The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, W.D. Pa.) sits in Pittsburgh, Erie, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It is composed of ten judges as authorized by federal law. The United States Marshal is Steven Richard Frank. Appeals from this court are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).
History
The United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 73, on September 24, 1789. It was subdivided on April 20, 1818, by 3 Stat. 462, into the Eastern and Western Districts to be headquartered in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, respectively. The court began its first session on December 7, 1818 at the Old County Courthouse in Pittsburgh. [1] Portions of these districts were subsequently subdivided into the Middle District on March 2, 1901, by 31 Stat. 880. At the time of its initial subdivision, presiding judge Richard Peters, Jr. was reassigned to only the Eastern District. This made it possible for President James Monroe to appoint Jonathan Hoge Walker as the first judge of the Western District of Pennsylvania.
The Erie courthouse and division was split from Pittsburgh for initial actions in January 1867, with the Johnstown courthouse and division being split from Pittsburgh for initial actions in 1989.[2]
Current judges
Vacancies and pending nominations
Former judges
Succession of seats
United States Attorneys
[3]
- James Hamilton March 11, 1801
- Andrew Stewart April 20, 1818
- Alexander Brackenridge March 3, 1821
- George W. Buchanan October 22, 1830
- Benjamin Patton, Jr. October 22, 1832
- John P. Anderson June 12, 1839
- Cornelius Darragh March 25, 1841
- William O'Hara Robinson March 29, 1844
- John L. Dawson July 22, 1845
- J. Bowman Sweitzer August 27, 1850
- Charles Shaler April 19, 1853
- Richard Biddle Roberts April 21, 1857
- Robert B. Carnahan April 12, 1861
- Henry B. Swope January 24, 1870
- David Reed March 24, 1874
- Henry H. McCormick June 29, 1876
- William A. Stone July 6, 1880
- George A. Allen December 4, 1886
- Walter Lyon June 21, 1889
- Stephen C. McCandless April 26, 1893
- Harry Alvan Hall June 8, 1893
- B. Heiner September 14, 1897
- James S. Young February 10, 1902
- John W. Dunkle March 17, 1905
- John H. Jordan April 15, 1909
- Edwin Lowry Humes September 10, 1913
- R. Lindsay Crawford September 2, 1918
- Edwin Lowry Humes August 20, 1919
- Robert J. Dodds June 1, 1920
- D. J. Driscoll August 19, 1920
- Walter Lyon March 11, 1921
- John D. Meyer July 18, 1925
- Louis Edward Graham October 31, 1929
- Horatio S. Dumbauld August 17, 1933
- Charles F. Uhl May 12, 1941
- Owen McIntosh Burns May 16, 1947
- Edward C. Boyle November 3, 1949
- John W. McIlvaine July 16, 1953
- D. Malcolm Anderson, Jr. August 19, 1955
- Hubert I. Teitelbaum March 17, 1958
- Joseph S. Ammerman June 5, 1961
- Gustave Diamond February 2, 1963
- Richard L. Thornburgh June 4, 1969
- Blair A. Griffith July 7, 1975
- Robert J. Cindrich September 29, 1978
- J. Alan Johnson July 31, 1981
- Charles D. Sheehy January 15, 1989
- Thomas W. Corbett November 30, 1989
- Frederick W. Thieman August 16, 1993
- Linda L. Kelly August 1, 1997
- Harry Litman October 22, 1998
- Linda L. Kelly April 28, 2001
- Mary Beth Buchanan - September 18, 2001
- Robert S. Cessar - November 17, 2009
- David J. Hickton - August 12, 2010
- Soo C. Song (Acting) - November 29, 2016
See also
- Courts of Pennsylvania
- List of United States federal courthouses in Pennsylvania
Notes
External links
- Official site