JudicialFinder
A U.S. district court / Established 1818

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania · A federal trial court, where federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. Appeals go to the Third Circuit.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is a United States district court, a federal trial court where most federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. It lies within the Third 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.

112
Judges in history
35
Currently serving
27
Seats over time
46 / 63
Appointed D / R
Current judges
JudgeAppointed bySince
Robert F. KellyReagan (R)1987
Jan Ely DuBoisReagan (R)1988
Ronald Lawrence BuckwalterBush (R)1990
Harvey Bartle IIIBush (R)1991
Anita Blumstein BrodyBush (R)1992
John R. PadovaBush (R)1992
R[ichard] Barclay SurrickClinton (D)2000
Petrese B. TuckerClinton (D)2000
Michael M. BaylsonBush (R)2002
Legrome D. DavisBush (R)2002
Cynthia M. RufeBush (R)2002
Timothy J. SavageBush (R)2002
Paul Steven DiamondBush (R)2004
Juan Ramon SánchezBush (R)2004
C. Darnell Jones IIBush (R)2008
Joel Harvey SlomskyBush (R)2008
Nitza Ileana Quiñones AlejandroObama (D)2013
Jeffrey L. SchmehlObama (D)2013
Wendy BeetlestoneObama (D)2014
Mark A. KearneyObama (D)2014
Joseph F. Leeson Jr.Obama (D)2014
Gerald Austin McHugh Jr.Obama (D)2014
Gerald John PappertObama (D)2014
Chad Francis Kenney Sr.Trump (R)2018
John Michael GallagherTrump (R)2019
Karen Spencer MarstonTrump (R)2019
Joshua David WolsonTrump (R)2019
John Milton YoungeTrump (R)2019
Kelley Brisbon HodgeBiden (D)2022
John Frank MurphyBiden (D)2022
Mia Roberts PerezBiden (D)2022
Kai Niambi ScottBiden (D)2023
Mary Kathleen CostelloBiden (D)2024
Catherine HenryBiden (D)2024
Gail Allison WeilheimerBiden (D)2025
Former judges
JudgeAppointed byYears
Edward George SmithObama (D)2014–2023
Luis Felipe RestrepoObama (D)2013–2016
Mitchell S. GoldbergBush (R)2008–2025
Thomas M. GoldenBush (R)2006–2010
Gene E.K. PratterBush (R)2004–2024
Lawrence F. StengelBush (R)2004–2018
James Knoll GardnerBush (R)2002–2017
Mary A. McLaughlinClinton (D)2000–2020
Berle M. SchillerClinton (D)2000–2025
Bruce William KauffmanClinton (D)1997–2009
Marjorie O. RendellClinton (D)1994–1997
J. Curtis JoynerBush (R)1992–2021
Eduardo C. RobrenoBush (R)1992–2023
Stewart R. DalzellBush (R)1991–2016
William Hendricks Yohn Jr.Bush (R)1991–2026
Herbert J. HuttonReagan (R)1988–2007
Lowell A. Reed Jr.Reagan (R)1988–2020
Jay Carl WaldmanReagan (R)1988–2003
Robert S. Gawthrop IIIReagan (R)1987–1999
Franklin Stuart Van AntwerpenReagan (R)1987–2004
Edmund V. LudwigReagan (R)1985–2016
Anthony Joseph SciricaReagan (R)1984–1987
Marvin KatzReagan (R)1983–2010
James McGirr KellyReagan (R)1983–2005
Thomas Newman O'Neill Jr.Reagan (R)1983–2018
James Tyrone GilesCarter (D)1979–2008
Louis Heilprin PollakCarter (D)1978–2012
Norma Levy ShapiroCarter (D)1978–2016
Edward Norman CahnFord (R)1974–1998
Joseph Leo McGlynn Jr.Nixon (R)1974–1999
Herbert Allan FogelNixon (R)1973–1978
Louis Charles BechtleNixon (R)1972–2001
Raymond Joseph BroderickNixon (R)1971–2000
Clifford Scott GreenNixon (R)1971–2007
Clarence Charles NewcomerNixon (R)1971–2005
Edward Roy BeckerNixon (R)1970–1982
John William Ditter Jr.Nixon (R)1970–2019
James Henry GorbeyNixon (R)1970–1977
Daniel Henry Huyett IIINixon (R)1970–1998
Donald West VanArtsdalenNixon (R)1970–2019
John Berne HannumNixon (R)1969–2007
Thomas Ambrose MastersonJohnson (D)1967–1973
E[manuel] Mac TroutmanJohnson (D)1967–2004
Charles R. WeinerJohnson (D)1967–2005
John Patrick FullamJohnson (D)1966–2018
John Morgan DavisJohnson (D)1964–1984
Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham Jr.Johnson (D)1964–1977
Ralph C. BodyKennedy (D)1962–1973
Abraham L FreedmanKennedy (D)1961–1964
Joseph Simon Lord IIIKennedy (D)1961–1991
Alfred Leopold LuongoKennedy (D)1961–1986
Harold Kenneth WoodEisenhower (R)1959–1972
Thomas C. EganEisenhower (R)1957–1961
C[harles] William Kraft Jr.Eisenhower (R)1956–2002
Francis Lund Van DusenEisenhower (R)1955–1967
John Whitaker Lord Jr.Eisenhower (R)1954–1972
Thomas James ClaryTruman (D)1950–1977
Allan Kuhn GrimTruman (D)1950–1965
Frederick Voris FollmerTruman (D)1946–1955
James Patrick McGraneryTruman (D)1946–1952
Guy Kurtz BardRoosevelt (D)1940–1952
James Cullen GaneyRoosevelt (D)1940–1961
Harry Ellis KalodnerRoosevelt (D)1939–1946
Albert Branson MarisRoosevelt (D)1936–1938
George Austin WelshHoover (R)1932–1970
William Huntington KirkpatrickCoolidge (R)1927–1970
Charles Louis McKeehanHarding (R)1923–1925
Oliver Booth DickinsonWilson (D)1914–1939
Joseph Whitaker ThompsonTaft (R)1912–1931
James Buchanan HollandRoosevelt (R)1904–1914
John Bayard McPhersonMcKinley (R)1899–1912
William ButlerHayes (R)1879–1899
John CadwaladerBuchanan (D)1858–1879
John Kintzing KanePolk (D)1846–1858
Archibald RandallTyler (N)1842–1846
Joseph HopkinsonAdams (N)1829–1842
Richard Peters(reassignment) (N)1818–1828

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 1818.

Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.