United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

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Western District of Wisconsin
Seventh Circuit
Great seal of the United States.png
Judgeships
Posts: 2
Judges: 2
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: James D. Peterson
Active judges: William Conley, James D. Peterson

Senior judges:
Barbara Crabb


The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin is one of 94 United States district courts. It encompasses much of the western half of the state and is headquartered in the Robert Kastenmeier Federal Courthouse in downtown Madison, Wisconsin.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit based in downtown Chicago, Illinois, at the Everett M. Dirksen Federal Courthouse and Building.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

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

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.


Active judges

Article III judges

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

William Conley

Barack Obama (D)

March 25, 2010 -

University of Wisconsin, 1978

University of Wisconsin Law School, 1982

James D. Peterson

Barack Obama (D)

May 12, 2014 -

University of Wisconsin, 1979

University of Wisconsin Law School, 1998


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: 0

Senior judges

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

Barbara Crabb

Jimmy Carter (D)

March 24, 2010 -

University of Wisconsin, 1960

University of Wisconsin Law School, 1962


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: 1
  • Republican appointed: 0

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

Stephen Crocker

1992 -

Peter Oppeneer

July 23, 2009 -


Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Western District of Wisconsin (click for larger map)

The Western District of Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin consists of all the following counties in the western part of the state of Wisconsin.

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2023. Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin caseload stats, 2010-2022
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 1,134 988 800 2 12 567 20 6 5 2 0
2011 1,058 998 813 2 12 529 21 6 5 3 1
2012 1,196 1,074 986 2 12 598 12 6 6 2 0
2013 1,153 1,152 985 2 12 577 14 6 7 5 1
2014 1,132 1,156 958 2 4 566 18 6 8 9 1
2015 1,082 1,003 1,043 2 0 541 27 7 8 15 2
2016 1,068 1,065 1,050 2 0 534 16 7 7 20 2
2017 1,185 1,054 1,185 2 0 593 22 8 8 38 4
2018 1,381 1,203 1,362 2 0 691 18 7 8 42 4
2019 1,353 1,327 1,390 2 0 677 27 8 8 37 3
2020 1,388 1,292 1,492 2 0 694 12 8 7 68 6
2021 1,072 1,228 1,345 2 0 536 20 9 9 124 12
2022 997 1,191 1,157 2 0 499 15 9 9 119 14
2023 1,101 1,150 1,110 2 0 551 15 10 8 51 6
Average 1,164 1,134 1,120 2 4 582 18 7 7 38 4

History

Court history

The State of Wisconsin was established and organized as one judicial district by Congress on May 29, 1848 with one post to cover the entire state. This judicial district was not assigned to a judicial circuit and was therefore granted the same jurisdiction as United States circuit courts, excluding appeals and writs of error, which are the jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court.

On July 15, 1862 Statute 12 Stat. 576 reorganized the judicial circuits, repealed the circuit court jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the District of Wisconsin, and then assigned the district over to the Eighth Circuit. Statute 14 Stat. 209 again reorganized the circuits, and assigned U.S. District Court for the District of Wisconsin over to the Seventh Circuit on July 23, 1866.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Wisconsin was divided into two judicial districts, known as the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the Western District of Wisconsin on June 30, 1870, with one judgeship authorized to each district. The sitting judge was assigned over to the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Over time one additional judicial post was added for a total of two current posts.[2]

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Western District of Wisconsin:[2]

Year Statute Total Seats
May 29, 1848 9 Stat. 233 1
June 30, 1870 16 Stat. 171 1
October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 2

Noteworthy cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Opinions of the Western District of Wisconsin.

Federal courthouse

One courthouse serves the Western District of Wisconsin and is located in Madison.[3]

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.[4][5]

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.[6]

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.[5]

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.[7]



See also

External links


Footnotes

  1. ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Magistrate Judgeships," accessed April 29, 2021
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Federal Judicial Center, "History of the Western District of Wisconsin," accessed May 7, 2021
  3. ↑ Western District of Wisconsin, "Court information," accessed May 7, 2021
  4. ↑ US Courts, "Federal Judgeships," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 U.S. Courts, "United States District Court Federal Judiciary Frequently Asked Questions," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
  6. ↑ United States District Courts, "District Courts," accessed May 10, 2021
  7. ↑ The 'Lectric Law Library, "Understanding the U.S. federal courts"


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