Robert Bruce Propst
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Bruce Propst was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He earned a law degree from University of Alabama School of Law in 1957. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1931–2019
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1980
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Alabama 1953 · University of Alabama Law 1957
- Succeeded by
- H. Dean Buttram Jr.
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Northern District of Alabama | Carter (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
| University of Alabama | B.S. | 1953 |
| University of Alabama School of Law | J.D. | 1957 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Propst was assigned 4,520 district-court cases (1977–2014). Median time from filing to termination: 198 days across 4,520 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 39 of Propst’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 30 were affirmed, 9 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, Propst authored 73 published opinions for the court (1981–2011). Most cited: Thomasson v. AmSouth Bank, N.A. (40 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Thomasson v. AmSouth Bank, N.A. | 59 B.R. 997 | 40 |
| 1985 | United States v. Olin Corp. | 606 F. Supp. 1301 | 30 |
| 1989 | City Fire Equipment Co. v. Ansul Fire Protection Wormald U.S., Inc. | 125 B.R. 645 | 29 |
| 1984 | Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Buttram | 590 F. Supp. 251 | 28 |
| 1982 | Brooks v. Solomon Co. | 542 F. Supp. 1229 | 28 |
| 1999 | Pelfrey v. Educational Credit Management Corp. | 71 F. Supp. 2d 1161 | 24 |
| 1981 | Howell Petroleum Corp. v. Berkowitz, Lefkovits & Patrick (In Re Warrior Drilling & Engineering Co.) | 18 B.R. 684 | 23 |
| 1997 | Barnett v. Sylacauga Autoplex | 973 F. Supp. 1358 | 22 |
| 1985 | Matos v. Gwinnett Bank & Trust Co. (In Re Matos) | 50 B.R. 742 | 22 |
| 1983 | Blue Cross v. Peacock's Apothecary, Inc. | 567 F. Supp. 1258 | 20 |
| 1992 | Sparks v. Regional Medical Center Board | 792 F. Supp. 735 | 19 |
| 1988 | Alabama Libertarian Party v. City of Birmingham | 694 F. Supp. 814 | 17 |
| 1995 | Alabama Freethought Ass'n v. Moore | 893 F. Supp. 1522 | 16 |
| 1986 | Urban Sanitation Corp. v. City of Pell City, Ala. | 662 F. Supp. 1041 | 16 |
| 1981 | Brown v. Morgan County, Ala. | 518 F. Supp. 661 | 15 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 73 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 Bruce Propst?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Robert Bruce Propst to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in 1980.
- Was Robert Bruce Propst appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Robert Bruce Propst was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Robert Bruce Propst's confirmation vote?
- Robert Bruce Propst was confirmed by voice vote on May 29, 1980. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Robert Bruce Propst on?
- Robert Bruce Propst was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
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.
38 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).