United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

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Western District of Pennsylvania
Third Circuit
Western-District-Pennsylvania-Seal.png
Judgeships
Posts: 10
Judges: 10
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Mark Raymond Hornak
Active judges:
Susan Baxter, Cathy Bissoon, Robert J. Colville, Stephanie Haines, William Scott Hardy, Marilyn J. Horan, Mark Raymond Hornak, J. Nicholas Ranjan, William Shaw Stickman IV, Christy Wiegand

Senior judges:
David Cercone, Joy Conti, Nora Fischer, Kim Gibson, Arthur Schwab


The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania is one of 94 United States district courts.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit based in downtown Philadelphia at the James Byrne Courthouse.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, out of the court's 10 judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.


Active judges

Article III judges

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

Cathy Bissoon

Barack Obama (D)

October 19, 2011 -

Alfred University, 1990

Harvard Law School, 1993

Mark Raymond Hornak

Barack Obama (D)

October 19, 2011 -

University of Pittsburgh, 1978

University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 1981

Susan Baxter

Donald Trump (R)

September 10, 2018 -

Pennsylvania State University, 1978

Temple University Law, 1983

Marilyn J. Horan

Donald Trump (R)

September 19, 2018 -

Pennsylvania State University, 1976

University of Pittsburgh, 1979

J. Nicholas Ranjan

Donald Trump (R)

July 12, 2019 -

Grove City College, 2000

University of Michigan Law School, 2003

William Shaw Stickman IV

Donald Trump (R)

August 5, 2019 -

Duquesne University, 2002

Duquesne University School of Law, 2005

Stephanie Haines

Donald Trump (R)

September 30, 2019 -

Juniata College, 1992

Ohio Northern University, Pettit College of Law, 1995

Robert J. Colville

Donald Trump (R)

December 31, 2019 -

Pennsylvania State University, 1989

Duquesne University, 1992

William Scott Hardy

Donald Trump (R)

July 31, 2020 -

Allegheny College, 1993

Notre Dame Law School, 1996

Christy Wiegand

Donald Trump (R)

September 11, 2020 -

Princeton, 1997

Cornell Law School, 2000


Active Article III judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

  • Democrat appointed: 2
  • Republican appointed: 8

Senior judges

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

Kim Gibson

George W. Bush (R)

June 3, 2016 -

United States Military Academy, 1970

Dickinson School of Law, 1975

David Cercone

George W. Bush (R)

November 24, 2017 -

Westminster College, 1974

Duquesne University School of Law, 1977

Arthur Schwab

George W. Bush (R)

January 1, 2018 -

Grove City College, 1968

University of Virginia School of Law, 1972

Joy Conti

George W. Bush (R)

December 6, 2018 -

Duquesne University, 1970

Duquesne University School of Law, 1973

Nora Fischer

George W. Bush (R)

June 13, 2019 -

St. Mary's College, 1973

Notre Dame Law School, 1976


Senior judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

  • Democrat appointed: 0
  • Republican appointed: 5

Magistrate judges

Federal magistrate judges are federal judges who serve in United States district courts, but they are not appointed by the president and they do not serve life terms. Magistrate judges are assigned duties by the district judges in the district in which they serve. They may preside over most phases of federal proceedings, except for criminal felony trials. The specific duties of a magistrate judge vary from district to district, but the responsibilities always include handling matters that would otherwise be on the dockets of the district judges. Full-time magistrate judges serve for renewable terms of eight years. Some federal district courts have part-time magistrate judges, who serve for renewable terms of four years.[1]

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

Keith Pesto

March 1, 1994 -

Johns Hopkins University, 1980

University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1983

Maureen Kelly

June 13, 2011 -

Notre Dame, 1983

Duquesne University Law, 1987

Richard Lanzillo

August 28, 2018 -

Mercyhurst College, 1983

University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 1987

Patricia Dodge

June 3, 2019 -

Pennsylvania State University, 1974

Duquesne University Law, 1981

Kezia Taylor

December 23, 2023 -

Howard University

University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Christopher Brown

June 10, 2024 -

University of Richmond

University of Pittsburgh School of Law


Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.[2]

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.[3][4][5]

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.[3][4][5]

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.[2][3][4][5]

On the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the president of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.[6]


Former judges

For more information on the judges of the Western District of Pennsylvania, see former federal judges of the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Jurisdiction

Pennsylvania counties (click for larger map)

The Western District of Pennsylvania has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The geographic jurisdiction of the Western District of Pennsylvania consists of all the following counties in the western part of the state of Pennsylvania.

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2024. Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania caseload stats, 2010-2023
Year Cases Filed Cases Terminated Cases Pending Number of Judgeships Vacant Judgeship Months Average Total Filings per Judgeship Trials Completed per Judgeship Median time from filing to disposition, criminal Median time from filing to disposition, civil Three-year civil cases (#) Three-year civil cases (%)
2010 3,103 3,121 2,884 10 14 310 20 16 7 76 4
2011 2,903 3,003 2,526 10 19 290 19 17 7 73 4
2012 3,274 3,274 2,810 10 0 327 20 13 6 92 4
2013 3,366 3,442 2,747 10 16 337 21 13 7 93 5
2014 3,264 3,410 2,610 10 31 326 19 14 7 87 5
2015 3,297 3,129 2,777 10 36 330 22 14 7 75 4
2016 3,291 3,298 2,761 10 43 329 19 15 6 71 3
2017 3,279 3,171 2,863 10 49 328 18 16 6 60 3
2018 3,355 3,275 2,950 10 65 336 19 15 6 76 4
2019 3,562 3,323 3,169 10 58 356 27 15 7 74 4
2020 3,827 3,312 3,699 10 13 383 13 15 6 78 3
2021 3,629 3,309 3,989 10 0 363 16 19 7 106 4
2022 3,383 3,594 3,754 10 0 338 23 21 7 134 5
2023 3,929 3,574 4,108 10 0 393 24 24 6 148 5
Average 3,390 3,303 3,118 10 25 339 20 16 7 89 4

History

The District of Pennsylvania was established by Congress on September 24, 1789, with one post to cover the entire state. On April 20, 1818 Congress divided the district into the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Western District of Pennsylvania with one post each. On March 2, 1901, Congress again redefined the boundaries of the district, transitioning a portion of both districts to the newly formed Middle District of Pennsylvania. Over time nine additional judicial posts were added to the Western District of Pennsylvania for a total of ten current posts.[7]

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Western District of Virginia:[7]

Year Statute Total Seats
September 24, 1789 1 Stat. 73 1 (Whole state)
April 20, 1818 3 Stat. 462 1
February 26, 1909 35 Stat. 656 2
September 14, 1922 42 Stat. 837 3(1 permanent)
August 19, 1935 49 Stat. 659 3
July 24, 1946 60 Stat. 654 4(1 shared temporary)
August 3, 1949 63 Stat. 493 5(1 shared temporary, 1 temporary)
February 10, 1954 68 Stat. 8 7(1 shared temporary, 1 temporary)
1955 Reassignment 6(1 temporary)
May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80 8
June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294 10

Federal courthouse

There are three federal courthouses that serve the Western District of Pennsylvania located in Erie, Johnstown, and Pittsburgh.

About United States District Courts

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.

There is a United States bankruptcy court and a number of bankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one.

There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. District courts in three insular areas—the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts. Despite their name, these courts are technically not District Courts of the United States. Judges on these territorial courts do not enjoy the protections of Article III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.

There are 677 U.S. District Court judgeships.[8][9]

The number of federal district judge positions is set by the U.S. Congress in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133, which authorizes a set number of judge positions, or judgeships, making changes and adjustments in these numbers from time to time.

In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.[10]

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Bill Clinton had the most district court appointments with 169.


Judges by district

See also: Judicial vacancies in federal courts

The table below displays the number of judges in each district and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies in a district and how many pending nominations for that district are before the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line, and you can navigate through the pages by clicking the arrows at the top of the table. It is updated every Monday.


Judicial selection

The district courts are served by Article III federal judges who are appointed for life during "good behavior." They are usually first recommended by senators (or members of the House, occasionally). The President of the United States makes the appointments, which must then be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution.[9]

Step ApprovedA Candidacy Proceeds DefeatedA Candidacy Halts
1. Recommendation made by Congress Member to the President President Nominates to Senate Judiciary Committee President Declines Nomination
2. Senate Judiciary Committee interviews Candidate Sends candidate to Senate for confirmation Returns candidate to President, who may re-nominate to Committee
3. Senate votes on candidate confirmation Candidate becomes federal judge Candidate does not receive judgeship

Magistrate judges

The district courts are also served by magistrate judges. Congress created the judicial office of federal magistrate in 1968. In 1990, the position title was changed to magistrate judge. The chief judge of each district appoints one or more magistrate judges, who discharge many of the ancillary duties of district judges so judges can handle more trials. There are both full-time and part-time magistrate judge positions, and these positions are assigned to the district courts according to caseload criteria (subject to funding by Congress). A full-time magistrate judge serves a term of eight years; a part-time magistrate judge's term of office is four years.[11]



External links

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ U.S. District Court - NH, "Magistrate Judges," archived April 14, 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 United States Courts, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed January 25, 2022
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 136 - Chief judges; precedence of district judges," accessed January 25, 2022
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 258 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 45 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
  6. ↑ Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 171 - Appointment and number of judges; character of court; designation of chief judge," accessed January 25, 2022
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Federal Judicial Center, "The U.S. District Courts and the Federal Judiciary," accessed April 26, 2021
  8. ↑ US Courts, "Federal Judgeships," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 U.S. Courts, "United States District Court Federal Judiciary Frequently Asked Questions," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
  10. ↑ United States District Courts, "District Courts," accessed May 10, 2021
  11. ↑ The 'Lectric Law Library, "Understanding the U.S. federal courts"
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