Ronald Earl Longstaff
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and confirmed by voice vote, Ronald Earl Longstaff is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. He earned a law degree from University of Iowa College of Law in 1965. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1941 · age 85
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1991
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State) 1962 · University of Iowa College of Law 1965
- Succeeded by
- John Alfred Jarvey
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Southern District of Iowa | G.H.W. Bush (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
| Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University) | B.A. | 1962 |
| University of Iowa College of Law | J.D. | 1965 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Longstaff was assigned 5,239 district-court cases (1973–2016). Median time from filing to termination: 226 days across 5,237 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 173 of Longstaff’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 163 were affirmed, 8 reversed or vacated, and 2 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, Longstaff authored 92 published opinions for the court (1992–2010). Most cited: Raper v. State of Iowa (28 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Raper v. State of Iowa | 940 F. Supp. 1421 | 28 |
| 2004 | Lindgren v. GDT, LLC | 312 F. Supp. 2d 1125 | 26 |
| 1993 | Soth v. Shalala | 827 F. Supp. 1415 | 22 |
| 1996 | Lyon v. Vande Krol | 940 F. Supp. 1433 | 20 |
| 2001 | Ross v. Thousand Adventures of Iowa, Inc. | 178 F. Supp. 2d 996 | 17 |
| 2006 | Chapman v. Labone | 460 F. Supp. 2d 989 | 14 |
| 1994 | Weber v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance | 873 F. Supp. 201 | 12 |
| 2002 | American Growers Insurance v. Federal Crop Insurance | 210 F. Supp. 2d 1088 | 10 |
| 2001 | Roth v. I & M Rail Link, L.L.C. | 179 F. Supp. 2d 1054 | 9 |
| 2002 | One Thousand Friends of Iowa v. Mineta | 250 F. Supp. 2d 1064 | 8 |
| 2001 | Frederick v. Simpson College | 149 F. Supp. 2d 826 | 8 |
| 1996 | Bendt v. Chater | 940 F. Supp. 1427 | 8 |
| 1996 | Bruce v. ICI Americas, Inc. | 933 F. Supp. 781 | 8 |
| 1995 | Krauel v. Iowa Methodist Medical Center | 915 F. Supp. 102 | 8 |
| 2005 | Comes v. Microsoft Corp. | 403 F. Supp. 2d 897 | 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 Ronald Earl Longstaff?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed Ronald Earl Longstaff to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in 1991.
- Was Ronald Earl Longstaff appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Ronald Earl Longstaff was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Ronald Earl Longstaff's confirmation vote?
- Ronald Earl Longstaff was confirmed by voice vote on October 31, 1991. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Ronald Earl Longstaff on?
- Ronald Earl Longstaff is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
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.
34 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).