Joseph Edward Stevens Jr.
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by voice vote, Joseph Edward Stevens Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. He earned a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1952. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1928–1998
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1981
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Yale 1949 · University of Michigan Law School 1952
- Succeeded
- William Robert Collinson
- Succeeded by
- Nanette Kay Laughrey
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Eastern District of Missouri succeeded William Robert Collinson | Reagan (R) | Voice vote |
| 1981 | Western District of Missouri succeeded William Robert Collinson | 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
| Yale University | B.A. | 1949 |
| University of Michigan Law School | J.D. | 1952 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Stevens was assigned 2,425 district-court cases (1981–1998). Median time from filing to termination: 316 days across 2,424 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 10 of Stevens’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 10 were affirmed, 0 reversed or vacated. 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, Stevens authored 86 published opinions for the court (1982–1997). Most cited: Dekro v. Stern Bros. & Co. (34 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Dekro v. Stern Bros. & Co. | 540 F. Supp. 406 | 34 |
| 1994 | Thomas v. FAG Bearings Corp., Inc. | 846 F. Supp. 1400 | 29 |
| 1989 | Boon v. Miner (In Re Boon) | 108 B.R. 697 | 26 |
| 1984 | Dubuque Packing Co. v. Stonitsch (In Re Isis Foods, Inc.) | 37 B.R. 334 | 26 |
| 1994 | Thomas v. FAG Bearings Corp. | 846 F. Supp. 1382 | 22 |
| 1995 | United States v. Vest | 905 F. Supp. 651 | 21 |
| 1986 | Hallmark Cards, Inc. v. Hallmark Dodge, Inc. | 634 F. Supp. 990 | 20 |
| 1989 | Little Mole Music v. Spike Investment, Inc. | 720 F. Supp. 751 | 17 |
| 1982 | Executive Financial Services, Inc. v. Garrison | 535 F. Supp. 263 | 17 |
| 1994 | Grimes v. United States Postal Service | 872 F. Supp. 668 | 16 |
| 1993 | Paglin v. Saztec International, Inc. | 834 F. Supp. 1184 | 16 |
| 1991 | White v. Caterpillar, Inc. | 765 F. Supp. 1418 | 16 |
| 1990 | Pilchak v. Camper | 741 F. Supp. 782 | 14 |
| 1989 | Morgan v. Kansas City Area Transportation Authority | 720 F. Supp. 758 | 14 |
| 1995 | Willison v. Race | 192 B.R. 949 | 13 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 86 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 Joseph Edward Stevens Jr.?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Joseph Edward Stevens Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in 1981.
- Was Joseph Edward Stevens Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Joseph Edward Stevens Jr. was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Joseph Edward Stevens Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- Joseph Edward Stevens Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on September 16, 1981. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Joseph Edward Stevens Jr. on?
- Joseph Edward Stevens Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
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.
17 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).