Laughlin Edward Waters Sr.
Appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1976 and confirmed by voice vote, Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He earned a law degree from University of Southern California Law School (now Gould School of Law) in 1947. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1914–2002
- Appointed by
- Gerald Ford, 1976
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of California, Los Angeles 1939 · University of Southern California Law School (now Gould Law) 1947
- Succeeded
- Jesse William Curtis Jr.
- Succeeded by
- Ronald S. W. Lew
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Central District of California succeeded Jesse William Curtis Jr. | Ford (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
| University of California, Los Angeles | A.B. | 1939 |
| University of Southern California Law School (now Gould School of Law) | J.D. | 1947 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Waters was assigned 616 district-court cases (1984–2002). Median time from filing to termination: 288 days across 616 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, Waters authored 13 published opinions for the court (1977–1997). Most cited: Haskin v. United States (35 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Haskin v. United States | 444 F. Supp. 299 | 35 |
| 1995 | Santa Fe Springs Realty Corp. v. City of Westminster | 906 F. Supp. 1341 | 18 |
| 1996 | A & M Records, Inc. v. General Audio Video Cassettes, Inc. | 948 F. Supp. 1449 | 10 |
| 1978 | Rank v. Cleland | 460 F. Supp. 920 | 10 |
| 1997 | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences v. Network Solutions, Inc. | 989 F. Supp. 1276 | 8 |
| 1979 | Raphael v. Hertzberg | 470 F. Supp. 984 | 8 |
| 1989 | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences v. Creative House Promotions, Inc. | 728 F. Supp. 1442 | 5 |
| 1997 | Trans-World International, Inc. v. Smith-Hemion Productions, Inc. | 972 F. Supp. 1275 | 4 |
| 1990 | Azul Pacifico, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles | 740 F. Supp. 772 | 4 |
| 1987 | Chalmers v. City of Los Angeles | 676 F. Supp. 1515 | 4 |
| 1983 | Rosemount Inc. v. Beckman Instruments, Inc. | 569 F. Supp. 934 | 3 |
| 1991 | Madden v. Independence Bank | 771 F. Supp. 1514 | 1 |
| 1991 | Madden v. Independence Bank | 771 F. Supp. 1506 | 1 |
Showing the 13 most-cited of 13 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 Laughlin Edward Waters Sr.?
- President Gerald Ford appointed Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 1976.
- Was Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Laughlin Edward Waters Sr.'s confirmation vote?
- Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. was confirmed by voice vote on May 11, 1976. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. on?
- Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central 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.
26 years on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).