[1] Ripple was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on April 1, 1985, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, to a new seat created by 98 Stat.
[1] Ripple has written numerous books and articles on constitutional litigation, judicial decision-making and a wide variety of other legal topics.
A member of the Virginia, New York, Indiana and District of Columbia Bars, Ripple has the distinction of serving on the American delegation to the 1980 Anglo-American Judicial Exchange.
He is also a member of the American Law Institute and has chaired the Advisory Committee on Federal Appellate Rules of Procedure.
[2] In October 2018, Ripple dissented when the majority, in an opinion by Chief Judge Diane Wood, found that Tony Evers, then Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin, did not violate the Constitution's Free Exercise Clause nor its Establishment Clause when he denied bussing to an independent catholic school because there was a nearby archdiocesan school.