Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and confirmed by voice vote, Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. He earned a law degree from University of Missouri School of Law in 1951. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1927 · age 99
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1983
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Southeast Missouri State College 1950 · University of Missouri Law 1951
- Succeeded
- Harris Kenneth Wangelin
- Succeeded by
- Rodney W. Sippel
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Eastern District of Missouri succeeded Harris Kenneth Wangelin | Reagan (R) | Voice vote |
| 1983 | Western District of Missouri succeeded Harris Kenneth Wangelin | Reagan (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
| Southeast Missouri State College | B.A. | 1950 |
| University of Missouri School of Law | J.D. | 1951 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Limbaugh was assigned 4,301 district-court cases (1984–2007). Median time from filing to termination: 304 days across 4,300 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 72 of Limbaugh’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 61 were affirmed, 5 reversed or vacated, and 6 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, Limbaugh authored 282 published opinions for the court (1984–2007). Most cited: United Food & Com. Workers v. Middendorf Meat (43 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | United Food & Com. Workers v. Middendorf Meat | 794 F. Supp. 328 | 43 |
| 1990 | Harris v. St. Louis University | 114 B.R. 647 | 36 |
| 1991 | Gilbert/Robinson, Inc. v. Carrie Beverage-Missouri, Inc. | 758 F. Supp. 512 | 30 |
| 1999 | Deichmann v. Boeing Co. | 36 F. Supp. 2d 1166 | 27 |
| 1991 | Lane v. Ground Round, Inc. | 775 F. Supp. 1219 | 27 |
| 1991 | First National Bank of Malden v. Hopwood (In Re Hopwood) | 124 B.R. 82 | 27 |
| 1991 | Hicks v. St. Mary's Honor Center | 756 F. Supp. 1244 | 27 |
| 1992 | Peabody Holding Co., Inc. v. Costain Group PLC | 808 F. Supp. 1425 | 24 |
| 2004 | Hill v. Ford Motor Co. | 324 F. Supp. 2d 1028 | 23 |
| 1992 | James v. Whirlpool Corp. | 806 F. Supp. 835 | 22 |
| 1990 | Caleshu v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith | 737 F. Supp. 1070 | 20 |
| 1986 | In Re Walton | 69 B.R. 150 | 20 |
| 1995 | Reeb v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. | 902 F. Supp. 185 | 19 |
| 1994 | Aucutt v. Six Flags Over Mid-America, Inc. | 869 F. Supp. 736 | 19 |
| 1993 | May v. AC & S, INC. | 812 F. Supp. 934 | 18 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 282 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 Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in 1983.
- Was Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh's confirmation vote?
- Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh was confirmed by voice vote on July 18, 1983. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh on?
- Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (Public domain), 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.
25 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).