U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan is a United States district court, a federal trial court where most federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. It lies within the Sixth Circuit, which reviews its decisions on appeal. This page lists every judge to serve on the court, current and former, with who appointed them and whom they succeeded.
| Judge | Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Bernard A. Friedman | Reagan (R) | 1988 |
| Robert Hardy Cleland | Bush (R) | 1990 |
| Nancy Garlock Edmunds | Bush (R) | 1992 |
| Paul D. Borman | Clinton (D) | 1994 |
| Denise Page Hood | Clinton (D) | 1994 |
| George Caram Steeh III | Clinton (D) | 1998 |
| David M. Lawson | Clinton (D) | 2000 |
| Thomas Lamson Ludington | Bush (R) | 2006 |
| Stephen Joseph Murphy III | Bush (R) | 2008 |
| Mark Allan Goldsmith | Obama (D) | 2010 |
| Terrence George Berg | Obama (D) | 2012 |
| Gershwin Allen Drain | Obama (D) | 2012 |
| Matthew Frederick Leitman | Obama (D) | 2014 |
| Judith Ellen Levy | Obama (D) | 2014 |
| Laurie Jill Michelson | Obama (D) | 2014 |
| Linda Vivienne Parker | Obama (D) | 2014 |
| Shalina Deborah Kumar | Biden (D) | 2021 |
| Frances Kay Behm | Biden (D) | 2022 |
| Susan Kim DeClercq | Biden (D) | 2023 |
| Jonathan James Canada Grey | Biden (D) | 2023 |
| Brandy Renée McMillion | Biden (D) | 2023 |
| Robert Jerome White | Biden (D) | 2024 |
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 1863.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.