A U.S. court of appeals / Established 1891

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

New York City · 13 active judgeships · Hears appeals from the federal courts in Connecticut, New York and Vermont.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen U.S. courts of appeals, the intermediate appellate tier of the federal judiciary. It hears appeals from the federal district courts within the Second Circuit, which covers Connecticut, New York and Vermont. Its decisions bind those courts unless reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States.

82
Judges in history
27
Currently serving
13
Active judgeships
34 / 45
Appointed D / R
Current judges
Former judges
JudgeAppointed byYears
Christopher Fitzgerald DroneyObama (D)2011–2020
Peter W. HallBush (R)2004–2021
Robert A. KatzmannClinton (D)1999–2021
Rosemary S. PoolerClinton (D)1998–2023
Sonia SotomayorClinton (D)1998–2009
Chester J. StraubClinton (D)1998–2024
Fred I. ParkerClinton (D)1994–2003
Joseph Michael McLaughlinBush (R)1990–2013
John Daniel MahoneyReagan (R)1986–1996
Frank X. AltimariReagan (R)1985–1998
Roger Jeffrey MinerReagan (R)1985–2012
George Cheney PrattReagan (R)1982–1995
Richard J. CardamoneReagan (R)1981–2015
Lawrence Warren PierceReagan (R)1981–1995
Ralph K. Winter Jr.Reagan (R)1981–2020
Thomas Joseph MeskillFord (R)1975–2007
Murray Irwin GurfeinNixon (R)1974–1979
Ellsworth Alfred Van GraafeilandFord (R)1974–2004
Walter Roe MansfieldNixon (R)1971–1987
William Hughes MulliganNixon (R)1971–1981
James Lowell OakesNixon (R)1971–2007
William Homer TimbersNixon (R)1971–1994
Wilfred FeinbergJohnson (D)1966–2014
Robert Palmer AndersonJohnson (D)1964–1978
Paul Raymond HaysKennedy (D)1962–1980
Thurgood MarshallKennedy (D)1962–1965
Irving Robert KaufmanKennedy (D)1961–1992
John Joseph SmithEisenhower (R)1960–1980
Henry Jacob FriendlyEisenhower (R)1959–1986
Leonard Page MooreEisenhower (R)1958–1982
Joseph Edward LumbardEisenhower (R)1955–1999
Sterry Robinson WatermanEisenhower (R)1955–1984
John Marshall HarlanEisenhower (R)1954–1955
Carroll Clark HincksEisenhower (R)1954–1964
Harold Raymond MedinaTruman (D)1951–1980
Jerome New FrankRoosevelt (D)1941–1957
Charles Edward ClarkRoosevelt (D)1939–1963
Robert Porter Patterson Sr.Roosevelt (D)1939–1940
Harrie Brigham ChaseCoolidge (R)1929–1969
Julian William Mack(reassignment) (N)1929–1943
Augustus Noble HandCoolidge (R)1928–1954
Thomas Walter SwanCoolidge (R)1926–1975
Learned HandCoolidge (R)1924–1961
Julius Marshuetz MayerHarding (R)1921–1924
Martin Thomas MantonWilson (D)1918–1939
Charles Merrill HoughWilson (D)1916–1927
Henry Wade RogersWilson (D)1913–1926
Martin Augustine KnappTaft (R)1910–1916
Walter Chadwick NoyesRoosevelt (R)1907–1913
Henry Galbraith WardRoosevelt (R)1907–1924
Alfred Conkling Coxe Sr.Roosevelt (R)1902–1917
William Kneeland TownsendRoosevelt (R)1902–1907
Nathaniel ShipmanHarrison (R)1892–1902
Emile Henry Lacombe(assignment) (N)1891–1916
William James Wallace(assignment) (N)1891–1907
District courts in the Second Circuit

The federal trial courts whose appeals this circuit reviews.

13 currently serving · 44 in history
0 currently serving · 6 in history
5 currently serving · 21 in history
46 currently serving · 160 in history

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 1891.

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