William Henry Stafford Jr.
How Judge Stafford rules, drawn from 17 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Stafford no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Stafford
William Henry Stafford, Jr. was a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Appointed by President Gerald Ford, Judge Stafford received a commission on May 14, 1975. Judge Stafford assumed senior status on May 31, 1996 and served until death on July 14, 2025.
How Judge Stafford decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Sims v. Jones, he declined to grant the prisoner summary judgment on a beard-length claim because the prison had submitted enough evidence to create a dispute over its asserted interest and the means used.
“As to Plaintiff's beard-length claim, however, the undersigned is unable to agree that, on this record, Plaintiff is entitled to summary judgment. Defendant has submitted sufficient evidence to survive summary judgment as to whether the prison's beard-length rule furthers a compelling government interest and is a least restrictive means to advance that interest.”
In Askew v. Crosby, he denied summary judgment on an excessive-force claim after reviewing video and finding a factual dispute over whether the force used was needed to restore order.
“Having viewed the hand held and fixed wing videos of the relevant events and otherwise considered the record ... the court finds that there is a disputed issue of material fact as to whether the force twice used on Askew was needed to restore order.”
Procedural preferences
In Peterka v. Dixon, he treated the Secretary’s dismissal argument as waived because it was first raised in objections to the magistrate judge’s recommendation.
“Because the Secretary did not present this argument to the magistrate judge, the undersigned considers the argument waived.”
In Peterka v. Dixon, he deferred ruling on Count I because a pending Eleventh Circuit decision in Sims was likely to control the exhaustion issue.
“Because the Eleventh Circuit's decision in Sims is likely to have a controlling effect on a decision regarding administrative exhaustion in this case, the undersigned will defer ruling on the magistrate judge's recommendation as to Count I pending a decision by the Eleventh Circuit in Sims.”
In Dimanche’s civil-rights case, Stafford reviewed the record in light of the plaintiff’s objections, adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation, denied the plaintiff’s summary-judgment motion, and granted the defendants’ motions in whole or in part.
“Having reviewed the record in light of Plaintiff’s objections, the court finds that the magistrate judge's report and recommendation should be adopted.”
Cautions
In Evans’s habeas case, Stafford adopted the recommendation to dismiss the petition with prejudice as time-barred after the petitioner filed no objections. He also denied a certificate of appealability.
“The petitioner's petition for writ of habeas corpus (doc. 1) is DISMISSED with prejudice as time-barred.”
In Wheeler’s civil-rights case, Stafford adopted the recommendation to grant Dr. Ladele’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed the claims against him without prejudice for failure to exhaust available administrative remedies.
“All claims against Dr. Ladele are accordingly DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to exhaust available administrative remedies.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The United States of America's motion for summary judgment (doc. 20) is GRANTED.”
“Defendant Kriss's motion for summary judgment (doc. 68) is GRANTED.”
“The respondent's motion to dismiss (doc. 15) is GRANTED. ... The petitioner's petition for writ of habeas corpus (doc. 1) is DISMISSED with prejudice as time-barred. ... A certificate of appealability is DENIED.”
“Respondents’ motion to dismiss (doc. 10) is GRANTED.”
“Defendant's renewed motion for summary judgment (doc. 68) is GRANTED as to Plaintiff's strip-search claim only. ... Defendant's motion for summary judgment (doc. 68) is DENIED as to Plaintiff's beard-length claim.”
“Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (doc. 42) is DENIED.”
“Ernest Gorham's motion for summary judgment (doc. 62) is GRANTED, and Ernest Gorham is hereby DISMISSED from this action with prejudice.”
“Defendant Austin's motion for summary judgment (doc. 218) is DENIED.”
“The amended motion for summary judgment (doc. 217) filed by Defendants Crosby, Malphurs, and Segree is GRANTED as to Defendant Segree but DENIED as to Defendants Crosby and Malphurs.”
“Counts II and III of Plaintiff's amended complaint are DISMISSED. [The magistrate judge had recommended] that the motion to dismiss (ECF No. 54) filed by JPay, LLC ('JPay'), be granted.”
“the motion to dismiss (ECF No. 52) filed by Ricky D. Dixon (the 'Secretary') be granted as to Counts II and III of Plaintiff's amended complaint but denied as to Count I ... A ruling on the magistrate judge's report and recommendation as it relates to Count I is deferred pending a decision by the Eleventh Circuit in Sims.”
In a Prison Litigation Reform Act screening disposition, the court adopted the magistrate judge's unobjected recommendations and dismissed the prisoner complaint under 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) and 1915A(b)(1) for failure to state a claim. In the same order, it denied the plaintiff's motion to voluntarily dismiss and recover his filing fee. Quote: 'Plaintiff's complaint and this action are hereby DISMISSED pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) and 1915A(b)(1) for failure to state a claim'; 'Plaintiff's "Motion to Voluntarily Dismiss the Case and Motion to Receive a Refund Court Lien/Fees" is DENIED.'
“The defendant's motion for sanctions (doc. 57)—to strike the plaintiff's complaint and to preclude the plaintiff from introducing any testimonial or documentary evidence at trial—is DENIED.”
“The plaintiff's motions (docs. 52 & 54) for extension of time to file Rule 26 disclosures are GRANTED. The plaintiff's Rule 26 disclosures shall be deemed timely.”
“The defendant's motion (ECF No. 25) to dismiss the plaintiff's first amended complaint is GRANTED. ... The clerk shall enter judgment stating: ‘All claims are dismissed with prejudice.’”
“Plaintiff's ‘Emergency Motion to Re-Urge TRO-Injunctive Relief’ (ECF No. 60) ... [is] denied without prejudice.”
“‘Motion for Emergency Hearing for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunction’ (ECF No. 67) [is] denied without prejudice.”
“Plaintiff's ‘Motion for Permission to File More Than 25 Pages in Complaint’ (ECF No. 60) is DENIED as moot.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- His docket was strongly bimodal. In his active and early-senior years (from his 1975 commission) it was dominated by institutional civil-rights litigation that ran for years or decades under continuing court supervision: school-desegregation and voting-rights cases (such as a Gadsden County school-board case open from 1973 to 2004), Title VII employment-discrimination suits against state agencies (including a United States enforcement action against the Florida Highway Patrol open from 1979 to 2005), prisoner civil-rights cases, a medical-malpractice diversity case, and bankruptcy-withdrawal and federal-loan-recovery matters.
- In his late-senior years he carried a high-volume Tallahassee-Division screening docket of pro se prisoner civil-rights, prison-condition, and state habeas filings that were referred to magistrate judges and terminated quickly.
- Because these two modes are so different, no single case-duration figure is representative; the durations below describe only the recent screening cohort.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Stafford was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2025.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 4 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 2 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
A historical record
Judge Stafford no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.