Robert H. Whaley
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1995 and confirmed by voice vote, Robert H. Whaley is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. He earned a law degree from Emory University School of Law in 1968. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1943 · age 83
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1995
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Princeton 1965 · Emory Law 1968
- Succeeded
- Justin Lowe Quackenbush
- Succeeded by
- Thomas Owen Rice
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Eastern District of Washington succeeded Justin Lowe Quackenbush | 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
| Princeton University | A.B. | 1965 |
| Emory University School of Law | J.D. | 1968 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Whaley was assigned 1,574 district-court cases (1989–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 259 days across 1,498 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 111 of Whaley’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 86 were affirmed, 14 reversed or vacated, and 11 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, Whaley authored 20 published opinions for the court (1995–2011). Most cited: Epstein v. Itron, Inc. (38 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Epstein v. Itron, Inc. | 993 F. Supp. 1314 | 38 |
| 1998 | White v. Paulsen | 997 F. Supp. 1380 | 29 |
| 2006 | Defenders of Wildlife v. Martin | 454 F. Supp. 2d 1085 | 18 |
| 1997 | Farrakhan v. Locke | 987 F. Supp. 1304 | 13 |
| 2010 | United States v. Black | 725 F. Supp. 2d 1279 | 7 |
| 2009 | Dexter v. Tran | 654 F. Supp. 2d 1253 | 5 |
| 1997 | Whelchel v. Wood | 996 F. Supp. 1019 | 5 |
| 1996 | In Re Grand Jury Proceedings, Unemancipated Minor Child | 949 F. Supp. 1487 | 4 |
| 2010 | TRIBES AND BANDS OF THE YAKAMA NATION v. Gregoire | 680 F. Supp. 2d 1258 | 3 |
| 2009 | Matheny v. Unumprovident Corp. | 594 F. Supp. 2d 1212 | 3 |
| 2000 | Save Our Summers v. Washington State Department of Ecology | 132 F. Supp. 2d 896 | 3 |
| 1997 | Graham v. United States | 18 F. Supp. 2d 1137 | 3 |
| 1995 | Barbara v. K-Mart Corp. | 899 F. Supp. 503 | 3 |
| 2008 | Malbco Holdings, LLC v. Amco Insurance | 546 F. Supp. 2d 1130 | 2 |
| 2008 | Grant County Black Sands Irrigation District v. United States | 539 F. Supp. 2d 1292 | 2 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 20 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 H. Whaley?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Robert H. Whaley to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in 1995.
- Was Robert H. Whaley appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Robert H. Whaley 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 H. Whaley's confirmation vote?
- Robert H. Whaley was confirmed by voice vote on June 30, 1995. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Robert H. Whaley on?
- Robert H. Whaley is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: Utah_Jazz_warming_up_2005.jpg: Lordcolus derivative work: Lpdrew (talk) (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
- 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.
31 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).