Robert Howard Schnacke
Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert Howard Schnacke was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He earned a law degree from University of California Hastings College of the Law (now UC College of the Law, San Francisco) in 1938. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1913–1994
- Appointed by
- Richard M. Nixon, 1970
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of California Hastings College of the Law (now UC College of the Law, San Francisco) 1938
- Succeeded
- George Bernard Harris
- Succeeded by
- Charles A. Legge
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Northern District of California succeeded George Bernard Harris | Nixon (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 Hastings College of the Law (now UC College of the Law, San Francisco) | J.D. | 1938 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Schnacke was assigned 341 district-court cases (1975–1994). Median time from filing to termination: 290 days across 341 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, Schnacke authored 31 published opinions for the court (1971–1991). Most cited: In Re IBM Peripheral EDP Devices, Etc. (30 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | In Re IBM Peripheral EDP Devices, Etc. | 481 F. Supp. 965 | 30 |
| 1984 | In Re Benny | 44 B.R. 581 | 28 |
| 1973 | Bone v. Hibernia Bank | 354 F. Supp. 310 | 17 |
| 1975 | Arastra Limited Partnership v. City of Palo Alto | 401 F. Supp. 962 | 16 |
| 1979 | George v. Al-Saud | 478 F. Supp. 773 | 13 |
| 1972 | Danford v. Schwabacher | 342 F. Supp. 65 | 13 |
| 1977 | Maritime Overseas Corp. v. United States | 433 F. Supp. 419 | 12 |
| 1978 | In Re IBM Peripheral EDP Devices, Etc. | 459 F. Supp. 626 | 11 |
| 1972 | San Francisco Tomorrow v. Romney | 342 F. Supp. 77 | 11 |
| 1971 | Carmona v. Sheffield | 325 F. Supp. 1341 | 10 |
| 1974 | United States v. Christman | 375 F. Supp. 1354 | 8 |
| 1971 | Confederacion De La Raza Unida v. City of Morgan Hill | 324 F. Supp. 895 | 8 |
| 1972 | Stone v. EDS Federal Corporation | 351 F. Supp. 340 | 7 |
| 1971 | Trafficante v. METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY | 322 F. Supp. 352 | 7 |
| 1988 | California Ex Rel. Van De Kamp v. Marsh | 687 F. Supp. 495 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 31 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 Howard Schnacke?
- President Richard M. Nixon appointed Robert Howard Schnacke to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1970.
- Was Robert Howard Schnacke appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Robert Howard Schnacke was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Robert Howard Schnacke's confirmation vote?
- Robert Howard Schnacke was confirmed by voice vote on October 13, 1970. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Robert Howard Schnacke on?
- Robert Howard Schnacke was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern 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.
23 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).