Born in Breckenridge, Minnesota, MacLaughlin was in the United States Navy as a yeoman from 1945 to 1946.
He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota in 1949 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1956.
He was an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law from 1958 to 1963.
[1] MacLaughlin was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on August 4, 1977, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota vacated by Judge Earl R. Larson.
MacLaughlin served in that capacity until his death on May 3, 2005, in Edina, Minnesota.