United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States District Courts:

The court is based at the U.S. Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Contents
1 Current composition of the court
2 List of former judges
3 Chief judges
4 Succession of seats
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Current composition of the court

As of Michael Chertoff's resignation on February 15, 2005, the judges on the court are:


Title Name Duty Station Born Term of
Active Service 		Term of
Service
as Chief 		Term of
Senior Service 		Appointed by
Chief Judge Anthony Joseph Scirica Philadelphia, PA 1940 1987 – present 2003 – present — Reagan
Circuit Judge Dolores Korman Sloviter Philadelphia, PA 1932 1979 – present 1991 – 1998 — Carter
Circuit Judge Richard Lowell Nygaard Erie, PA 1940 1988 – present — — Reagan
Circuit Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. Newark, NJ 1950 1990 – present — — G.H.W. Bush
Circuit Judge Jane Richards Roth Wilmington, DE 1935 1991 – present — — G.H.W. Bush
Circuit Judge Theodore Alexander McKee Philadelphia, PA 1947 1994 – present — — Clinton
Circuit Judge Marjorie O. Rendell Philadelphia, PA 1947 1997 – present — — Clinton
Circuit Judge Maryanne Trump Barry Newark, NJ 1937 1999 – present — — Clinton
Circuit Judge Thomas L. Ambro Wilmington, DE 1949 2000 – present — — Clinton
Circuit Judge Julio M. Fuentes Newark, NJ 1946 2000 – present — — Clinton
Circuit Judge D. Brooks Smith Duncansville, PA 1951 2002 – present — — G.W. Bush
Circuit Judge D. Michael Fisher Pittsburgh, PA 1944 2003 – present — — G.W. Bush
Circuit Judge Franklin Stuart Van Antwerpen Easton, PA 1941 2004 – present — — G.W. Bush
Circuit Judge (vacant) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
Senior Circuit Judge Ruggero John Aldisert Santa Barbara, CA 1919 1968 – 1986 1984 – 1986 1986 – present L. Johnson
Senior Circuit Judge Max Rosenn Wilkes-Barre, PA 1910 1970 – 1981 (none) 1981 – present Nixon
Senior Circuit Judge Joseph Francis Weis, Jr. Pittsburgh, PA 1923 1973 – 1988 (none) 1988 – present Nixon
Senior Circuit Judge Leonard I. Garth Newark, NJ 1921 1973 – 1986 (none) 1986 – present Nixon
Senior Circuit Judge Edward Roy Becker Philadelphia, PA 1933 1981 – 2003 1998 – 2003 2003 – present Reagan
Senior Circuit Judge Walter King Stapleton Wilmington, DE 1934 1985 – 1999 (none) 1999 – present Reagan
Senior Circuit Judge Morton Ira Greenberg Trenton, NJ 1933 1987 – 2000 (none) 2000 – present Reagan
Senior Circuit Judge Robert E. Cowen Trenton, NJ 1930 1987 – 1998 (none) 1998 – present Reagan


List of former judges


Name State Born/Died Term of
Active Service 		Term of
Service
as Chief 		Term of
Senior Service 		Appointed by Reason
Appointment
Terminated
Marcus Wilson Acheson PA 1828 – 1906 1891 – 1906 (none) (none) (a) death
George Mifflin Dallas PA 1839 – 1917 1892 – 1909 (none) (none) B. Harrison retirement
George Gray DE 1840 – 1925 1899(b) – 1914 (none) (none) McKinley retirement
Joseph Buffington PA 1855 – 1947 1906(b) – 1938 (none) 1938 – 1947 T. Roosevelt death
William Mershon Lanning NJ 1849 – 1912 1909 – 1912 (none) (none) Taft death
Robert Wodrow Archbald PA 1848 – 1926 1911 – 1913 (none) (none) (c) impeachment and conviction
John Bayard McPherson PA 1846 – 1919 1912 – 1919 (none) (none) Taft death
Victor Baynard Woolley DE 1867 – 1945 1914 – 1938 (none) 1938 – 1945 Wilson death
Thomas Griffith Haight NJ 1879 – 1942 1919(b) – 1920 (none) (none) Wilson resignation
John Warren Davis NJ 1867 – 1945 1920 – 1939 (none) 1939 – 1941 Wilson resignation
Joseph Whitaker Thompson PA 1861 – 1946 1931 – 1938 (none) 1938 – 1946 Hoover death
John Biggs, Jr. DE 1895 – 1979 1937 – 1965 1948 – 1965 1965 – 1979 F. Roosevelt death
Albert Branson Maris PA 1893 – 1989 1938 – 1958 (none) 1958 – 1989 F. Roosevelt death
William Clark NJ 1891 – 1957 1938 – 1943 (none) (none) F. Roosevelt resignation
Francis Biddle 1886 – 1968 1939 – 1940 (none) (none) F. Roosevelt resignation
Charles Alvin Jones PA 1887 – 1966 1939 – 1944 (none) (none) F. Roosevelt resignation
Herbert Funk Goodrich PA 1889 – 1962 1940 – 1962 (none) (none) F. Roosevelt death
Gerald McLaughlin NJ 1893 – 1977 1943 – 1968 (none) 1968 – 1977 F. Roosevelt death
John Joseph O'Connell PA 1894 – 1949 1945 – 1949 (none) (none) Truman death
Harry Ellis Kalodner PA 1896 – 1977 1946 – 1969 1965 – 1966 1969 – 1977 Truman death
William Henry Hastie VI 1904 – 1976 1949(b) – 1971 1968 – 1971 1971 – 1976 Truman death
Austin Leander Staley PA 1902 – 1978 1950 – 1967 1966 – 1967 1967 – 1978 Truman death
Phillip Forman NJ 1895 – 1978 1959 – 1961 (none) 1961 – 1978 Eisenhower death
James Cullen Ganey PA 1899 – 1972 1961 – 1966 (none) 1966 – 1972 Kennedy death
William Francis Smith NJ 1903 – 1968 1961 – 1968 (none) (none) Kennedy death
Abraham Lincoln Freedman PA 1904 – 1971 1964 – 1971 (none) (none) L. Johnson death
Collins Jacques Seitz DE 1914 – 1998 1966 – 1989 1971 – 1984 1989 – 1998 L. Johnson death
Francis Lund Van Dusen PA 1912 – 1993 1967 – 1977 (none) 1977 – 1993 L. Johnson death
David Henry Stahl PA 1920 – 1970 1968 – 1970 (none) (none) L. Johnson death
Arlin Marvin Adams PA 1921 – present 1969 – 1987 (none) (none) Nixon retirement
John Joseph Gibbons NJ 1924 – present 1969 – 1990 1987 – 1990 (none) Nixon retirement
James Rosen NJ 1909 – 1972 1971 – 1972 (none) (none) Nixon death
James Hunter III NJ 1916 – 1989 1971 – 1986 (none) 1986 – 1989 Nixon death
Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr. PA 1928 – 1998 1977 – 1991 1990 – 1991 1991 – 1993 Carter retirement
Carol Los Mansmann PA 1942 – 2002 1985 – 2002 (none) (none) Reagan death
William D. Hutchinson PA 1932 – 1995 1987 – 1995 (none) (none) Reagan death
Timothy K. Lewis PA 1954 – present 1992 – 1999 (none) (none) G.H.W. Bush resignation
H. Lee Sarokin NJ 1928 – present 1994 – 1996 (none) (none) Clinton retirement
Michael Chertoff NJ 1953 – present 2003 – 2005 (none) (none) G.W. Bush resignation


(a) Acheson was appointed to the bench of the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit in 1891 by Benjamin Harrison. The Judiciary Act of 1891 reassigned his seat to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
(b) Recess appointment, confirmed by the Senate at a later date.
(c) Archbald did not have a permanent seat on this court. Instead, he was appointed to the ill-fated United States Commerce Court in 1911 by William Howard Taft. Aside from their duties on the Commerce Court, the judges of the Commerce Court also acted as at-large appellate judges, able to be assigned by the Chief Justice of the United States to whichever circuit most needed help. Archbald was assigned to the Third Circuit upon his commission.

Chief judges

Chief Judge
Biggs 1948 – 1965
Kalodner 1965 – 1966
Hastie 1968 – 1971
Staley 1966 – 1967
Seitz 1971 – 1984
Aldisert 1984 – 1986
Gibbons 1987 – 1990
Higginbotham 1990 – 1991
Sloviter 1991 – 1998
Becker 1998 – 2003
Scirica 2003 – present


In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

Succession of seats

The court has fourteen seats for active judges, numbered in order of their creation. If seats were established simultaneously, they are numbered in the order in which they were filled. Judges who retire into senior status remain on the bench but leave their seat vacant. That seat is filled by the next circuit judge appointed by the President.

Seat 1
Established on December 10, 1869 by the Judiciary Act of 1869 as a seat of the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit
Reassigned on June 16, 1891 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by the Judiciary Act of 1891
Acheson PA 1891 – 1906
Buffington PA 1906 – 1938
Biddle 1939 – 1940
Goodrich PA 1940 – 1962
Freedman PA 1964 – 1971
Weis PA 1973 – 1988
Nygaard PA 1988 – present
Seat 2
Established on June 16, 1891 by the Judiciary Act of 1891
Dallas 1892 – 1909
Lanning 1909 – 1912
McPherson 1912 – 1919
Haight 1919 – 1920
Davis 1920 – 1939
Jones 1939 – 1944
Kalodner 1946 – 1969
Adams 1969 – 1987
Hutchinson 1987 – 1995
Rendell 1997 – present
Seat 3
Established on February 23, 1899 by 30 Stat. 846
Gray 1899 – 1914
Woolley 1914 – 1938
Maris 1938 – 1958
Forman 1959 – 1961
W. Smith 1961 – 1968
Hunter 1971 – 1986
Cowen 1987 – 1998
Fuentes 2000 – present
Seat 4
Established on June 10, 1930 by 46 Stat. 538
Thompson 1931 – 1938
Clark 1938 – 1943
McLaughlin 1943 – 1968
Gibbons 1969 – 1990
Alito 1990 – present
Seat 5
Established as a temporary judgeship on June 24, 1936 by 49 Stat. 1903
Made permanent on May 31, 1938 by 52 Stat. 584
Biggs 1937 – 1965
Seitz 1966 – 1989
Roth 1991 – present
Seat 6
Established on December 7, 1944 by 58 Stat. 796
O'Connell 1945 – 1949
Staley 1950 – 1967
Aldisert 1968 – 1986
Scirica 1987 – present
Seat 7
Established on August 3, 1949 by 63 Stat. 493
Hastie 1949 – 1971
Rosen 1971 – 1972
Garth 1973 – 1986
Greenberg 1987 – 2000
Chertoff 2003 – 2005
(vacant) 2005 –
Seat 8
Established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80
Ganey 1961 – 1966
Van Dusen 1967 – 1977
Higginbotham 1977 – 1991
McKee 1994 – present
Seat 9
Established on June 18, 1968 by 82 Stat. 184
Stahl 1968 – 1970
Rosenn 1970 – 1981
Becker 1981 – 2003
Van Antwerpen 2004 – present
Seat 10
Established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629
Sloviter 1979 – present
Seat 11
Established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333
Mansmann 1985 – 2002
Fisher 2003 – present
Seat 12
Established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333
Stapleton 1985 – 1999
Ambro 2000 – present
Seat 13
Established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089
Lewis 1992 – 1999
B. Smith 2002 – present
Seat 14
Established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089
Sarokin 1994 – 1996
Barry 1999 – present

See also

References

External links

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit