Court of Appeals
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Hears appeals from the district courts within its circuit. Cases are normally decided by panels of three judges, and its rulings bind every district court in that circuit. For nearly all litigants this is the last court that will hear the case.
The bench
Who sits on this court?
Judges in active service, when they were confirmed, and who nominated each.
| Judge | Since | Nominated by | Seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Levin Hicks Campbell Senior | 1972 | Richard M. Nixon | CA10105 |
| Sandra Lea Lynch Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | CA10402 |
| Kermit Victor Lipez Senior | 1998 | William J. Clinton | CA10310 |
| Jeffrey R. Howard Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | CA10209 |
| Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson Senior | 2010 | Barack Obama | CA10602 |
| William Joseph Kayatta Jr. Senior | 2013 | Barack Obama | CA10311 |
| David Jeremiah Barron | 2014 | Barack Obama | CA10107 |
| Gustavo Antonio Gelpí Jr. | 2021 | Joseph R. Biden | CA10502 |
| Lara Elizabeth Montecalvo | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | CA10603 |
| Julie Rikelman | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | CA10403 |
| Seth Robert Aframe | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | CA10210 |
| Joshua Dale Dunlap | 2025 | Donald J. Trump | CA10312 |
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
What seats does this court have?
Each seat on this court, who holds it, and how many judges have held it before.
- Judges seated now
- 12
- Seat numbers on record
- 37
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA10105 | Levin Hicks Campbell | 1972 | 1 |
| CA10107 | David Jeremiah Barron | 2014 | 1 |
| CA10209 | Jeffrey R. Howard | 2002 | 1 |
| CA10210 | Seth Robert Aframe | 2024 | 1 |
| CA10310 | Kermit Victor Lipez | 1998 | 1 |
| CA10311 | William Joseph Kayatta Jr. | 2013 | 1 |
| CA10312 | Joshua Dale Dunlap | 2025 | 1 |
| CA10402 | Sandra Lea Lynch | 1995 | 1 |
| CA10403 | Julie Rikelman | 2023 | 1 |
| CA10502 | Gustavo Antonio Gelpí Jr. | 2021 | 1 |
| CA10602 | Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson | 2010 | 1 |
| CA10603 | Lara Elizabeth Montecalvo | 2022 | 1 |
25 seat numbers with no sitting judge
These are seat numbers in the historical record with nobody currently in them. That usually means the seat was abolished or renumbered, not that it is open today — Congress has changed the size of federal courts many times. Do not read this as a vacancy list.
| Seat | Last held by | Until | Holders |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA10101 | LeBaron Bradford Colt | 1913 | 1 |
| CA10102 | George Hutchins Bingham | 1949 | 1 |
| CA10103 | Calvert Magruder | 1968 | 1 |
| CA10104 | Bailey Aldrich | 2002 | 1 |
| CA10106 | Michael Boudin | 2021 | 1 |
| CA10201 | William LeBaron Putnam | 1917 | 1 |
| CA10202 | Charles Fletcher Johnson | 1930 | 1 |
| CA10203 | Scott Wilson | 1942 | 1 |
| CA10204 | Peter Woodbury | 1970 | 1 |
| CA10205 | Edward Matthew McEntee | 1981 | 1 |
| CA10206 | Hugh Henry Bownes | 2003 | 1 |
| CA10207 | David Hackett Souter | 1990 | 1 |
| CA10208 | Norman H. Stahl | 2023 | 1 |
| CA10301 | Francis Cabot Lowell | 1911 | 1 |
| CA10302 | William Schofield | 1912 | 1 |
| CA10303 | Frederic Dodge | 1918 | 1 |
| CA10304 | George Weston Anderson | 1938 | 1 |
| CA10305 | James Madison Morton Jr. | 1940 | 1 |
| CA10306 | John Christopher Mahoney | 1952 | 1 |
| CA10307 | John Patrick Hartigan | 1968 | 1 |
| CA10308 | Frank Morey Coffin | 2009 | 1 |
| CA10309 | Conrad Keefe Cyr | 2016 | 1 |
| CA10401 | Stephen Gerald Breyer | 1994 | 1 |
| CA10501 | Juan R. Torruella | 2020 | 1 |
| CA10601 | Bruce Marshall Selya | 2025 | 1 |
This site does not publish a vacancy count. Seat identifiers are not stable across court renamings and reorganisations, so a seat that was vacated and refilled can appear empty when it is not. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts publishes the authoritative list of current judicial vacancies: uscourts.gov.
Seats are created by Congress and filled by the President with the Senate's consent. For current vacancies, use the Administrative Office's published list rather than inferring them from this table.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
How this bench was built
Who appointed them?
The tally of presidents who placed the sitting judges on this court.
- Democratic
- 9
- Republican
- 3
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Joseph R. Biden | 4 |
| Barack Obama | 3 |
| William J. Clinton | 2 |
| Richard M. Nixon | 1 |
| Donald J. Trump | 1 |
| George W. Bush | 1 |
The party of the president who appointed a judge is a matter of record. How that judge will rule is not, and this site draws no inference from one to the other.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)