Who appointed Ralph Gordon Thompson?

President Gerald Ford appointed Ralph Gordon Thompson to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma in 1975.

Was Ralph Gordon Thompson appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Ralph Gordon Thompson was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Ralph Gordon Thompson's confirmation vote?

Ralph Gordon Thompson was confirmed by voice vote on October 9, 1975. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Western District of Oklahoma / Appointed 1975 / Served to 2007

Ralph Gordon Thompson

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma

Appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975 and confirmed by voice vote, Ralph Gordon Thompson was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. He earned a law degree from University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1961. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1934 · age 92
Appointed by: Gerald Ford, 1975
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: University of Oklahoma 1956 · University of Oklahoma College of Law 1961
Succeeded: Stephen Sanders Chandler Jr.
Succeeded by: Joe L. Heaton

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1975	Western District of Oklahoma succeeded Stephen Sanders Chandler 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 Oklahoma	B.B.A.	1956
University of Oklahoma College of Law	J.D.	1961

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Thompson was assigned 4,570 district-court cases (1983–2007). Median time from filing to termination: 194 days across 4,570 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas26%

Contract17%

Civil rights15%

Real property12%

Personal-injury torts11%

Social Security6%

Other14%

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 27 of Thompson’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 26 were affirmed, 1 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, Thompson authored 65 published opinions for the court (1976–2005). Most cited: Combes v. Griffin Television, Inc. (61 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
1976	Combes v. Griffin Television, Inc.	421 F. Supp. 841	61
1980	United Petroleum Exploration, Inc. v. Premier Resources, Ltd.	511 F. Supp. 127	23
1977	Citicorp Leasing, Inc. v. Allied Institutional Distributors, Inc.	454 F. Supp. 511	20
1981	United States v. 319.46 Acres of Land More or Less Situate in Cotton & Jefferson Counties	508 F. Supp. 288	19
1980	Oklahoma Ex Rel. Derryberry v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission	494 F. Supp. 636	16
2000	Hollander v. Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corp.	95 F. Supp. 2d 1230	15
1978	Simmons v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.	452 F. Supp. 392	15
1989	San Saba Pecan, Inc. v. Failing (In Re Failing)	124 B.R. 340	13
1999	Mitchell v. Ward	150 F. Supp. 2d 1194	12
1990	Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Geldermann, Inc.	763 F. Supp. 524	12
1977	CMI Corp. v. Costello Construction Corp.	454 F. Supp. 497	12
1976	Evans v. Evans	429 F. Supp. 580	12
1978	Thorp Sales Corp. v. Dolese Brothers Co.	453 F. Supp. 196	11
1982	Oklahoma Ex Rel. Department of Human Services v. Weinberger	582 F. Supp. 293	10
1977	Guaranty Bank & Trust Co. v. Federal Reserve Bank	454 F. Supp. 488	10

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 Ralph Gordon Thompson?: President Gerald Ford appointed Ralph Gordon Thompson to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma in 1975.
Was Ralph Gordon Thompson appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Ralph Gordon Thompson was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Ralph Gordon Thompson's confirmation vote?: Ralph Gordon Thompson was confirmed by voice vote on October 9, 1975. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Ralph Gordon Thompson on?: Ralph Gordon Thompson was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

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.

31 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).