William Henry Stafford Jr.
Appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975 and confirmed by voice vote, William Henry Stafford Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. He earned a law degree from Temple University School of Law (now James E. Beasley School of Law) in 1956. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1931–2025
- Appointed by
- Gerald Ford, 1975
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Temple 1953 · Temple Law (now James E. Beasley School of Law) 1956
- Succeeded
- David Lycurgus Middlebrooks Jr.
- Succeeded by
- Robert Lewis Hinkle
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Northern District of Florida succeeded David Lycurgus Middlebrooks Jr. | Ford (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
| Temple University | B.S. | 1953 |
| Temple University School of Law (now James E. Beasley School of Law) | LL.B. | 1956 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Stafford was assigned 4,303 district-court cases (1973–2024). Median time from filing to termination: 183 days across 4,301 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 124 of Stafford’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 106 were affirmed, 11 reversed or vacated, and 7 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, Stafford authored 54 published opinions for the court (1975–2009). Most cited: American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Inc. v. Florida Bar (27 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Inc. v. Florida Bar | 744 F. Supp. 1094 | 27 |
| 1975 | Byron v. University of Florida | 403 F. Supp. 49 | 23 |
| 1977 | In Re Coed Shop, Inc. | 435 F. Supp. 472 | 20 |
| 1977 | Peel v. Florida Department of Transportation | 443 F. Supp. 451 | 20 |
| 1978 | Donaldson v. O'Connor | 454 F. Supp. 311 | 19 |
| 1976 | Sumlin v. Brown | 420 F. Supp. 78 | 16 |
| 1982 | Scherer v. Davis | 543 F. Supp. 4 | 12 |
| 1999 | In Re Sullivan | 245 B.R. 416 | 11 |
| 1981 | Shinholster v. Graham | 527 F. Supp. 1318 | 11 |
| 1980 | Peel v. Florida Department of Transportation | 500 F. Supp. 526 | 11 |
| 1988 | Williams v. United States | 681 F. Supp. 763 | 10 |
| 1991 | United States v. Thompson | 756 F. Supp. 1492 | 9 |
| 1981 | Adams v. Wainwright | 512 F. Supp. 948 | 9 |
| 1976 | Feminist Women's Health Center, Inc. v. Mohammad | 415 F. Supp. 1258 | 9 |
| 1986 | Gibson v. Farmers and Merchants Bank | 81 B.R. 84 | 7 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 54 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 William Henry Stafford Jr.?
- President Gerald Ford appointed William Henry Stafford Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in 1975.
- Was William Henry Stafford Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Henry Stafford Jr. was appointed by President Gerald Ford, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Henry Stafford Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- William Henry Stafford Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on May 12, 1975. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Henry Stafford Jr. on?
- William Henry Stafford Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
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.
50 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).