Robert Lewis Hinkle
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1996 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Lewis Hinkle is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1976. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1951 · age 75
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1996
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Florida State 1972 · Harvard Law School 1976
- Succeeded
- William Henry Stafford Jr.
- Succeeded by
- Allen Cothrel Winsor
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Northern District of Florida succeeded William Henry Stafford Jr. | Clinton (D) | 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
| Florida State University | B.A. | 1972 |
| Harvard Law School | J.D. | 1976 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Hinkle was assigned 6,365 district-court cases (1983–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 211 days across 6,169 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 538 of Hinkle’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 464 were affirmed, 53 reversed or vacated, and 21 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, Hinkle authored 92 published opinions for the court (1996–2011). Most cited: Educational Credit Management Corp. v. Stanley (32 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Educational Credit Management Corp. v. Stanley | 300 B.R. 813 | 32 |
| 2009 | Washington v. DeBeaugrine | 658 F. Supp. 2d 1332 | 29 |
| 2004 | Florida Democratic Party v. Hood | 342 F. Supp. 2d 1073 | 16 |
| 1999 | Kilpatrick v. Houston | 36 F. Supp. 2d 1328 | 15 |
| 2005 | Laine v. Allstate Insurance | 355 F. Supp. 2d 1303 | 13 |
| 2000 | MCI Telecommunications Corp. v. BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. | 112 F. Supp. 2d 1286 | 11 |
| 2005 | Inland Dredging Co. v. Panama City Port Authority | 406 F. Supp. 2d 1277 | 10 |
| 2005 | Colony Insurance v. Barnes | 410 F. Supp. 2d 1137 | 10 |
| 2001 | National Coalition for Students With Disabilities v. Bush | 173 F. Supp. 2d 1272 | 9 |
| 2010 | Log Creek, LLC. v. Kessler | 717 F. Supp. 2d 1239 | 8 |
| 2008 | Florida Retail Federation, Inc. v. Attorney General | 576 F. Supp. 2d 1281 | 8 |
| 2007 | Yvon v. Baja Marine Corp. | 495 F. Supp. 2d 1179 | 8 |
| 1999 | Turner v. Singletary | 46 F. Supp. 2d 1238 | 8 |
| 2001 | Major League Baseball v. Butterworth | 181 F. Supp. 2d 1316 | 7 |
| 1998 | Hill v. Xerox Corp. | 998 F. Supp. 1378 | 7 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 92 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 Robert Lewis Hinkle?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Robert Lewis Hinkle to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in 1996.
- Was Robert Lewis Hinkle appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Robert Lewis Hinkle was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Robert Lewis Hinkle's confirmation vote?
- Robert Lewis Hinkle was confirmed by voice vote on July 25, 1996. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Robert Lewis Hinkle on?
- Robert Lewis Hinkle is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
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.
30 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).