WriteTheUS

District Court · Ninth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

The federal trial court. Juries sit here, evidence is heard here, and almost every federal case begins here.

The bench

Who sits on this court?

Judges in active service, when they were confirmed, and who nominated each.

Judges currently in service
JudgeSinceNominated bySeat
Terry J. Hatter Jr. Senior1979Jimmy CarterCACD1701
Consuelo Bland Marshall Senior1980Jimmy CarterCACD0403
Stephen Victor Wilson1985Ronald ReaganCACD2001
Christina A. Snyder Senior1997William J. ClintonCACD0104
David O. Carter1998William J. ClintonCACD1603
Virginia A. Phillips Senior1999William J. ClintonCACD1502
Percy Anderson2002George W. BushCACD0304
John F. Walter2002George W. BushCACD1304
Robert Gary Klausner2002George W. BushCACD1802
James Selna V. Senior2003George W. BushCACD2102
Cormac J. Carney Senior2003George W. BushCACD0604
Dale S. Fischer Senior2003George W. BushCACD2801
Valerie Baker Fairbank Senior2007George W. BushCACD0404
Otis D. Wright II2007George W. BushCACD1903
George H. Wu Senior2007George W. BushCACD0504
Dolly Maizie Gee2009Barack ObamaCACD2303
Josephine L. Staton2010Barack ObamaCACD1403
John Arnold Kronstadt Senior2011Barack ObamaCACD2403
Michael Walter Fitzgerald2012Barack ObamaCACD0904
Jesus Gilberto Bernal2012Barack ObamaCACD2603
Fernando Manzano Olguin2012Barack ObamaCACD0705
Andre Birotte Jr.2014Barack ObamaCACD0205
Stanley Blumenfeld Jr.2020Donald J. TrumpCACD1005
John William Holcomb2020Donald J. TrumpCACD1104
Mark Christopher Scarsi2020Donald J. TrumpCACD2702
Fernando Lazaro Aenlle-Rocha2020Donald J. TrumpCACD2503
Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong2021Joseph R. BidenCACD0105
Fred Wallace Slaughter2022Joseph R. BidenCACD2203
Sherilyn Peace Garnett2022Joseph R. BidenCACD1202
Sunshine Suzanne Sykes2022Joseph R. BidenCACD2103
Wesley Liu Hsu2023Joseph R. BidenCACD1503
Hernán Diego Vera2023Joseph R. BidenCACD0804
Kenly Kiya Kato2023Joseph R. BidenCACD0406
Monica Ramirez Almadani2023Joseph R. BidenCACD2404
Michelle Williams Court2024Joseph R. BidenCACD2802
Anne Hwang2024Joseph R. BidenCACD0505
Cynthia Valenzuela Dixon2024Joseph R. BidenCACD1703
Serena Raquel Murillo2024Joseph R. BidenCACD0605

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
38
Seat numbers on record
100
Seats with a sitting judge
SeatHeld bySinceHolders to date
CACD0104Christina A. Snyder19971
CACD0105Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong20221
CACD0205Andre Birotte Jr.20141
CACD0304Percy Anderson20021
CACD0403Consuelo Bland Marshall19801
CACD0404Valerie Baker Fairbank20071
CACD0406Kenly Kiya Kato20231
CACD0504George H. Wu20071
CACD0505Anne Hwang20241
CACD0604Cormac J. Carney20031
CACD0605Serena Raquel Murillo20251
CACD0705Fernando Manzano Olguin20131
CACD0804Hernán Diego Vera20231
CACD0904Michael Walter Fitzgerald20121
CACD1005Stanley Blumenfeld Jr.20201
CACD1104John William Holcomb20201
CACD1202Sherilyn Peace Garnett20221
CACD1304John F. Walter20021
CACD1403Josephine L. Staton20101
CACD1502Virginia A. Phillips19991
CACD1503Wesley Liu Hsu20231
CACD1603David O. Carter19981
CACD1701Terry J. Hatter Jr.19791
CACD1703Cynthia Valenzuela Dixon20241
CACD1802Robert Gary Klausner20021
CACD1903Otis D. Wright II20071
CACD2001Stephen Victor Wilson19851
CACD2102James Selna V.20031
CACD2103Sunshine Suzanne Sykes20221
CACD2203Fred Wallace Slaughter20221
CACD2303Dolly Maizie Gee20101
CACD2403John Arnold Kronstadt20111
CACD2404Monica Ramirez Almadani20231
CACD2503Fernando Lazaro Aenlle-Rocha20201
CACD2603Jesus Gilberto Bernal20121
CACD2702Mark Christopher Scarsi20201
CACD2801Dale S. Fischer20031
CACD2802Michelle Williams Court20241
62 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.

SeatLast held byUntilHolders
CACD0101Peirson Mitchell Hall19791
CACD0102David Welford Williams20001
CACD0103Edward Rafeedie20081
CACD0201Thurmond Clarke19711
CACD0202Lawrence Tupper Lydick19951
CACD0203James M. Ideman19981
CACD0204Gary Allen Feess20151
CACD0301Albert Lee Stephens Jr.20011
CACD0302David Vreeland Kenyon19971
CACD0303Kim McLane Wardlaw19981
CACD0401Charles Hardy Carr19761
CACD0402Robert Firth19841
CACD0405Beverly Reid O'Connell20171
CACD0501Jesse William Curtis Jr.19901
CACD0502Laughlin Edward Waters Sr.20021
CACD0503Ronald S. W. Lew20231
CACD0601Elisha Avery Crary19781
CACD0602Robert Mitsuhiro Takasugi20091
CACD0603Carlos R. Moreno20011
CACD0701Francis C. Whelan19911
CACD0702Mariana R. Pfaelzer20151
CACD0703Nora Margaret Manella20061
CACD0704Jacqueline Hong-Ngoc Nguyen20121
CACD0801Irving Hill19981
CACD0802Richard Arthur Gadbois Jr.19961
CACD0803Margaret M. Morrow20161
CACD0901A. Andrew Hauk20041
CACD0902Harry Lindley Hupp20041
CACD0903A. Howard Matz20131
CACD1001William Percival Gray19921
CACD1002Pamela Ann Rymer19891
CACD1003Robert C. Bonner19901
CACD1004Audrey B. Collins20141
CACD1101Warren John Ferguson19791
CACD1102Atsushi Wallace Tashima19961
CACD1103Dean D. Pregerson20251
CACD1201Manuel Lawrence Real20191
CACD1301Harry Pregerson19791
CACD1302Cynthia Holcomb Hall19841
CACD1303John G. Davies19981
CACD1401Robert Joseph Kelleher20121
CACD1402Alicemarie Huber Stotler20141
CACD1501William Matthew Byrne Jr.20061
CACD1601Malcolm Millar Lucas19841
CACD1602William J. Rea20051
CACD1702Philip S. Gutierrez20241
CACD1801William Duffy Keller20251
CACD1901Ferdinand Francis Fernandez19891
CACD1902Gary L. Taylor20051
CACD2101John Spencer Letts20141
CACD2201Dickran M. Tevrizian Jr.20071
CACD2202Andrew J. Guilford20201
CACD2301Lourdes Gillespie Baird20051
CACD2302George P. Schiavelli20081
CACD2401Linda Hodge McLaughlin19991
CACD2402Florence-Marie Cooper20101
CACD2501Richard A. Paez20001
CACD2502S. James Otero20201
CACD2601Robert J. Timlin20171
CACD2602Stephen G. Larson20091
CACD2701George H. King20171
CACDSRLeon Rene Yankwich19752

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
24
Republican
14
Sitting judges by appointing president
PresidentJudges
Joseph R. Biden12
George W. Bush9
Barack Obama7
Donald J. Trump4
William J. Clinton3
Jimmy Carter2
Ronald Reagan1

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)