JudicialFinder
A U.S. district court / Established 1814

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

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

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

160
Judges in history
46
Currently serving
29
Seats over time
86 / 72
Appointed D / R
Current judges
JudgeAppointed bySince
Charles Sherman Haight Jr.Ford (R)1976
Louis Lee StantonReagan (R)1985
Kimba Maureen WoodReagan (R)1988
Loretta A. PreskaBush (R)1992
Denise CoteClinton (D)1994
Lewis A. KaplanClinton (D)1994
John George KoeltlClinton (D)1994
Sidney H. SteinClinton (D)1995
Jed Saul RakoffClinton (D)1996
Richard M. BermanClinton (D)1998
Alvin K. HellersteinClinton (D)1998
Colleen McMahonClinton (D)1998
Naomi Reice BuchwaldClinton (D)1999
Victor MarreroClinton (D)1999
George B. DanielsClinton (D)2000
Laura Taylor SwainClinton (D)2000
P. Kevin CastelBush (R)2003
Kenneth M. KarasBush (R)2004
Paul Austin CrottyBush (R)2005
Paul G. GardepheBush (R)2008
Cathy SeibelBush (R)2008
Vincent Louis BriccettiObama (D)2011
Andrew Lamar Carter Jr.Obama (D)2011
Paul Adam EngelmayerObama (D)2011
James Paul OetkenObama (D)2011
Edgardo RamosObama (D)2011
Ronnie AbramsObama (D)2012
Jesse Matthew FurmanObama (D)2012
Lorna Gail SchofieldObama (D)2012
Vernon Speede BroderickObama (D)2013
Valerie Elaine CaproniObama (D)2013
Katherine Polk FaillaObama (D)2013
Nelson Stephen RománObama (D)2013
Analisa Nadine TorresObama (D)2013
Gregory Howard Woods IIIObama (D)2013
Lewis Jeffrey LimanTrump (R)2019
Mary Kay VyskocilTrump (R)2019
John Peter CronanTrump (R)2020
Philip Morgan HalpernTrump (R)2020
Jennifer Hutchison ReardenBiden (D)2022
Jennifer Louise RochonBiden (D)2022
Jessica Gloria Lynn ClarkeBiden (D)2023
Dale Edwin HoBiden (D)2023
Arun Srinivas SubramanianBiden (D)2023
Margaret M. GarnettBiden (D)2024
Jeannette Anne VargasBiden (D)2024
Former judges
JudgeAppointed byYears
Katherine Bolan ForrestObama (D)2011–2018
Alison Julie NathanObama (D)2011–2022
Richard Joseph SullivanBush (R)2007–2018
Richard J. HolwellBush (R)2003–2012
Stephen C. RobinsonBush (R)2003–2010
Gerard E. LynchClinton (D)2000–2009
William H. Pauley IIIClinton (D)1998–2021
Richard Conway CaseyClinton (D)1997–2007
Barbara S. JonesClinton (D)1995–2013
Harold Baer Jr.Clinton (D)1994–2014
Deborah A. BattsClinton (D)1994–2020
Denny ChinClinton (D)1994–2010
Barrington Daniels Parker Jr.Clinton (D)1994–2001
Shira A. ScheindlinClinton (D)1994–2016
Allen G. SchwartzClinton (D)1993–2003
Sonia SotomayorBush (R)1992–1998
Louis J. FreehBush (R)1991–1993
John S. Martin Jr.Bush (R)1990–2003
Lawrence M. McKennaBush (R)1990–2023
Robert Porter Patterson Jr.Reagan (R)1988–2015
Kenneth ConboyReagan (R)1987–1993
Richard Joseph DaroncoReagan (R)1987–1988
Michael B. MukaseyReagan (R)1987–2006
Miriam Goldman CedarbaumReagan (R)1986–2016
John Mercer Walker Jr.Reagan (R)1985–1989
Peter Keeton LeisureReagan (R)1984–2013
John Fontaine KeenanReagan (R)1983–2024
Shirley Wohl KramReagan (R)1983–2009
John Emilio SprizzoReagan (R)1981–2008
Abraham David SofaerCarter (D)1979–1985
Mary Johnson LoweCarter (D)1978–1999
Leonard Burke SandCarter (D)1978–2016
Robert Workman SweetCarter (D)1978–2019
Pierre Nelson LevalCarter (D)1977–1993
Vincent Lyons BroderickFord (R)1976–1995
Gerard Louis GoettelFord (R)1976–2011
Henry Frederick WerkerNixon (R)1974–1984
William Curtis ConnerNixon (R)1973–2009
Richard OwenNixon (R)1973–2015
Robert Lee CarterNixon (R)1972–2012
Kevin Thomas DuffyNixon (R)1972–2016
Thomas Poole GriesaNixon (R)1972–2017
[Percy] Whitman KnappNixon (R)1972–2004
Charles E. Stewart Jr.Nixon (R)1972–1994
Robert Joseph WardNixon (R)1972–2003
Arnold BaumanNixon (R)1971–1974
Charles L. Brieant Jr.Nixon (R)1971–2008
Lee Parsons GagliardiNixon (R)1971–1998
Murray Irwin GurfeinNixon (R)1971–1974
Lawrence Warren PierceNixon (R)1971–1981
Morris Edward LaskerJohnson (D)1968–2009
Milton PollackJohnson (D)1967–2004
Walter Roe MansfieldJohnson (D)1966–1971
Constance Baker MotleyJohnson (D)1966–2005
Marvin E. FrankelJohnson (D)1965–1978
John Matthew CannellaKennedy (D)1963–1996
Charles Henry TenneyKennedy (D)1963–1994
Dudley Baldwin BonsalKennedy (D)1962–1995
Irving Ben CooperKennedy (D)1962–1996
Wilfred FeinbergKennedy (D)1962–1966
Edward Cochrane McLeanKennedy (D)1962–1972
Harold R. Tyler Jr.Kennedy (D)1962–1975
Inzer Bass WyattKennedy (D)1962–1990
Thomas Francis CroakeKennedy (D)1961–1978
Lloyd Francis MacMahonEisenhower (R)1959–1989
Charles Miller MetznerEisenhower (R)1959–2009
Frederick van Pelt BryanEisenhower (R)1956–1978
John M. CashinEisenhower (R)1956–1970
William Bernard HerlandsEisenhower (R)1956–1969
Richard Harrington LevetEisenhower (R)1956–1976
Alexander BicksEisenhower (R)1954–1963
Archie Owen DawsonEisenhower (R)1954–1964
Edmund Louis PalmieriEisenhower (R)1954–1989
Lawrence Edward WalshEisenhower (R)1954–1957
David Norton EdelsteinTruman (D)1952–2000
Edward Jordan DimockTruman (D)1951–1986
Thomas Francis MurphyTruman (D)1951–1995
Irving Robert KaufmanTruman (D)1950–1961
John F. X. McGoheyTruman (D)1950–1972
Gregory Francis NoonanTruman (D)1950–1964
Sidney SugarmanTruman (D)1950–1974
Edward WeinfeldTruman (D)1950–1988
Samuel Hamilton KaufmanTruman (D)1949–1960
Harold Raymond MedinaTruman (D)1947–1951
Sylvester J. RyanTruman (D)1947–1981
John BrightRoosevelt (D)1941–1948
Simon Hirsch RifkindRoosevelt (D)1941–1950
Edward A. CongerRoosevelt (D)1938–1963
John William ClancyRoosevelt (D)1936–1969
Vincent L. LeibellRoosevelt (D)1936–1968
Samuel MandelbaumRoosevelt (D)1936–1946
George Murray HulbertRoosevelt (D)1934–1950
Robert Porter Patterson Sr.Hoover (R)1930–1939
Francis Gordon CaffeyHoover (R)1929–1951
Alfred Conkling Coxe Jr.Hoover (R)1929–1957
John Munro WoolseyHoover (R)1929–1945
Frank Joseph ColemanCoolidge (R)1927–1934
Thomas Day ThacherCoolidge (R)1925–1930
William BondyHarding (R)1923–1964
Henry Warren GoddardHarding (R)1923–1955
Francis Asbury WinslowHarding (R)1923–1929
John Clark KnoxWilson (D)1918–1966
Martin Thomas MantonWilson (D)1916–1918
Augustus Noble HandWilson (D)1914–1927
Julius Marshuetz MayerTaft (R)1912–1921
Learned HandTaft (R)1909–1924
Charles Merrill HoughRoosevelt (R)1906–1916
George Chandler HoltRoosevelt (R)1903–1914
George Bethune AdamsMcKinley (R)1901–1911
Addison BrownGarfield (R)1881–1901
William Gardner ChoateHayes (R)1878–1881
Samuel M. BlatchfordJohnson (D)1867–1878
Samuel Rossiter BettsAdams (N)1826–1867
William Peter Van Ness(reassignment) (N)1814–1826

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 1814.

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