Court of Appeals
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Hoover Easterbrook | 1985 | Ronald Reagan | CA71101 |
| Kenneth Francis Ripple Senior | 1985 | Ronald Reagan | CA71201 |
| Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner Senior | 1992 | George H.W. Bush | CA70605 |
| Diane S. Sykes Senior | 2004 | George W. Bush | CA70108 |
| David Frank Hamilton Senior | 2009 | Barack Obama | CA71202 |
| Michael Brian Brennan | 2018 | Donald J. Trump | CA71003 |
| Michael Yale Scudder Jr. | 2018 | Donald J. Trump | CA70706 |
| Amy Joan St. Eve | 2018 | Donald J. Trump | CA70903 |
| Thomas Lee Kirsch II | 2020 | Donald J. Trump | CA70410 |
| Candace Rae Jackson-Akiwumi | 2021 | Joseph R. Biden | CA70209 |
| John Zihun Lee | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | CA70311 |
| Doris Lenea Pryor | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | CA71203 |
| Joshua Paul Kolar | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | CA70804 |
| Nancy Lee Maldonado | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | CA70606 |
| Rebecca Liane Taibleson | 2025 | Donald J. Trump | CA70109 |
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
- 15
- Seat numbers on record
- 66
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA70108 | Diane S. Sykes | 2004 | 1 |
| CA70109 | Rebecca Liane Taibleson | 2025 | 1 |
| CA70209 | Candace Rae Jackson-Akiwumi | 2021 | 1 |
| CA70311 | John Zihun Lee | 2022 | 1 |
| CA70410 | Thomas Lee Kirsch II | 2020 | 1 |
| CA70605 | Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner | 1992 | 1 |
| CA70606 | Nancy Lee Maldonado | 2024 | 1 |
| CA70706 | Michael Yale Scudder Jr. | 2018 | 1 |
| CA70804 | Joshua Paul Kolar | 2024 | 1 |
| CA70903 | Amy Joan St. Eve | 2018 | 1 |
| CA71003 | Michael Brian Brennan | 2018 | 1 |
| CA71101 | Frank Hoover Easterbrook | 1985 | 1 |
| CA71201 | Kenneth Francis Ripple | 1985 | 1 |
| CA71202 | David Frank Hamilton | 2009 | 1 |
| CA71203 | Doris Lenea Pryor | 2022 | 1 |
51 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA70101 | Walter Quintin Gresham | 1893 | 1 |
| CA70102 | James Graham Jenkins | 1905 | 1 |
| CA70103 | William Henry Seaman | 1915 | 1 |
| CA70104 | Evan Alfred Evans | 1948 | 1 |
| CA70105 | Francis Ryan Duffy | 1979 | 1 |
| CA70106 | Thomas Edward Fairchild | 2007 | 1 |
| CA70107 | John Louis Coffey | 2012 | 1 |
| CA70201 | William Allen Woods | 1901 | 1 |
| CA70202 | Francis Elisha Baker | 1924 | 1 |
| CA70203 | Albert Barnes Anderson | 1938 | 1 |
| CA70204 | William Morris Sparks | 1950 | 1 |
| CA70205 | Philip J. Finnegan | 1959 | 1 |
| CA70206 | Latham Castle | 1986 | 1 |
| CA70207 | Robert Arthur Sprecher | 1982 | 1 |
| CA70208 | Joel Martin Flaum | 2024 | 1 |
| CA70301 | John William Showalter | 1898 | 1 |
| CA70302 | Peter Stenger Grosscup | 1911 | 1 |
| CA70303 | Samuel Alschuler | 1939 | 1 |
| CA70304 | Walter Emanuel Treanor | 1941 | 1 |
| CA70305 | Sherman Minton | 1949 | 1 |
| CA70306 | Walter C. Lindley | 1958 | 1 |
| CA70307 | Winfred George Knoch | 1983 | 1 |
| CA70308 | Otto Kerner Jr. | 1974 | 1 |
| CA70309 | William Joseph Bauer | 2025 | 1 |
| CA70310 | Diane Pamela Wood | 2024 | 1 |
| CA70401 | Christian Cecil Kohlsaat | 1918 | 1 |
| CA70402 | George True Page | 1941 | 1 |
| CA70403 | Louis FitzHenry | 1935 | 1 |
| CA70404 | James Earl Major | 1972 | 1 |
| CA70405 | John Simpson Hastings | 1977 | 1 |
| CA70406 | Wilbur Frank Pell Jr. | 2000 | 1 |
| CA70407 | Daniel Anthony Manion | 2024 | 1 |
| CA70408 | John Daniel Tinder | 2015 | 1 |
| CA70409 | Amy Coney Barrett | 2020 | 1 |
| CA70501 | Julian William Mack | 1929 | 1 |
| CA70601 | Otto Kerner Sr. | 1952 | 1 |
| CA70602 | Elmer Jacob Schnackenberg | 1968 | 1 |
| CA70603 | John Paul Stevens | 1975 | 1 |
| CA70604 | Harlington Wood Jr. | 2008 | 1 |
| CA70701 | Hardress Nathan Swaim | 1957 | 1 |
| CA70702 | William Lynn Parkinson | 1959 | 1 |
| CA70703 | Roger Joseph Kiley | 1974 | 1 |
| CA70704 | Philip Willis Tone | 1980 | 1 |
| CA70705 | Richard Allen Posner | 2017 | 1 |
| CA70801 | Luther Merritt Swygert | 1988 | 1 |
| CA70802 | Jesse Ernest Eschbach | 2005 | 1 |
| CA70803 | Michael Stephen Kanne | 2022 | 1 |
| CA70901 | Walter Joseph Cummings | 1999 | 1 |
| CA70902 | Ann Claire Williams | 2018 | 1 |
| CA71001 | Richard Dickson Cudahy | 2015 | 1 |
| CA71002 | Terence Thomas Evans | 2011 | 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.
- Republican
- 9
- Democratic
- 6
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Donald J. Trump | 5 |
| Joseph R. Biden | 5 |
| Ronald Reagan | 2 |
| Barack Obama | 1 |
| George H.W. Bush | 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)