United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania


The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Philadelphia as the United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania, and is now located at the James Byrne Courthouse at 601 Market Street in Philadelphia. There are Eastern District federal courtrooms in Philadelphia, Allentown, Reading, and Easton.
The Court's jurisdiction includes Philadelphia, as well as Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton counties. The district is a part of the Third Circuit, and appeals are taken to that Circuit.
The current Chief Judge for the Eastern Pennsylvania District Court is Judge Juan Ramon Sanchez.
The people in the district are represented by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, currently William M. McSwain.

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,, on September 24, 1789. It was subdivided on April 20, 1818, by, into the Eastern and Western Districts to be headquartered in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, respectively. Portions of these districts were subsequently subdivided into the Middle District on March 2, 1901, by. At the time of its initial subdivision, presiding judge Richard Peters Jr. was reassigned to only the Eastern District.

Current judges


Vacancies and pending nominations

SeatPrior Judge's Duty StationSeat Last Held ByVacancy ReasonDate of VacancyNomineeDate of Nomination
15PhiladelphiaLawrence F. StengelRetirementAugust 31, 2018

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

List of U.S. Attorneys