Who appointed Walter King Stapleton?

President Ronald Reagan appointed Walter King Stapleton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1985.

Was Walter King Stapleton appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Walter King Stapleton was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Walter King Stapleton's confirmation vote?

Walter King Stapleton was confirmed by voice vote on April 3, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Third Circuit / Appointed 1985 / Served to 2024

Walter King Stapleton

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, Walter King Stapleton was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1959. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Lived: 1934–2024
Appointed by: Ronald Reagan, 1985
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Princeton 1956 · Harvard Law School 1959
Succeeded by: Thomas L. Ambro

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1970	District of Delaware succeeded Edwin DeHaven Steel Jr.	Nixon (R)	Voice vote
1985	Third Circuit	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

Princeton University	A.B.	1956
Harvard Law School	LL.B.	1959
University of Virginia School of Law	LL.M.	1984

Judicial Record

In our data, Stapleton authored 206 published opinions for the court (1971–1987). Most cited: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. E. I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., Chestnut Run & Affiliated Facilities (78 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
1974	Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. E. I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., Chestnut Run & Affiliated Facilities	373 F. Supp. 1321	78
1973	Beal v. General Motors Corporation	354 F. Supp. 423	78
1978	Farmers Bank of State of Del. v. Bell Mtg. Corp.	452 F. Supp. 1278	61
1974	Gordenstein v. University of Delaware	381 F. Supp. 718	58
1984	Bernstein v. IDT Corp.	582 F. Supp. 1079	54
1974	Davidson v. Dixon	386 F. Supp. 482	46
1980	Toro Co. v. Textron, Inc.	499 F. Supp. 241	45
1980	Delaware Accessories Trade Ass'n v. Gebelein	497 F. Supp. 289	45
1972	U. S. Industries, Inc. v. Gregg	348 F. Supp. 1004	44
1978	Fesel v. Masonic Home of Delaware, Inc.	447 F. Supp. 1346	41
1975	Burroughs Wellcome Co. v. Giant Food, Inc.	392 F. Supp. 761	39
1979	Masjid Muhammad-D.C.C. v. Keve	479 F. Supp. 1311	36
1972	Wellford v. Battaglia	343 F. Supp. 143	36
1977	National Football League v. Governor of the Delaware	435 F. Supp. 1372	35
1975	Morris v. Board of Education of Laurel Sch. Dist.	401 F. Supp. 188	34

Showing the 15 most-cited of 206 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 Walter King Stapleton?: President Ronald Reagan appointed Walter King Stapleton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1985.
Was Walter King Stapleton appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Walter King Stapleton was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Walter King Stapleton's confirmation vote?: Walter King Stapleton was confirmed by voice vote on April 3, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Walter King Stapleton on?: Walter King Stapleton was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Sources

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

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

39 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).