District Court · Second Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
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.
| Judge | Since | Nominated by | Seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert N. Chatigny Senior | 1994 | William J. Clinton | CTD0502 |
| Alvin W. Thompson Senior | 1994 | William J. Clinton | CTD0303 |
| Janet Bond Arterton Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | CTD0115 |
| Janet C. Hall Senior | 1997 | William J. Clinton | CTD0206 |
| Stefan R. Underhill Senior | 1999 | William J. Clinton | CTD0403 |
| Vanessa Lynne Bryant Senior | 2007 | George W. Bush | CTD0802 |
| Michael P. Shea | 2012 | Barack Obama | CTD0603 |
| Victor Allen Bolden | 2014 | Barack Obama | CTD0116 |
| Kari Anne Dooley | 2018 | Donald J. Trump | CTD0503 |
| Sarala Vidya Nagala | 2021 | Joseph R. Biden | CTD0803 |
| Omar Antonio Williams | 2021 | Joseph R. Biden | CTD0304 |
| Vernon Dion Oliver | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | CTD0404 |
| Sarah French Russell | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | CTD0208 |
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
- 13
- Seat numbers on record
- 44
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CTD0115 | Janet Bond Arterton | 1995 | 1 |
| CTD0116 | Victor Allen Bolden | 2014 | 1 |
| CTD0206 | Janet C. Hall | 1997 | 1 |
| CTD0208 | Sarah French Russell | 2024 | 1 |
| CTD0303 | Alvin W. Thompson | 1994 | 1 |
| CTD0304 | Omar Antonio Williams | 2021 | 1 |
| CTD0403 | Stefan R. Underhill | 1999 | 1 |
| CTD0404 | Vernon Dion Oliver | 2023 | 1 |
| CTD0502 | Robert N. Chatigny | 1994 | 1 |
| CTD0503 | Kari Anne Dooley | 2018 | 1 |
| CTD0603 | Michael P. Shea | 2012 | 1 |
| CTD0802 | Vanessa Lynne Bryant | 2007 | 1 |
| CTD0803 | Sarala Vidya Nagala | 2021 | 1 |
31 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CTD0101 | Richard Law | 1806 | 1 |
| CTD0102 | Pierpont Edwards | 1826 | 1 |
| CTD0103 | William Bristol | 1836 | 1 |
| CTD0104 | Andrew Thompson Judson | 1853 | 1 |
| CTD0105 | Charles Anthony Ingersoll | 1860 | 1 |
| CTD0106 | William Davis Shipman | 1873 | 1 |
| CTD0107 | Nathaniel Shipman | 1892 | 1 |
| CTD0108 | William Kneeland Townsend | 1902 | 1 |
| CTD0109 | James Perry Platt | 1913 | 1 |
| CTD0110 | Edwin Stark Thomas | 1939 | 1 |
| CTD0111 | John Joseph Smith | 1960 | 1 |
| CTD0112 | William Homer Timbers | 1971 | 1 |
| CTD0113 | Jon Ormond Newman | 1979 | 1 |
| CTD0114 | José Alberto Cabranes | 1994 | 1 |
| CTD0201 | Warren Booth Burrows | 1930 | 1 |
| CTD0202 | Carroll Clark Hincks | 1953 | 1 |
| CTD0203 | Robert Palmer Anderson | 1964 | 1 |
| CTD0204 | Robert Carmine Zampano | 1994 | 1 |
| CTD0205 | T. F. Gilroy Daly | 1996 | 1 |
| CTD0207 | Sarah Ann Leilani Merriam | 2022 | 1 |
| CTD0301 | Mosher Joseph Blumenfeld | 1988 | 1 |
| CTD0302 | Ellen Bree Burns | 2019 | 1 |
| CTD0401 | T. Emmet Clarie | 1997 | 1 |
| CTD0402 | Peter Collins Dorsey | 2012 | 1 |
| CTD0501 | Warren William Eginton | 2019 | 1 |
| CTD0601 | Alan Harris Nevas | 2009 | 1 |
| CTD0602 | Christopher Fitzgerald Droney | 2011 | 1 |
| CTD0701 | Alfred Covello V. | 2025 | 1 |
| CTD0702 | Mark R. Kravitz | 2012 | 1 |
| CTD0703 | Jeffrey Alker Meyer | 2025 | 1 |
| CTD0801 | Dominic J. Squatrito | 2021 | 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
- 11
- Republican
- 2
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| William J. Clinton | 5 |
| Joseph R. Biden | 4 |
| Barack Obama | 2 |
| George W. Bush | 1 |
| Donald J. Trump | 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)