WriteTheUS

District Court · Ninth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Eastern 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
William B. Shubb Senior1990George H.W. BushCAED0602
Garland Ellis Burrell Jr. Senior1992George H.W. BushCAED0701
Anthony W. Ishii Senior1997William J. ClintonCAED0103
Lawrence Joseph O'Neill Senior2007George W. BushCAED0403
John A. Mendez Senior2008George W. BushCAED0503
Troy Lynne Nunley2013Barack ObamaCAED0702
Dale Alan Drozd2015Barack ObamaCAED0104
Jennifer Leigh Thurston2021Joseph R. BidenCAED0404
Daniel Joe Powell Calabretta2023Joseph R. BidenCAED0504
Kirk Edward Sherriff2024Joseph R. BidenCAED0305
Dena Michaela Coggins2024Joseph R. BidenCAED0206

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
11
Seat numbers on record
27
Seats with a sitting judge
SeatHeld bySinceHolders to date
CAED0103Anthony W. Ishii19971
CAED0104Dale Alan Drozd20151
CAED0206Dena Michaela Coggins20241
CAED0305Kirk Edward Sherriff20241
CAED0403Lawrence Joseph O'Neill20071
CAED0404Jennifer Leigh Thurston20211
CAED0503John A. Mendez20081
CAED0504Daniel Joe Powell Calabretta20231
CAED0602William B. Shubb19901
CAED0701Garland Ellis Burrell Jr.19921
CAED0702Troy Lynne Nunley20131
16 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
CAED0101Myron Donovan Crocker20101
CAED0102Robert Everett Coyle20121
CAED0201Sherrill Halbert19911
CAED0202Philip Charles Wilkins19981
CAED0203Edward J. Garcia20231
CAED0204Frank C. Damrell Jr.20111
CAED0205Kimberly Jo Mueller20261
CAED0301Thomas Jamison MacBride20001
CAED0302Lawrence K. Karlton20151
CAED0303Morrison C. England Jr.20241
CAED0304Ana Isabel de Alba20231
CAED0401Milton Lewis Schwartz20051
CAED0402Oliver Winston Wanger20111
CAED0501Edward Dean Price19971
CAED0502David F. Levi20071
CAED0601Raul Anthony Ramirez19891

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
7
Republican
4
Sitting judges by appointing president
PresidentJudges
Joseph R. Biden4
George H.W. Bush2
Barack Obama2
George W. Bush2
William J. Clinton1

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)