 F. Supp. 790 | 16 |
| 2004 | United States v. Barraza | 318 F. Supp. 2d 1031 | 15 |
| 2004 | Crowe v. County of San Diego | 303 F. Supp. 2d 1050 | 15 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 65 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 Skylstead Rhoades Sr.?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed John Skylstead Rhoades Sr. to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 1985.
- Was John Skylstead Rhoades Sr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- John Skylstead Rhoades Sr. was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was John Skylstead Rhoades Sr.'s confirmation vote?
- John Skylstead Rhoades Sr. was confirmed by voice vote on October 25, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was John Skylstead Rhoades Sr. on?
- John Skylstead Rhoades Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
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.
21 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).