A specialized Article III court / Established 1926

U.S. Customs Court

New York City · A specialized federal court.

The U.S. Customs Court heard civil cases on the classification and valuation of imported goods from 1926 until 1980, when it was renamed the U.S. Court of International Trade. Its judges were nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. This page lists every judge to serve on the court.

36
Judges in history
0
Currently serving
9
Seats over time
18 D / 9 R / 9 other
Appointing party · all history

Party letters here are the appointing president’s, never a judge’s own: D Democratic, R Republican, N pre-modern-party era (Federalist, Whig, and other early parties); “” means no recorded party. Counts cover the court’s entire history.

Current judges

No currently serving judges on record.

Seats over time

Each band is one judgeship, from the court’s founding to today. A segment’s width is the holder’s tenure; its color is the appointing president’s party. Gaps are vacancies.

Former judges

JudgeAppointed byYears
Nils Andreas BoeNixon (R)1971–1980
Bernard NewmanL.B. Johnson (D)1968–1980
Edward Domenic ReL.B. Johnson (D)1968–1980
Samuel Murray RosensteinL.B. Johnson (D)1968–1980
Lindley Garrison Beckworth Sr.L.B. Johnson (D)1967–1968
Herbert Naaman MaletzL.B. Johnson (D)1967–1980
James Lopez WatsonL.B. Johnson (D)1966–1980
Frederick LandisL.B. Johnson (D)1965–1980
Philip Nichols Jr.L.B. Johnson (D)1964–1966
Scovel RichardsonEisenhower (R)1957–1980
Mary Honor DonlonEisenhower (R)1955–1977
David John WilsonEisenhower (R)1954–1976
Morgan Dennis FordTruman (D)1949–1980
Paul Peter RaoTruman (D)1949–1980
Jed Joseph JohnsonTruman (D)1947–1963
Irvin Charles MollisonTruman (D)1945–1962
Charles Drummond LawrenceF.D. Roosevelt (D)1943–1975
William Purrington ColeF.D. Roosevelt (D)1942–1952
William Alexander EkwallF.D. Roosevelt (D)1942–1956
Webster J. OliverF.D. Roosevelt (D)1940–1969
Thomas Joseph WalkerF.D. Roosevelt (D)1940–1945
William John KeefeF.D. Roosevelt (D)1933–1947
Fredrick William DallingerHoover (R)1932–1942
Walter Howard EvansHoover (R)1931–1941
David Hayes KincheloeHoover (R)1931–1948
Genevieve Rose ClineCoolidge (R)1928–1953
William Josiah TilsonCoolidge (R)1928–1949
William Charles AdamsonReassigned1926–1928
George Stewart BrownReassigned1926–1941
Israel Fredrick FischerReassigned1926–1932
William Barberie HowellReassigned1926–1927
Charles Paul McClellandReassigned1926–1939
Jerry Bartholomew SullivanReassigned1926–1939
Byron Sylvester WaiteReassigned1926–1930
George Emery WellerReassigned1926–1930
George Morley YoungReassigned1926–1932

How a judge gets here. Each judge is nominated by a president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, then holds a numbered seat, for life, until they take senior status, or until they leave the bench. Open any judge to see who appointed them, how the Senate voted, and whom they succeeded, a chain that runs back to 1926. Read more on how federal judges are appointed.

Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data as of 2026-08-10 (FJC). Verify against the primary source before relying.