Joseph Edward Stevens Jr.

How Judge Stevens rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Stevens no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

Court
United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
Position
district
Status
Deceased
Served
1981–1998
Appointed by
Ronald Reagan (Republican)
Commissioned
1981-09-18
Education
Yale University, B.A. (1949); University of Michigan Law School, J.D. (1952)
Signed orders read
20

How Judge Stevens decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

In Croman, Stevens upheld a nighttime amplification restriction after finding that it targeted noise rather than message, was narrowly tailored to a substantial public interest, and preserved other channels of communication.

“Because the ordinance is narrowly tailored to serve a substantial governmental interest unrelated to the content of the speech and leaves open ample alternative channels of communication, the ordinance is a reasonable time, place and manner regulation of speech.”

Procedural preferences

In Dowdy, Stevens required a codefendant offering exculpatory testimony to do so in the first trial without immunity before the court would consider severance.

“the court will consider defendants’ motions to sever only if Gilbert Dowdy is willing to offer the exculpatory evidence in the initial trial, without a grant of immunity.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Peele v. Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc.
· 1985-10-16
Motion to compel arbitration (defendants) Granted

“ORDERED that defendants’ motion to compel arbitration of all of plaintiff’s claims, including Counts I, III, and IV, is granted.”

Motions to stay (defendants) Granted

“ORDERED that any further disposition in this court is stayed pending arbitration of this matter.”

Simmons v. Mill's Pride, Inc.
· 1992-03-19
Motion to dismiss or stay (defendant Mills Pride) Granted

“ORDERED that defendant Mills Pride’s motion to dismiss or stay is granted and the case is hereby dismissed without prejudice.”

United States v. Vest
· 1995-11-14
Motion to file substitute page (government) Granted

“As a preliminary matter, plaintiffs motion to file a substitute page (doc. 1393) is GRANTED.”

Motion for notice and mental health examination (government) Granted in part

“Plaintiffs motion for notice of mental health evidence and examination (doc. 1399) is GRANTED IN PART.”

Willison v. Race
· 1995-08-10
Bankruptcy appeal (appellant Willison) Granted

“Accordingly, the decision of the bankruptcy judge is REVERSED and the matter is REMANDED for further proceedings.”

Tarkio College v. Bower (In Re Tarkio College)
· 1992-02-18
Motion to abstain (Marie Bower) Granted

“ORDERED that the motion of Marie Bower to abstain from exercising jurisdiction, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1334, should be, and hereby is, SUSTAINED.”

Wornell v. Berman (In Re Wornell)
· 1986-08-27
Bankruptcy appeal (plaintiff debtors) Granted

“The order of the bankruptcy court is reversed, and the court is ordered to enter judgment in favor of plaintiffs and against defendant on plaintiffs’ complaint.”

Sullivan v. Sullivan
· 1990-05-30
Motion for attorney fees (plaintiff’s attorney) Granted

“ORDERED that the motion of plaintiff’s attorney for attorney’s fees pursuant to EAJA is granted.”

United States v. Dowdy
· 1990-06-26
Motion for severance (defendant Cassandra Miller) Denied

“ORDERED that the motion of defendant Cassandra Miller to sever her trial from that of her husband is denied.”

Pronto Enterprises, Inc. v. United States
· 1995-08-29
Bankruptcy appeal (United States) Granted in part

“Accordingly, the decision of the bankruptcy court is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this order.”

Croman v. City of Kansas City, Mo.
· 1997-11-26
Summary judgment (defendant City of Kansas City) Granted

“ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. # 27) is GRANTED.”

Motion for extension of time (plaintiff) Granted

“ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion for Leave to Extend Time to Amend Dispositive Motion (doc. # 30) is GRANTED.”

Summary judgment (plaintiff) Denied

“ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. # 33) is DENIED.”

Motion for sanctions (plaintiff) Denied

“ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion for Imposition of Sanctions (doc. # 34) is DENIED.”

Motion to submit supplemental materials (plaintiff) Granted in part

“ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion in Support of the Court’s Acceptance of Introduction of All Disclosure, etc. (doc. #35) is GRANTED to the extent that it requests the Court to consider supplemental affidavits and is DENIED in all other respects.”

Miner v. Westergren (In re King)
· 1989-01-16
Bankruptcy appeal (appellant law firm) Denied

“ORDERED that the judgment of the bankruptcy court is affirmed and appellant is directed to return all fees within thirty days of the date of this order.”

Guinan v. Delo
· 1989-10-19
Motion to stay execution (petitioner Frank Guinan) Granted

“execution of the death sentence imposed on Frank Guinan is stayed;”

Motion for appointment of counsel (petitioner Frank Guinan) Granted

“In addition, appellant has filed a motion for appointment of counsel. This motion will be granted.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 1316 days (N = 20).

The 20 oldest returned assigned matters were all terminated and included prisoner, benefits, civil-rights, tort, labor, property, and ERISA cases. Administrative termination codes included seven settlements, five other dismissals, four court-trial judgments, and four matters ending through other routes.

A historical record

Judge Stevens no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.