U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court for the Western 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.
| Judge | Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Donetta W. Ambrose | Clinton (D) | 1993 |
| David S. Cercone | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| Joy Flowers Conti | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| Arthur J. Schwab | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| Nora Barry Fischer | Bush (R) | 2007 |
| Cathy Bissoon | Obama (D) | 2011 |
| Mark Raymond Hornak | Obama (D) | 2011 |
| Susan Paradise Baxter | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Marilyn Jean Horan | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Robert John Colville | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Stephanie Lou Haines | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| J. Nicholas Ranjan | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| William Shaw Stickman IV | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| William Scott Hardy | Trump (R) | 2020 |
| Christy Criswell Wiegand | Trump (R) | 2020 |
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.