William Elwood Steckler
Appointed by President Harry S Truman in 1950 and confirmed by voice vote, William Elwood Steckler was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. He earned a law degree from Indiana University School of Law -- Bloomington (now Maurer School of Law) in 1936. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1913–1995
- Appointed by
- Harry S Truman, 1950
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Indiana Law -- Bloomington (now Maurer School of Law) 1936
- Succeeded
- Robert C. Baltzell
- Succeeded by
- Larry J. McKinney
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Southern District of Indiana succeeded Robert C. Baltzell | Truman (D) | 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
| Indiana University School of Law -- Bloomington (now Maurer School of Law) | LL.B. | 1936 |
| Indiana University School of Law -- Bloomington (now Maurer School of Law) | J.D. | 1937 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Steckler was assigned 4,557 district-court cases (1970–1995). Median time from filing to termination: 190 days across 4,557 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.
In our data, Steckler authored 103 published opinions for the court (1952–1993). Most cited: Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Company (67 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Bowe v. Colgate-Palmolive Company | 272 F. Supp. 332 | 67 |
| 1978 | Oddi v. Mariner-Denver, Inc. | 461 F. Supp. 306 | 61 |
| 1982 | United States v. Seymour Recycling Corp. | 554 F. Supp. 1334 | 35 |
| 1976 | Neofes v. Robertshaw Controls Co. | 409 F. Supp. 1376 | 31 |
| 1962 | Green v. Robertshaw-Fulton Controls Company | 204 F. Supp. 117 | 31 |
| 1952 | Chicago & E. I. R. Co. v. United States | 107 F. Supp. 118 | 30 |
| 1987 | Monroe County Oil Co., Inc. v. Amoco Oil Co. | 75 B.R. 158 | 29 |
| 1959 | United States v. Shanahan | 168 F. Supp. 225 | 29 |
| 1959 | Lewis v. Kerns | 175 F. Supp. 115 | 25 |
| 1958 | Harris v. American Legion | 162 F. Supp. 700 | 22 |
| 1955 | Emmert v. United States | 146 F. Supp. 322 | 20 |
| 1987 | United States v. Seymour Recycling Corp. | 679 F. Supp. 859 | 19 |
| 1986 | Reed v. Blinzinger | 639 F. Supp. 130 | 19 |
| 1963 | Norkus v. General Motors Corporation | 218 F. Supp. 398 | 17 |
| 1965 | Stout v. Bottorff | 249 F. Supp. 488 | 16 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 103 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 Elwood Steckler?
- President Harry S Truman appointed William Elwood Steckler to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in 1950.
- Was William Elwood Steckler appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Elwood Steckler was appointed by President Harry S Truman, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Elwood Steckler's confirmation vote?
- William Elwood Steckler was confirmed by voice vote on April 4, 1950. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Elwood Steckler on?
- William Elwood Steckler was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
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.
44 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).