United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.)
Location	Dirksen Federal Building Chicago, Illinois
Appeals from	Central District of Illinois Northern District of Illinois Southern District of Illinois Northern District of Indiana Southern District of Indiana Eastern District of Wisconsin Western District of Wisconsin
Established	December 10, 1869
Chief judge	Diane Pamela Wood
Active judges	11
Senior judges	4
Circuit justice	Elena Kagan
Official site

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:

• Central District of Illinois
• Northern District of Illinois
• Southern District of Illinois
• Northern District of Indiana
• Southern District of Indiana
• Eastern District of Wisconsin
• Western District of Wisconsin

The court is based at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of thirteen United States courts of appeals, composed of eleven judges.

The court offers a unique internet presence that includes wiki and RSS feeds of opinions and oral arguments. No other United States District or Appellate Court offers oral arguments using these feeds to the internet, with the exception of United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, that offer RSS features. It is also notable for having two of the most prominent law and economics scholars, Judge Easterbrook and Judge Posner, on its court.^[1]

There is one current vacancy on the Seventh Circuit and one future vacancy.

Current composition of the court

As of October 1, 2013, the judges on the court were as follows:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
49	Chief Judge	Diane Pamela Wood	Chicago, IL	1950	1995–present	2013–present	—	Clinton
41	Circuit Judge	Richard Posner	Chicago, IL	1939	1981–present	1993–2000	—	Reagan
43	Circuit Judge	Joel Martin Flaum	Chicago, IL	1936	1983–present	2000–2006	—	Reagan
44	Circuit Judge	Frank H. Easterbrook	Chicago, IL	1948	1985–present	2006–2013	—	Reagan
47	Circuit Judge	Michael Stephen Kanne	Lafayette, IN	1938	1987–present	—	—	Reagan
48	Circuit Judge	Ilana Rovner	Chicago, IL	1938	1992–present	—	—	G. H. W. Bush
51	Circuit Judge	Ann Claire Williams	Chicago, IL	1949	1999–present	—	—	Clinton
52	Circuit Judge	Diane S. Sykes	Milwaukee, WI	1957	2004–present	—	—	G. W. Bush
53	Circuit Judge	John Daniel Tinder	Indianapolis, IN	1950	2007–present	—	—	G. W. Bush
54	Circuit Judge	David F. Hamilton	Bloomington, IN	1957	2009–present	—	—	Obama
55	Circuit Judge	vacant	–	–	–	—	—	–
37	Senior Circuit Judge	William Joseph Bauer	Chicago, IL	1926	1974–1994	1986–1993	1994–present	Ford
39	Senior Circuit Judge	Richard Dickson Cudahy	Chicago, IL	1926	1979–1994	—	1994–present	Carter
45	Senior Circuit Judge	Kenneth Francis Ripple	South Bend, IN	1943	1985–2008	—	2008–present	Reagan
46	Senior Circuit Judge	Daniel Anthony Manion	South Bend, IN	1942	1986–2007	—	2007–present	Reagan

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
9	Terence T. Evans	Senior status	January 7, 2010
4	John Daniel Tinder	Retiring [1]	February 18, 2015

List of former judges

Thirty-nine judges have served on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, but no longer do:

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active	Chief	Senior	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Gresham, Walter Q.Walter Q. Gresham	Indiana	1832–1895	1891–1893	——	——	Arthur, C.C. Arthur[2]	resignation
2	Woods, William AllenWilliam Allen Woods	Indiana	1837–1901	1892–1901	——	——	Harrison, B.B. Harrison	death
3	Jenkins, James GrahamJames Graham Jenkins	Wisconsin	1834–1921	1893–1905	——	——	Cleveland,Cleveland	retirement
4	Showalter, John WilliamJohn William Showalter	Illinois	1844–1898	1895–1898	——	——	Cleveland,Cleveland	death
5	Grosscup, Peter StengerPeter Stenger Grosscup	Illinois	1852–1921	1899–1911	——	——	McKinley,McKinley	resignation
6	Baker, Francis ElishaFrancis Elisha Baker	Indiana	1860–1924	1902–1924	——	——	Roosevelt, T.T. Roosevelt	death
7	Seaman, William HenryWilliam Henry Seaman	Wisconsin	1842–1915	1905–1915	——	——	Roosevelt, T.T. Roosevelt	death
8	Kohlsaat, Christian CecilChristian Cecil Kohlsaat	Illinois	1844–1918	1905–1918	——	——	Roosevelt, T.T. Roosevelt	death
9	Alschuler, SamuelSamuel Alschuler[3]	Illinois	1859–1939	1915–1936	——	1936–1939	Wilson,Wilson	death
10	Evans, Evan AlfredEvan Alfred Evans	Wisconsin	1876–1948	1916–1948	——	——	Wilson,Wilson	death
11	Page, George TrueGeorge True Page	Illinois	1859–1941	1919–1930	——	1930–1941	Wilson,Wilson	death
12	Anderson, Albert BarnesAlbert Barnes Anderson	Indiana	1857–1938	1925–1929	——	1929–1938	Coolidge,Coolidge	death
13	Sparks, William MorrisWilliam Morris Sparks	Indiana	1872–1950	1929–1948	1948–1948	1948–1950	Hoover,Hoover	death
14	FitzHenry, LouisLouis FitzHenry	Illinois	1870–1935	1933–1935	——	——	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
15	Major, James EarlJames Earl Major	Illinois	1887–1972	1937–1956	1948–1954	1956–1972	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
16	Treanor, Walter EmanuelWalter Emanuel Treanor	Indiana	1883–1941	1937–1941	——	——	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
17	Kerner, Sr., OttoOtto Kerner, Sr.[3]	Illinois	1884–1952	1938–1952	——	——	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
18	Minton, ShermanSherman Minton	Indiana	1890–1965	1941–1949	——	——	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	elevation to the Supreme Court
19	Duffy, F. RyanF. Ryan Duffy	Wisconsin	1888–1979	1949–1966	1954–1959	1966–1979	Truman,Truman	death
20	Finnegan, Philip J.Philip J. Finnegan	Illinois	1886–1959	1949–1959	——	——	Truman,Truman	death
21	Lindley, Walter C.Walter C. Lindley	Illinois	1880–1958	1949–1958	——	——	Truman,Truman	death
22	Swaim, Hardress NathanielHardress Nathaniel Swaim[3]	Indiana	1880–1957	1949–1957	——	——	Truman,Truman	death
23	Schnackenberg, Elmer JacobElmer Jacob Schnackenberg[3]	Illinois	1889–1968	1953–1968	——	——	Eisenhower,Eisenhower	death
24	Hastings, John SimpsonJohn Simpson Hastings	Indiana	1898–1977	1957–1969	1959–1968	1969–1977	Eisenhower,Eisenhower	death
25	Parkinson, William LynnWilliam Lynn Parkinson	Indiana	1902–1959	1957–1959	——	——	Eisenhower,Eisenhower	death
26	Knoch, Winfred GeorgeWinfred George Knoch	Illinois	1895–1983	1958–1967	——	1967–1983	Eisenhower,Eisenhower	death
27	Castle, LathamLatham Castle	Illinois	1900–1986	1959–1970	1968–1970	1970–1986	Eisenhower,Eisenhower	death
28	Kiley, Roger JosephRoger Joseph Kiley	Illinois	1900–1974	1961–1974	——	1974–1974	Kennedy,Kennedy	death
29	Swygert, Luther MerrittLuther Merritt Swygert	Indiana	1905–1988	1961–1981	1970–1975	1981–1988	Kennedy,Kennedy	death
30	Cummings, Jr., Walter J.Walter J. Cummings, Jr.	Illinois	1916–1999	1966–1999	1981–1986	——	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	death
31	Fairchild, Thomas E.Thomas E. Fairchild	Wisconsin	1912–2007	1966–1981	1975–1981	1981–2007	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	death
32	Kerner, Jr., OttoOtto Kerner, Jr.	Illinois	1908–1976	1968–1974	——	——	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	resignation
33	Pell, Jr., Wilbur FrankWilbur Frank Pell, Jr.	Indiana	1915–2000	1970–1984	——	1984–2000	Nixon,Nixon	death
34	Stevens, John PaulJohn Paul Stevens	Illinois	1920–present	1970–1975	——	——	Nixon,Nixon	elevation to the Supreme Court
35	Sprecher, Robert ArthurRobert Arthur Sprecher	Illinois	1917–1982	1971–1982	——	——	Nixon,Nixon	death
36	Tone, Philip WillisPhilip Willis Tone	Illinois	1923–2001	1974–1980	——	——	Nixon,Nixon	resignation
38	Harlington Wood, Jr.	Illinois	1920–2008	1976–1992	——	1992–2008	Ford,Ford	death
40	Eschbach, Jesse E.Jesse E. Eschbach	Indiana	1920–2005	1981–1985	——	1985–2005	Reagan,Reagan	death
42	John Louis Coffey	Wisconsin	1922–2012	1982–2004	——	2004–2011	Reagan,Reagan	retirement
50	Terence T. Evans	Wisconsin	1940–2011	1995–2010	——	2010–2011	Clinton,Clinton	death

Chief judges

Chief Judge Sparks 1948–1948 Major 1948–1954 Duffy 1954–1959 Hastings 1959–1968 Castle 1968–1970 Swygert 1970–1975 Fairchild 1975–1981 Cummings 1981–1986 Bauer 1986–1993 Posner 1993–2000 Flaum 2000–2006 Easterbrook 2006–2013 Wood 2013–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.

The above rules have applied since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948 and until August 6, 1959 was filled by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

The current Chief Judge of the Seventh Circuit is Judge Diane Wood, who succeeded Judge Frank H. Easterbrook in October 2013. Judge Wood is the first female chief judge of the court.

Succession of seats

The court has eleven seats for active judges, 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 circuit judgeship for the Seventh Circuit Reassigned to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit by the Judiciary Act of 1891 Gresham IN 1891–1893 Jenkins WI 1893–1905 Seaman WI 1905–1915 E. Evans WI 1916–1948 Duffy WI 1949–1966 Fairchild WI 1966–1981 Coffey WI 1982–2004 Sykes WI 2004–present

Seat 2 Established on June 16, 1891, by the Judiciary Act of 1891 Woods IN 1892–1901 Baker IN 1902–1924 Anderson IN 1925–1929 Sparks IN 1929–1948 Finnegan IL 1949–1959 Castle IL 1959–1970 Sprecher IL 1971–1982 Flaum IL 1983–present

Seat 3 Established on February 8, 1895, by 28 Stat. 643 Showalter IL 1895–1898 Grosscup IL 1899–1911 Alschuler IL 1915–1936 Treanor IN 1937–1941 Minton IN 1941–1949 Lindley IL 1949–1958 Knoch IL 1958–1967 Kerner, Jr. IL 1968–1974 Bauer IL 1974–1994 D. Wood IL 1995–present

Seat 4 Established on March 3, 1905, by 33 Stat. 992 Kohlsaat IL 1905–1918 Page IL 1919–1930 FitzHenry IL 1933–1935 Major IL 1937–1956 Hastings IN 1957–1969 Pell IN 1970–1984 Manion IN 1986–2007 Tinder IN 2007–present

Seat 5 Established on May 31, 1938, by 52 Stat. 584 Kerner, Sr. IL 1938–1952 Schnackenberg IL 1953–1968 Stevens IL 1970–1975 H. Wood IL 1976–1992 Rovner IL 1992–present

Seat 6 Established on August 3, 1949, by 63 Stat. 493 Swaim IN 1949–1957 Parkinson IN 1957–1959 Kiley IL 1961–1974 Tone IL 1974–1980 Posner IL 1981–present

Seat 7 Established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 Swygert IN 1961–1981 Eschbach IN 1981–1985 Kanne IN 1987–present

Seat 8 Established on March 18, 1966, by 80 Stat. 75 Cummings IL 1966–1999 Williams IL 1999–present

Seat 9 Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629, 1632 Cudahy IL 1979–1994 T. Evans WI 1995–2010 (vacant) (n/a) 2010–present

Seat 10 Established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333 Easterbrook IL 1985–present

Seat 11 Established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333 Ripple IN 1985–2008 Hamilton IN 2009–present

See also

• Federal judicial appointment history#Seventh Circuit
• Same-sex marriage in the Seventh Circuit
• Courts of Illinois

References

• "Standard Search". Federal Law Clerk Information System. Retrieved July 2, 2005. 
  • primary but incomplete source for the duty stations
• "Instructions for Judicial Directory". University of Texas Law School. Archived from the original on November 11, 2005. Retrieved July 2, 2005. 
  • secondary source for the duty stations
  • data is current to 2002
• "U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit". Official website of the Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on April 18, 2005. Retrieved July 2, 2005. 
  • source for the state, lifetime, term of active judgeship, term of chief judgeship, term of senior judgeship, appointer, termination reason, and seat information

External links

• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Recent opinions from FindLaw
• Official wiki of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit — Launched April 18, 2007
• The Seventh Circuit Review

Current judges of the United States courts of appeals 1st Circuit Active Lynch Torruella Howard Thompson Kayatta Barron Senior Campbell Selya Cyr Boudin Stahl Lipez 2nd Circuit Active Katzmann Jacobs Cabranes Pooler Raggi Wesley Hall Livingston Lynch Chin Lohier Carney Droney Senior Newman Kearse Cardamone Winter Walker Leval Calabresi Straub Sack Parker 3rd Circuit Active McKee Rendell Ambro Fuentes Smith Fisher Chagares Jordan Hardiman Greenaway Vanaskie Shwartz Krause 1 seat vacant Senior Aldisert Garth Sloviter Stapleton Greenberg Scirica Cowen Nygaard Roth Barry Van Antwerpen 4th Circuit Active Traxler Wilkinson Niemeyer Motz King Gregory Shedd Duncan Agee Keenan Wynn Diaz Floyd Thacker Harris Senior Phillips Chapman Hamilton Davis 5th Circuit Active Stewart Jolly Davis Jones Smith Garza Dennis Clement Prado Owen Elrod Southwick Haynes Graves Higginson Costa 2 seats vacant Senior King Reavley Higginbotham Barksdale Wiener Garza DeMoss Benavides 6th Circuit Active Cole Boggs Batchelder Moore Clay Gibbons Rogers Sutton Cook McKeague Griffin Kethledge White Stranch Donald 1 seat vacant Senior Lively Keith Merritt Wellford Milburn Guy Ryan Norris Suhrheinrich Siler Daughtrey Gilman 7th Circuit Active Wood Posner Flaum Easterbrook Kanne Rovner Williams Sykes Tinder Hamilton 1 seat vacant Senior Bauer Cudahy Ripple Manion 8th Circuit Active Riley Wollman Loken Murphy Bye Smith Colloton Gruender Benton Shepherd Kelly Senior Bright Fagg Bowman Beam Hansen Arnold Melloy 9th Circuit Active Thomas Pregerson Reinhardt Kozinski O'Scannlain Silverman Graber McKeown Wardlaw Fletcher Gould Paez Berzon Tallman Rawlinson Clifton Bybee Callahan Bea M Smith Ikuta N Smith Murguia Christen Nguyen Watford Hurwitz Owens Friedland Senior Goodwin Wallace Hug Schroeder Farris Alarcon Nelson Canby Noonan Leavy Trott Fernandez Kleinfeld Hawkins Tashima Fisher 10th Circuit Active Briscoe Kelly Lucero Hartz Tymkovich Gorsuch Holmes Matheson Bacharach Phillips McHugh Moritz Senior McKay Seymour Porfilio Anderson Baldock Brorby Ebel Murphy O'Brien 11th Circuit Active E Carnes Tjoflat Hull Marcus Wilson W Pryor Martin Jordan Rosenbaum J Carnes J Pryor 1 seat vacant Senior Hill Fay Kravitch Anderson Edmondson Cox Dubina Black DC Circuit Active Garland Henderson Rogers Tatel Brown Griffith Kavanaugh Srinivasan Millett Pillard Wilkins Senior Edwards Silberman Williams Ginsburg Sentelle Randolph Federal Circuit Active Prost Newman Lourie Dyk Moore O'Malley Reyna Wallach Taranto Chen Hughes 1 seat vacant Senior Mayer Plager Clevenger Schall Bryson Linn

Current senior judges of the United States courts of appeals 1st Circuit Campbell Selya Cyr Boudin Stahl Lipez 2nd Circuit Newman Kearse Cardamone Winter Walker Leval Calabresi Straub Sack Parker 3rd Circuit Aldisert Garth Sloviter Stapleton Greenberg Scirica Cowen Nygaard Roth Barry Van Antwerpen 4th Circuit Phillips Chapman Hamilton Davis 5th Circuit King Reavley Higginbotham Barksdale Wiener Garza DeMoss Benavides 6th Circuit Lively Keith Merritt Wellford Milburn Guy Ryan Norris Suhrheinrich Siler Daughtrey Gilman 7th Circuit Bauer Cudahy Ripple Manion 8th Circuit Bright Fagg Bowman Beam Hansen Arnold Melloy 9th Circuit Goodwin Wallace Hug Schroeder Farris Alarcon Nelson Canby Noonan Leavy Trott Fernandez Kleinfeld Hawkins Tashima Fisher 10th Circuit McKay Seymour Porfilio Anderson Baldock Brorby Ebel Murphy O'Brien 11th Circuit Hill Fay Kravitch Anderson Edmondson Cox Dubina Black DC Circuit Edwards Silberman Williams Ginsburg Sentelle Randolph Federal Circuit Mayer Plager Clevenger Schall Bryson Linn

Current active district judges of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals C. Illinois Shadid Myerscough Darrow Bruce N. Illinois Castillo Norgle Zagel Pallmeyer Kennelly Darrah St. Eve Der-Yeghiayan Kendall Kapala Darrow Dow Feinerman Coleman Chang Lee Tharp Durkin Ellis Wood Shah 2 seats vacant S. Illinois Herndon Reagan Rosenstengel Yandle N. Indiana Simon Miller Springmann Van Bokkelen DeGuilio S. Indiana Young Lawrence Magnus-Stinson Pratt 1 seat vacant E. Wisconsin Griesbach Stadtmueller Randa Adelman Pepper (Designate) W. Wisconsin Conley Peterson

Current senior district judges of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals C. Illinois Baker Mihm Mills McDade McCuskey N. Illinois Grady Aspen Shadur Kocoras Hart Plunkett Holderman Duff Leinenweber Conlon Marovich Lindberg Reinhard Manning Gettleman Bucklo Gottschall Guzman Lefkow S. Illinois Stiehl Gilbert N. Indiana Lee Moody Lozano S. Indiana Barker McKinney E. Wisconsin Clevert W. Wisconsin Crabb

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