District Court · Third Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
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 F. Kelly Senior | 1987 | Ronald Reagan | PAED2102 |
| Ronald Lawrence Buckwalter Senior | 1990 | George H.W. Bush | PAED1502 |
| Harvey Bartle III Senior | 1991 | George H.W. Bush | PAED1603 |
| John R. Padova Senior | 1992 | George H.W. Bush | PAED2501 |
| Anita Blumstein Brody Senior | 1992 | George H.W. Bush | PAED2701 |
| Richard Barclay Surrick Senior | 2000 | William J. Clinton | PAED0307 |
| Petrese B. Tucker Senior | 2000 | William J. Clinton | PAED1803 |
| Legrome D. Davis Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | PAED2303 |
| Michael M. Baylson Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | PAED2103 |
| Cynthia M. Rufe Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | PAED2203 |
| Timothy J. Savage Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | PAED0113 |
| Paul Steven Diamond | 2004 | George W. Bush | PAED1104 |
| Juan Ramon Sánchez | 2004 | George W. Bush | PAED2003 |
| C. Darnell Jones II Senior | 2008 | George W. Bush | PAED1704 |
| Joel Harvey Slomsky Senior | 2008 | George W. Bush | PAED1005 |
| Nitza Ileana Quiñones Alejandro | 2013 | Barack Obama | PAED0308 |
| Jeffrey L. Schmehl | 2013 | Barack Obama | PAED1404 |
| Gerald Austin McHugh Jr. | 2014 | Barack Obama | PAED1604 |
| Wendy Beetlestone | 2014 | Barack Obama | PAED2104 |
| Mark A. Kearney | 2014 | Barack Obama | PAED2602 |
| Gerald John Pappert | 2014 | Barack Obama | PAED2402 |
| Joseph F. Leeson Jr. | 2014 | Barack Obama | PAED0705 |
| Chad Francis Kenney Sr. | 2018 | Donald J. Trump | PAED2703 |
| Joshua David Wolson | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | PAED0506 |
| John Milton Younge | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | PAED1204 |
| John Michael Gallagher | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | PAED1006 |
| Karen Spencer Marston | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | PAED2304 |
| Kelley Brisbon Hodge | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | PAED1804 |
| John Frank Murphy | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | PAED1504 |
| Mia Roberts Perez | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | PAED0114 |
| Kai Niambi Scott | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | PAED1705 |
| Mary Kathleen Costello | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | PAED2204 |
| Catherine Henry | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | PAED1905 |
| Gail Allison Weilheimer | 2024 | Joseph R. Biden | PAED1305 |
| Antonio Miguel Pozos | 2026 | Donald J. Trump | PAED2503 |
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
- 35
- Seat numbers on record
- 113
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAED0113 | Timothy J. Savage | 2002 | 1 |
| PAED0114 | Mia Roberts Perez | 2022 | 1 |
| PAED0307 | Richard Barclay Surrick | 2000 | 1 |
| PAED0308 | Nitza Ileana Quiñones Alejandro | 2013 | 1 |
| PAED0506 | Joshua David Wolson | 2019 | 1 |
| PAED0705 | Joseph F. Leeson Jr. | 2014 | 1 |
| PAED1005 | Joel Harvey Slomsky | 2008 | 1 |
| PAED1006 | John Michael Gallagher | 2019 | 1 |
| PAED1104 | Paul Steven Diamond | 2004 | 1 |
| PAED1204 | John Milton Younge | 2019 | 1 |
| PAED1305 | Gail Allison Weilheimer | 2025 | 1 |
| PAED1404 | Jeffrey L. Schmehl | 2013 | 1 |
| PAED1502 | Ronald Lawrence Buckwalter | 1990 | 1 |
| PAED1504 | John Frank Murphy | 2022 | 1 |
| PAED1603 | Harvey Bartle III | 1991 | 1 |
| PAED1604 | Gerald Austin McHugh Jr. | 2014 | 1 |
| PAED1704 | C. Darnell Jones II | 2008 | 1 |
| PAED1705 | Kai Niambi Scott | 2023 | 1 |
| PAED1803 | Petrese B. Tucker | 2000 | 1 |
| PAED1804 | Kelley Brisbon Hodge | 2022 | 1 |
| PAED1905 | Catherine Henry | 2024 | 1 |
| PAED2003 | Juan Ramon Sánchez | 2004 | 1 |
| PAED2102 | Robert F. Kelly | 1987 | 1 |
| PAED2103 | Michael M. Baylson | 2002 | 1 |
| PAED2104 | Wendy Beetlestone | 2014 | 1 |
| PAED2203 | Cynthia M. Rufe | 2002 | 1 |
| PAED2204 | Mary Kathleen Costello | 2024 | 1 |
| PAED2303 | Legrome D. Davis | 2002 | 1 |
| PAED2304 | Karen Spencer Marston | 2019 | 1 |
| PAED2402 | Gerald John Pappert | 2014 | 1 |
| PAED2501 | John R. Padova | 1992 | 1 |
| PAED2503 | Antonio Miguel Pozos | 2026 | 1 |
| PAED2602 | Mark A. Kearney | 2014 | 1 |
| PAED2701 | Anita Blumstein Brody | 1992 | 1 |
| PAED2703 | Chad Francis Kenney Sr. | 2018 | 1 |
78 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAED0101 | Richard Peters | 1828 | 1 |
| PAED0102 | Joseph Hopkinson | 1842 | 1 |
| PAED0103 | Archibald Randall | 1846 | 1 |
| PAED0104 | John Kintzing Kane | 1858 | 1 |
| PAED0105 | John Cadwalader | 1879 | 1 |
| PAED0106 | William Butler | 1899 | 1 |
| PAED0107 | John Bayard McPherson | 1912 | 1 |
| PAED0108 | Joseph Whitaker Thompson | 1931 | 1 |
| PAED0109 | George Austin Welsh | 1970 | 1 |
| PAED0110 | Thomas C. Egan | 1961 | 1 |
| PAED0111 | John Morgan Davis | 1984 | 1 |
| PAED0112 | Edward Norman Cahn | 1998 | 1 |
| PAED0201 | James Buchanan Holland | 1914 | 1 |
| PAED0301 | Oliver Booth Dickinson | 1939 | 1 |
| PAED0302 | Guy Kurtz Bard | 1952 | 1 |
| PAED0303 | Francis Lund Van Dusen | 1967 | 1 |
| PAED0304 | John Berne Hannum | 2007 | 1 |
| PAED0305 | Anthony Joseph Scirica | 1987 | 1 |
| PAED0306 | Lowell A. Reed Jr. | 2020 | 1 |
| PAED0401 | Charles Louis McKeehan | 1925 | 1 |
| PAED0501 | William Huntington Kirkpatrick | 1970 | 1 |
| PAED0502 | Harold Kenneth Wood | 1972 | 1 |
| PAED0503 | Clifford Scott Green | 2007 | 1 |
| PAED0504 | Jan Ely DuBois | 2026 | 1 |
| PAED0505 | James Knoll Gardner | 2017 | 1 |
| PAED0601 | Albert Branson Maris | 1938 | 1 |
| PAED0602 | Harry Ellis Kalodner | 1946 | 1 |
| PAED0603 | James Patrick McGranery | 1952 | 1 |
| PAED0604 | John Whitaker Lord Jr. | 1972 | 1 |
| PAED0605 | Louis Charles Bechtle | 2001 | 1 |
| PAED0606 | Marjorie O. Rendell | 1997 | 1 |
| PAED0701 | James Cullen Ganey | 1961 | 1 |
| PAED0702 | Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham Jr. | 1977 | 1 |
| PAED0703 | Louis Heilprin Pollak | 2012 | 1 |
| PAED0704 | Eduardo C. Robreno | 2023 | 1 |
| PAED0801 | Frederick Voris Follmer | 1955 | 1 |
| PAED0901 | Thomas James Clary | 1977 | 1 |
| PAED1001 | Allan Kuhn Grim | 1965 | 1 |
| PAED1002 | Ralph C. Body | 1973 | 1 |
| PAED1003 | Herbert Allan Fogel | 1978 | 1 |
| PAED1004 | James Tyrone Giles | 2008 | 1 |
| PAED1101 | Charles William Kraft Jr. | 2002 | 1 |
| PAED1102 | Clarence Charles Newcomer | 2005 | 1 |
| PAED1103 | Herbert J. Hutton | 2007 | 1 |
| PAED1201 | Joseph Simon Lord III | 1991 | 1 |
| PAED1202 | Marvin Katz | 2010 | 1 |
| PAED1203 | Mary A. McLaughlin | 2020 | 1 |
| PAED1301 | Abraham L Freedman | 1964 | 1 |
| PAED1302 | John Patrick Fullam | 2018 | 1 |
| PAED1303 | William Hendricks Yohn Jr. | 2026 | 1 |
| PAED1304 | Gene E.K. Pratter | 2024 | 1 |
| PAED1401 | Alfred Leopold Luongo | 1986 | 1 |
| PAED1402 | Franklin Stuart Van Antwerpen | 2004 | 1 |
| PAED1403 | Thomas M. Golden | 2010 | 1 |
| PAED1501 | Charles R. Weiner | 2005 | 1 |
| PAED1503 | Lawrence F. Stengel | 2018 | 1 |
| PAED1601 | Thomas Ambrose Masterson | 1973 | 1 |
| PAED1602 | Joseph Leo McGlynn Jr. | 1999 | 1 |
| PAED1701 | Emanuel Mac Troutman | 2004 | 1 |
| PAED1702 | James McGirr Kelly | 2005 | 1 |
| PAED1703 | Bruce William Kauffman | 2009 | 1 |
| PAED1801 | Edward Roy Becker | 1982 | 1 |
| PAED1802 | Thomas Newman O'Neill Jr. | 2018 | 1 |
| PAED1901 | John William Ditter Jr. | 2019 | 1 |
| PAED1902 | Robert S. Gawthrop III | 1999 | 1 |
| PAED1903 | Berle M. Schiller | 2025 | 1 |
| PAED1904 | Edward George Smith | 2023 | 1 |
| PAED2001 | Daniel Henry Huyett III | 1998 | 1 |
| PAED2002 | Jay Carl Waldman | 2003 | 1 |
| PAED2101 | Donald West VanArtsdalen | 2019 | 1 |
| PAED2201 | James Henry Gorbey | 1977 | 1 |
| PAED2202 | Norma Levy Shapiro | 2016 | 1 |
| PAED2301 | Raymond Joseph Broderick | 2000 | 1 |
| PAED2302 | Edmund Ludwig V. | 2016 | 1 |
| PAED2401 | Stewart R. Dalzell | 2016 | 1 |
| PAED2502 | Mitchell S. Goldberg | 2025 | 1 |
| PAED2601 | J. Curtis Joyner | 2021 | 1 |
| PAED2702 | Luis Felipe Restrepo | 2016 | 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
- 19
- Democratic
- 16
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| George W. Bush | 8 |
| Barack Obama | 7 |
| Joseph R. Biden | 7 |
| Donald J. Trump | 6 |
| George H.W. Bush | 4 |
| William J. Clinton | 2 |
| Ronald Reagan | 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)