Who appointed Ralph R. Erickson?

President Donald J. Trump appointed Ralph R. Erickson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 2017.

Was Ralph R. Erickson appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Ralph R. Erickson was appointed by President Donald J. Trump, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Ralph R. Erickson's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Ralph R. Erickson 95–1 on September 28, 2017.

Eighth Circuit / Appointed 2017 / Senior status since 2026

Ralph R. Erickson

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Appointed by President Donald J. Trump in 2017 and confirmed by the Senate 95–1, Ralph R. Erickson is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of North Dakota School of Law in 1984. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1959 · age 67
Appointed by: Donald J. Trump, 2017
Confirmed: 95–1
Education: Jamestown College 1980 · University of North Dakota Law 1984
Succeeded: Kermit Edward Bye
Succeeded by: Daniel Mack Traynor

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2003	District of North Dakota succeeded Rodney Scott Webb	G.W. Bush (R)	Voice vote
2017	Eighth Circuit succeeded Kermit Edward Bye	Trump (R)	95–1

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

Nomination Confirmed 95–1 on September 28, 2017 · 115th Congress, Roll Call 207. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 95

44 D, 49 R, 2 I

Voted against · 1

1 D

Elizabeth Warren(D-MA)

Did not vote · 4

1 D, 3 R

Education

Jamestown College	B.A.	1980
University of North Dakota School of Law	J.D.	1984

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Erickson was assigned 1,293 district-court cases (1977–2017). Median time from filing to termination: 295 days across 1,293 closed cases.

Personal-injury torts25%

Prisoner & habeas20%

Contract15%

Civil rights9%

Real property8%

Labor & ERISA7%

Other18%

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 165 of Erickson’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 134 were affirmed, 15 reversed or vacated, and 16 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, Erickson authored 26 published opinions for the court (2003–2011). Most cited: Fair Housing of the Dakotas, Inc. v. Goldmark Property Management, Inc. (14 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
2011	Fair Housing of the Dakotas, Inc. v. Goldmark Property Management, Inc.	778 F. Supp. 2d 1028	14
2005	Twombly v. City of Fargo	388 F. Supp. 2d 983	11
2005	United States v. Rodriguez	380 F. Supp. 2d 1041	7
2005	Centre Insurance v. Blake	370 F. Supp. 2d 951	6
2003	Fraternal Order of Police v. Stenehjem	287 F. Supp. 2d 1023	5
2009	United States v. Cavanaugh	680 F. Supp. 2d 1062	4
2005	United States v. Grey Water	395 F. Supp. 2d 850	4
2005	United States v. Longie	370 F. Supp. 2d 941	4
2005	Symington v. Daisy Manufacturing Co.	360 F. Supp. 2d 1027	3
2004	R.D. Offutt Co. v. Lexington Insurance	342 F. Supp. 2d 838	3
2004	Ambers v. Village Family Service Center, Inc.	329 F. Supp. 2d 1046	3
2004	McClean v. Case Corp., Inc.	314 F. Supp. 2d 911	2
2003	Krause v. Bobcat Co.	297 F. Supp. 2d 1212	2
2011	United States v. Peterson	774 F. Supp. 2d 1024	1
2009	Hans v. Tharaldson	601 F. Supp. 2d 1139	1

Showing the 15 most-cited of 26 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 Ralph R. Erickson?: President Donald J. Trump appointed Ralph R. Erickson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 2017.
Was Ralph R. Erickson appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Ralph R. Erickson was appointed by President Donald J. Trump, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Ralph R. Erickson's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Ralph R. Erickson 95–1 on September 28, 2017.
Which court is Ralph R. Erickson on?: Ralph R. Erickson is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

8 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).