WriteTheUS

District Court · Seventh Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

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
John Phil Gilbert Senior1992George H.W. BushILSD0302
Nancy Jo Rosenstengel2014Barack ObamaILSD0503
Staci Michelle Yandle2014Barack ObamaILSD0303
David Wayne Dugan2020Donald J. TrumpILSD0403
Stephen Patrick McGlynn2020Donald J. TrumpILSD0702

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
5
Seat numbers on record
25
Seats with a sitting judge
SeatHeld bySinceHolders to date
ILSD0302John Phil Gilbert19921
ILSD0303Staci Michelle Yandle20141
ILSD0403David Wayne Dugan20201
ILSD0503Nancy Jo Rosenstengel20141
ILSD0702Stephen Patrick McGlynn20201
20 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
ILSD0101Samuel Hubbel Treat Jr.18871
ILSD0102William Joshua Allen19011
ILSD0103J. Otis Humphrey19181
ILSD0104Louis FitzHenry19331
ILSD0105James Earl Major19371
ILSD0106Jackson Leroy Adair19561
ILSD0107Frederick Olen Mercer19661
ILSD0108Robert Dale Morgan19791
ILSD0201Charles Guy Briggle19721
ILSD0202Omer Poos19761
ILSD0203Harlington Wood Jr.19761
ILSD0204James Waldo Ackerman19791
ILSD0301James L. Foreman20121
ILSD0401William Louis Beatty20011
ILSD0402David R. Herndon20191
ILSD0501William Donald Stiehl20161
ILSD0502G. Patrick Murphy20131
ILSD0601Paul E. Riley20011
ILSD0701Michael Joseph Reagan20191
ILSDSRWilliam George Juergens19881

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
3
Democratic
2
Sitting judges by appointing president
PresidentJudges
Donald J. Trump2
Barack Obama2
George H.W. Bush1

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)