United States federal district court in Pennsylvania
TheUnited States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (incase citations ,W.D. Pa. ) is afederal trial court that sits inPittsburgh ,Erie , andJohnstown, Pennsylvania . It is composed of ten judges as authorized by federal law. Appeals from this court are heard by theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (except forpatent claims and claims against the U.S. government under theTucker Act , which are appealed to theFederal Circuit ).
TheUnited States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania was one of the original 13 courts established by theJudiciary Act of 1789 , 1 Stat. 73 , on September 24, 1789.[ 1] [ 2] Stat. 462 ,[ 1] [ 2] Eastern and Western Districts to be headquartered inPhiladelphia andPittsburgh , respectively.[ 1] Old County Courthouse in Pittsburgh.[ 3] Middle District on March 2, 1901, by 31 Stat. 880.[ 2] Richard Peters Jr. was reassigned to only the Eastern District. This made it possible for PresidentJames Monroe to appointJonathan 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.[ 3]
Federal Courthouse ,Erie, Pennsylvania Federal Courthouse ,Pittsburgh As of December 7, 2025[update]
^ Recess appointment ; formally nominated on December 7, 1831, confirmed by theUnited States Senate on March 21, 1832, and received commission the same day.^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 3, 1906, confirmed by the Senate on December 11, 1906, and received commission the same day. ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 6, 1928, confirmed by the Senate on December 17, 1928, and received commission the same day. ^ Jointly appointed to theEastern ,Middle , and Western Districts of Pennsylvania ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1950, confirmed by the Senate on March 8, 1950, and received commission on March 9, 1950. ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the Senate on July 10, 1962, and received commission on July 12, 1962. Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, 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 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.
When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known assenior status , or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.
Succession of seats [ edit ] Seat 3 Seat established on September 14, 1922 by 42 Stat. 837 (temporary) Seat made permanent on August 19, 1935 by 49 Stat. 659 Schoonmaker 1922–1945 Gourley 1945–1969 Teitelbaum 1970–1985 Lee 1990–2000 Cercone 2002–2017 Haines 2019–present
Seat 4 Seat established on July 24, 1946 by 60 Stat. 654 (temporary, concurrent with Middle and Eastern Districts) Seat made permanent on February 10, 1954 by 68 Stat. 8 Follmer 1946–1955 Seat statutorily assigned solely to the Middle District on June 1, 1955
Seat 7 Seat established on February 10, 1954 by 68 Stat. 8 (temporary) Seat made permanent on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 Sorg 1955–1976 Bloch 1979–1997 Conti 2002–2018 Stickman IV 2019–present
United States attorneys [ edit ] United States attorneys for the district have included:[ 4]
James Hamilton March 11, 1801 Andrew Stewart April 20, 1818Alexander Brackenridge March 3, 1821George W. Buchanan October 22, 1830Benjamin Patton Jr. October 22, 1832John P. Anderson June 12, 1839Cornelius Darragh March 25, 1841William O'Hara Robinson March 29, 1844John L. Dawson July 22, 1845J. Bowman Sweitzer August 27, 1850Charles Shaler April 19, 1853Richard Biddle Roberts April 21, 1857Robert B. Carnahan April 12, 1861Henry B. Swope January 24, 1870David Reed March 24, 1874Henry H. McCormick June 29, 1876William A. Stone July 6, 1880George A. Allen December 4, 1886Walter Lyon June 21, 1889Stephen C. McCandless April 26, 1893Harry Alvan Hall June 8, 1893Daniel B. Heiner September 14, 1897James S. Young February 10, 1902John W. Dunkle March 17, 1905John H. Jordan April 15, 1909Edwin Lowry Humes September 10, 1913R. Lindsay Crawford September 2, 1918Edwin Lowry Humes August 20, 1919Robert J. Dodds June 1, 1920D. J. Driscoll August 19, 1920Walter Lyon March 11, 1921John D. Meyer July 18, 1925Louis Edward Graham October 31, 1929Horatio S. Dumbauld August 17, 1933Charles F. Uhl May 12, 1941Owen McIntosh Burns May 16, 1947Edward C. Boyle November 3, 1949John W. McIlvaine July 16, 1953D. Malcolm Anderson Jr. August 19, 1955Hubert I. Teitelbaum March 17, 1958Joseph S. Ammerman June 5, 1961Gustave Diamond February 2, 1963Richard L. Thornburgh June 4, 1969Blair A. Griffith July 7, 1975Robert J. Cindrich September 29, 1978J. Alan Johnson July 31, 1981Charles D. Sheehy January 15, 1989Thomas W. Corbett November 30, 1989Frederick W. Thieman August 16, 1993[ 5] Linda L. Kelly August 1, 1997Harry Litman October 22, 1998Linda L. Kelly April 28, 2001Mary Beth Buchanan – September 18, 2001Robert S. Cessar – November 17, 2009David J. Hickton – August 12, 2010Soo C. Song (acting) – November 29, 2016Scott Brady – December 22, 2017Cindy Chung – November 2021[ 6] Troy Rivetti (acting) – February 17, 2023[ 7] Eric G. Olshan – June 12, 2023^a b c Asbury Dickens,A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 388. ^a b c U.S. District Courts of Pennsylvania, Legislative history ,Federal Judicial Center ^a b "Untitled Document" .www.pawd.uscourts.gov . Archived fromthe original on October 2, 2013. RetrievedJanuary 12, 2022 .^ "About The Office – USAO-WDPA – Department of Justice" .www.justice.gov . July 14, 2015. RetrievedApril 3, 2018 .^ "Beaver County Times – Google News Archive Search" . RetrievedDecember 2, 2015 .^ "PN1299 – Nomination of Cindy K. Chung for Department of Justice, 117th Congress (2021–2022)" .www.congress.gov . November 19, 2021. RetrievedNovember 24, 2021 .^ "Troy Rivetti to Serve as Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania" (Press release). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. February 17, 2023. RetrievedFebruary 19, 2023 .
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