Middle District of Florida / Appointed 1992 / Senior status since 2025

Steven Douglas Merryday

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and confirmed by voice vote, Steven Douglas Merryday is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He earned a law degree from University of Florida College of Law (now Fredric G. Levin College of Law) in 1975. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born
1950 · age 76
Appointed by
George H.W. Bush, 1992
Confirmed
by voice vote
Education
University of Florida 1972 · University of Florida College of Law (now Fredric G. Levin College of Law) 1975
Succeeded by
Jordan Emery Pratt

Federal judicial service

YearCourtAppointed byVote
1992Middle District of FloridaG.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

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Merryday was assigned 13,328 district-court cases (1963–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 162 days across 12,571 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas21%
Civil rights14%
Contract12%
Other civil matters11%
Labor & ERISA10%
Other federal statutes9%
Other23%

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 485 of Merryday’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 386 were affirmed, 51 reversed or vacated, and 48 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, Merryday authored 108 published opinions for the court (1992–2011). Most cited: Dees v. Hydradry, Inc. (170 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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

YearCaseCitationCited
2010Dees v. Hydradry, Inc.706 F. Supp. 2d 1227170
2010Moreno v. Regions Bank729 F. Supp. 2d 1346123
2005Descent v. Kolitsidas396 F. Supp. 2d 131557
2011Securities & Exchange Commission v. Kramer778 F. Supp. 2d 132048
2009United States v. Quintana594 F. Supp. 2d 129142
2003MacKenzie v. Kindred Hospitals East, L.L.C.276 F. Supp. 2d 121142
2009VANHORN v. Florida677 F. Supp. 2d 128829
2002Auto Owners Insurance v. Travelers Casualty & Surety Co.227 F. Supp. 2d 124827
2001United States Ex Rel. Alderson v. Quorum Health Group, Inc.171 F. Supp. 2d 132324
1998Southern Offshore Fishing Ass'n v. Daley995 F. Supp. 141121
1999Morsani v. Major League Baseball79 F. Supp. 2d 133120
2006Mickens v. Polk County School Board430 F. Supp. 2d 126517
2011Estate of Jackson v. Ventas Realty, Ltd. Partnership812 F. Supp. 2d 130613
2011United States v. O'Callaghan805 F. Supp. 2d 132112
2011Drilling Consultants, Inc. v. First Montauk Securities Corp.806 F. Supp. 2d 122812

Showing the 15 most-cited of 108 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 Steven Douglas Merryday?
President George H.W. Bush appointed Steven Douglas Merryday to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 1992.
Was Steven Douglas Merryday appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
Steven Douglas Merryday 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 Steven Douglas Merryday's confirmation vote?
Steven Douglas Merryday was confirmed by voice vote on February 6, 1992. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is Steven Douglas Merryday on?
Steven Douglas Merryday is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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34 years on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).