District Court · Third Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anne Elise Thompson Senior | 1979 | Jimmy Carter | NJD1301 |
| Joseph H. Rodriguez Senior | 1985 | Ronald Reagan | NJD1401 |
| Mary Little Cooper Senior | 1992 | George H.W. Bush | NJD1701 |
| Katharine Sweeney Hayden Senior | 1997 | William J. Clinton | NJD0309 |
| Stanley R. Chesler Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | NJD1302 |
| William J. Martini Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | NJD0804 |
| Susan Davis Wigenton | 2006 | George W. Bush | NJD0605 |
| Renée Marie Bumb | 2006 | George W. Bush | NJD0507 |
| Peter G. Sheridan Senior | 2006 | George W. Bush | NJD1203 |
| Claire Claudia Cecchi | 2011 | Barack Obama | NJD0706 |
| Esther Salas | 2011 | Barack Obama | NJD0310 |
| Kevin McNulty Senior | 2012 | Barack Obama | NJD1602 |
| Michael Andre Shipp | 2012 | Barack Obama | NJD1702 |
| Madeline Cox Arleo | 2014 | Barack Obama | NJD1504 |
| Brian R. Martinotti | 2016 | Barack Obama | NJD1303 |
| Julien Xavier Neals | 2021 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD0805 |
| Zahid Nisar Quraishi | 2021 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD1204 |
| Christine Patricia O'Hearn | 2021 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD1803 |
| Karen McGlashan Williams | 2021 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD1902 |
| Georgette Castner | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD1104 |
| Evelyn Padin | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD1403 |
| Michael Etan Farbiarz | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD0219 |
| Robert Andrew Kirsch | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD0409 |
| Jamel Ken Semper | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD1006 |
| Edward Sunyol Kiel | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | NJD1603 |
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
- 25
- Seat numbers on record
- 98
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| NJD0219 | Michael Etan Farbiarz | 2023 | 1 |
| NJD0309 | Katharine Sweeney Hayden | 1997 | 1 |
| NJD0310 | Esther Salas | 2011 | 1 |
| NJD0409 | Robert Andrew Kirsch | 2023 | 1 |
| NJD0507 | Renée Marie Bumb | 2006 | 1 |
| NJD0605 | Susan Davis Wigenton | 2006 | 1 |
| NJD0706 | Claire Claudia Cecchi | 2011 | 1 |
| NJD0804 | William J. Martini | 2002 | 1 |
| NJD0805 | Julien Xavier Neals | 2021 | 1 |
| NJD1006 | Jamel Ken Semper | 2023 | 1 |
| NJD1104 | Georgette Castner | 2022 | 1 |
| NJD1203 | Peter G. Sheridan | 2006 | 1 |
| NJD1204 | Zahid Nisar Quraishi | 2021 | 1 |
| NJD1301 | Anne Elise Thompson | 1979 | 1 |
| NJD1302 | Stanley R. Chesler | 2002 | 1 |
| NJD1303 | Brian R. Martinotti | 2016 | 1 |
| NJD1401 | Joseph H. Rodriguez | 1985 | 1 |
| NJD1403 | Evelyn Padin | 2022 | 1 |
| NJD1504 | Madeline Cox Arleo | 2014 | 1 |
| NJD1602 | Kevin McNulty | 2012 | 1 |
| NJD1603 | Edward Sunyol Kiel | 2024 | 1 |
| NJD1701 | Mary Little Cooper | 1992 | 1 |
| NJD1702 | Michael Andre Shipp | 2012 | 1 |
| NJD1803 | Christine Patricia O'Hearn | 2021 | 1 |
| NJD1902 | Karen McGlashan Williams | 2021 | 1 |
73 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NJD0101 | David Brearley | 1790 | 1 |
| NJD0102 | Robert Morris | 1801 | 1 |
| NJD0201 | Robert Morris | 1815 | 1 |
| NJD0202 | William Sanford Pennington | 1826 | 1 |
| NJD0203 | William Rossell | 1840 | 1 |
| NJD0204 | Mahlon Dickerson | 1841 | 1 |
| NJD0205 | Philemon Dickerson | 1862 | 1 |
| NJD0206 | Richard Stockton Field | 1870 | 1 |
| NJD0207 | John Thompson Nixon | 1889 | 1 |
| NJD0208 | Edward T. Green | 1896 | 1 |
| NJD0209 | Andrew Kirkpatrick | 1904 | 1 |
| NJD0210 | William Mershon Lanning | 1909 | 1 |
| NJD0211 | John Rellstab | 1930 | 1 |
| NJD0212 | James William McCarthy | 1929 | 1 |
| NJD0213 | Guy Leverne Fake | 1957 | 1 |
| NJD0214 | Richard Hartshorne | 1975 | 1 |
| NJD0215 | Mitchell Harry Cohen | 1991 | 1 |
| NJD0216 | Stanley Seymour Brotman | 2014 | 1 |
| NJD0217 | William G. Bassler | 2006 | 1 |
| NJD0218 | Noel Lawrence Hillman | 2024 | 1 |
| NJD0301 | Joseph Cross | 1913 | 1 |
| NJD0302 | Thomas Griffith Haight | 1919 | 1 |
| NJD0303 | Charles Francis Lynch | 1925 | 1 |
| NJD0304 | William Clark | 1938 | 1 |
| NJD0305 | Thomas Glynn Walker | 1941 | 1 |
| NJD0306 | Thomas Francis Meaney | 1968 | 1 |
| NJD0307 | Lawrence Aloysius Whipple | 1983 | 1 |
| NJD0308 | H. Lee Sarokin | 1994 | 1 |
| NJD0401 | John Warren Davis | 1920 | 1 |
| NJD0402 | Joseph Lamb Bodine | 1929 | 1 |
| NJD0403 | John Boyd Avis | 1944 | 1 |
| NJD0404 | Thomas M. Madden | 1976 | 1 |
| NJD0405 | Leonard I. Garth | 1973 | 1 |
| NJD0406 | Herbert Jay Stern | 1987 | 1 |
| NJD0407 | Nicholas H. Politan | 2002 | 1 |
| NJD0408 | Freda L. Wolfson | 2023 | 1 |
| NJD0501 | William Nelson Runyon | 1931 | 1 |
| NJD0502 | Phillip Forman | 1959 | 1 |
| NJD0503 | Arthur Stephen Lane | 1967 | 1 |
| NJD0504 | George Herbert Barlow | 1979 | 1 |
| NJD0505 | Harold Arnold Ackerman | 2009 | 1 |
| NJD0506 | William H. Walls | 2019 | 1 |
| NJD0601 | William Francis Smith | 1961 | 1 |
| NJD0602 | Robert Shaw | 1972 | 1 |
| NJD0603 | Vincent Pasquale Biunno | 1991 | 1 |
| NJD0604 | John Winslow Bissell | 2005 | 1 |
| NJD0701 | Alfred Egidio Modarelli | 1957 | 1 |
| NJD0702 | Mendon Morrill | 1961 | 1 |
| NJD0703 | James Aloysius Coolahan | 1986 | 1 |
| NJD0704 | John Francis Gerry | 1995 | 1 |
| NJD0705 | Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. | 2010 | 1 |
| NJD0801 | Reynier Jacob Wortendyke Jr. | 1975 | 1 |
| NJD0802 | Clarkson Sherman Fisher | 1997 | 1 |
| NJD0803 | John C. Lifland | 2007 | 1 |
| NJD0901 | Anthony Thomas Augelli | 1974 | 1 |
| NJD1001 | John Joseph Kitchen | 1973 | 1 |
| NJD1002 | Henry Curtis Meanor | 1983 | 1 |
| NJD1003 | Maryanne Trump Barry | 1999 | 1 |
| NJD1004 | Joel A. Pisano | 2015 | 1 |
| NJD1005 | John Michael Vazquez | 2023 | 1 |
| NJD1101 | Frederick Bernard Lacey | 1986 | 1 |
| NJD1102 | Alfred James Lechner Jr. | 2001 | 1 |
| NJD1103 | Jose L. Linares | 2019 | 1 |
| NJD1201 | Dickinson Richards Debevoise | 2015 | 1 |
| NJD1202 | Stephen Murray Orlofsky | 2003 | 1 |
| NJD1402 | Faith S. Hochberg | 2015 | 1 |
| NJD1501 | Robert E. Cowen | 1987 | 1 |
| NJD1502 | Alfred M. Wolin | 2004 | 1 |
| NJD1503 | Dennis M. Cavanaugh | 2014 | 1 |
| NJD1601 | Garrett E. Brown Jr. | 2012 | 1 |
| NJD1801 | Joseph Eron Irenas | 2015 | 1 |
| NJD1802 | Robert B. Kugler | 2024 | 1 |
| NJD1901 | Jerome B. Simandle | 2019 | 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
- 18
- Republican
- 7
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Joseph R. Biden | 10 |
| Barack Obama | 6 |
| George W. Bush | 5 |
| George H.W. Bush | 1 |
| William J. Clinton | 1 |
| Ronald Reagan | 1 |
| Jimmy Carter | 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)