United States District Court for the Southern District of California

• Court
• Judges

Southern District of California Ninth Circuit Chief: Barry Moskowitz Judges: 12 Posts: 13 Vacancies: 1 Active judges Benitez • Burns • Bencivengo • Curiel • Hayes • Houston • Huff • Jones • Sammartino • Sabraw • Battaglia Senior Judges Brewster • Enright • Gonzalez • Lorenz • Miller • Thompson • Whelan Magistrate Judges Adler • Bencivengo • Gallo • Lewis • McCurine • Porter Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties in California: Imperial and San Diego. In terms of filed indictments, it is one of the busiest criminal districts in the United States.

When cases from the Southern District of California are appealed, they go to the Ninth Circuit.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California's vacancy warning level is currently set at Blue. The court currently has one vacancy.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Southern District of California (click for larger map)

The geographic jurisdiction of the Southern District of California consists of the Imperial and San Diego counties in the southern part of the state of California.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse

Cases heard

The Southern District of California has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)**:	Median time(Civil)**:	3 Year Civil cases#:	Vacant posts:##	Trials/Post
2010	4682	9543	14225	10061	4164	3.8	6.0	165(6.9%)	16.5	16
2009	4252	9191	13443	9414	4029	3.9	6.0	158(6.7%)	.0	20
2008	7822	7723	15545	8130	7415	3.9	6.2	133(6.5%)	11.8	22
2007	3776	7371	11147	7822	3325	4.3	5.9	111(5.2%)	11.6	30
2006	3324	6845	10169	6389	3780	4.2	6.3	153(6.9%)	12.0	23

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September.    **Time in months from filing to completion. #This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts.    ##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The Southern District of California has two separate courthouses. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Address	Phone number	Hours	Access
Clerk of the Court United States District Court Southern District of California 880 Front Street, Room 4290 San Diego, CA 92101-8900	619/557-5600	M-F 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.	Accessible by both trolley and bus.
Edward J. Schwartz U.S. Courthouse U.S. District Court Southern District of California 940 Front Street San Diego, CA 92101-8900	619/557-5600	M-F 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Accessible by both trolley and bus.
USDC El Centro U.S. District Court Southern District of California 2003 W. Adams Ave, Ste 220 El Centro, CA 92243	(760) 335-3428	M-F 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.	Not accessible by public bus. Plenty of available free public parking spaces.

History

Court history

The Southern District of California was established by Congress on September 28, 1850. Congress had organized California into two judicial districts, the Northern and the Southern, with one judgeship for each court. The district courts were not assigned to a judicial circuit, and thus were granted civil jurisdiction the same as U.S. circuit courts, except in appeals and writs of error, which are the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

On August 31, 1852 the statute 10 Stat. 76, 84 passed after the death of the Southern District judge, having the Northern District judge serve as the judge for the Southern District.

Statute 10 Stat. 161, 169 passed on February 26, 1853 granting the same criminal jurisdiction that is exercised by other district and circuit courts in California. The statute 10 Stat. 265, passed on January 18, 1854 reauthorizing the judgeship for the Southern District, followed by March 2, 1855's, statute 10 Stat. 631 granting the establishment of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Districts of California and repealing California district courts' authority to exercise the trial jurisdiction of a U.S. circuit court. However, they still continued to exercise appellate jurisdiction in certain cases involving land claims.

March 3, 1863's statute, 12 Stat. 794 then abolished the California Circuit, and established the Tenth Circuit, which consisted of the California and Oregon judicial districts and eliminated the remaining appellate jurisdiction of the district courts of California.

The federal judiciary was organized into nine circuits on July 23, 1866 by statute 14 Stat. 209, and the judicial districts of California were assigned to the Ninth Circuit. This was followed by the statute 14 Stat. 300, which was passed on July 27, 1866, and reorganized California as a single judicial district with one authorized judgeship. Statute 24 Stat. 308 again divided California into the Northern and the Southern districts, with one authorized judgeship for each district on August 5, 1886.

Over time 12 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 13 current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Southern District of California:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
August 5, 1886	24 Stat. 308	1
July 30, 1914	38 Stat. 580	2
July 27, 1930	46 Stat. 819	3
August 2, 1935	49 Stat. 508	5
August 19, 1935	49 Stat. 659	6
May 31, 1938	52 Stat. 584, 585	7
May 24, 1940	54 Stat. 219, 220	8
August 3, 1949	63 Stat. 493	10
February 10, 1954	68 Stat. 8	11
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	13
March 18, 1966	80 Stat. 75	2
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	5
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	7
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	8
November 2, 2002	116 Stat. 1758	13

Notable cases

• For cases in the Southern District of California, see Pacer.gov or the Justia.com.

• Marine aircraft crash settlement  Judge(s):Jeffrey Miller      *Yoon et al v United States et al 3:2010cv01578
On December 28, 2011, Judge Miller ordered the U.S. Government to pay $17 million in damages to the family of Don Yoon. The payments were to cover the loss of Yoon's wife, two daughters and mother-in-law when a U.S. Marine Corps jet crashed into their California home in 2008.

• Donations Cap for San Diego Politicians  Judge(s):Irma Gonzalez      *Thalheimer et al v. City of San Diego et al 3:09-cv-02862-IEG-BGS

U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez ruled that the city of San Diego cannot enforce a cap of more than a thousand dollars on the amount political parties donate to local election campaigns. "Political parties are unlike other individuals and entities because the candidates do expressly associate with them and vote on issues advocated/supported by them. In light of this, the court cannot say, for example, that a Republican politician is necessarily 'corrupt' - or that there is an appearance of corruption-just because that politician votes to pass issues supported by the Republican Party after he or she takes office. To the contrary, that is the exact purpose of our political party system," said Judge Gonzalez. Candidates are allowed to spend their own money on campaigning, but they are not to accept public or private donations more than a year before any election. Furthermore, Judge Gonzalez upheld a $500.00 cap on contributions from individuals, as well as provisions that prohibit corporations and labor unions from donating directly to candidates. The lawsuit on the San Diego campaign finance laws was brought to light in December of 2009 by former Republican city council candidate Phil Thalheimer, the Republican party of San Diego, as well as the Lincoln Club of San Diego, which is a business political action committee. Certain provisions of the law, the lawsuit claimed, were intended to curb corruption, but instead violated their rights to free speech.

Federal courthouse

Two separate courthouses serve the Southern District of California.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see California judicial news.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

External links

• United States District Court for the Southern District of California Official Website
• Federal Judicial Center-U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California Website

References

Southern District of California Ninth Circuit Chief: Barry Moskowitz Judges: 12 Posts: 13 Vacancies: 1 Active judges Benitez • Burns • Bencivengo • Curiel • Hayes • Houston • Huff • Jones • Sammartino • Sabraw • Battaglia Senior Judges Brewster • Enright • Gonzalez • Lorenz • Miller • Thompson • Whelan Magistrate Judges Adler • Bencivengo • Gallo • Lewis • McCurine • Porter Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Since the court was established, 63 Article III federal judges have served on it.

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California has 13 posts and 1 vacancy. The current Chief Judge is Barry Moskowitz. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Judge Michael Anello	1943	Miami, FL	W. Bush	10/10/2008 - Present		Napoleon Jones	Bowdoin College, B.A., 1965	Georgetown U. Law Center, J.D., 1968
Judge Larry Burns	1954	Pasadena, CA	W. Bush	9/25/2003 - Present		New Seat|116 Stat. 1758	Point Loma College, B.A., 1976	U. of San Diego School of Law, J.D., 1979
Judge Roger Benitez	1950	Havana, Cuba	W. Bush	6/21/2004 - Present		New Seat|116 Stat. 1758	San Diego State U., B.A., 1974	Western State U., J.D., 1978
Judge William Hayes	1956	Bronxville, NY	W. Bush	10/6/2003 - Present		New Seat|116 Stat. 1758	Syracuse U., B.S., 1978	Syracuse U. School of Law, J.D., 1983
Judge Janis Sammartino	1950	Philadelphia, PA	W. Bush	9/21/2007 - Present		Judith Keep	Occidental College, A.B., 1972	U. of Notre Dame Law School, J.D., 1975
Judge John Houston	1952	Greensboro, NC	W. Bush	10/7/2003 - Present		New Seat|116 Stat. 1758	North Carolina A & T State U., B.S., 1974	U. of Miami at Coral Gables School of Law, J.D., 1977
Judge Dana Sabraw	1958	San Rafael, CA	W. Bush	9/26/2003 - Present		New Seat|116 Stat. 1758	San Diego State U., B.S., 1980	U. of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, J.D., 1985
Chief Judge Barry Moskowitz	1950	Patterson, NJ	Clinton	12/26/1995 - Present	2012 - Present	New Seat|104 Stat. 5089	Rutgers College, B.A., 1972	Rutgers U. School of Law, J.D., 1975
Judge Marilyn Huff	1951	Ann Arbor, MI	H.W. Bush	5/14/1991 - Present	1998 - 2005	William Enright	Calvin College, B.A., 1972	U. of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1976
Judge Anthony J. Battaglia	1949	San Diego, CA	Obama	3/9/2011 - Present		James Lorenz	United States International U., B.A., 1971	California Western School of Law, J.D., 1974
Judge Cathy Bencivengo			Obama	2/9/2012 - Present		Jeffrey Miller	Rutgers University, B.A., 1980	U. of Michigan Law, J.D., 1988
Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel	1953	East Chicago, IN	Obama	9/22/2012 - Present			Indiana U., B.A., 1976	Indiana U. Law, J.D., 1979

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California has 7 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge Irma Gonzalez	H.W. Bush	8/12/1992 - 3/29/2013	2005 - 2012	3/29/2013-Present	Stanford U., B.A., 1970	U. of Arizona College of Law, J.D., 1973
Senior Judge Rudi Brewster	Reagan	6/15/1984 - 7/1/1998		7/1/1998 - Present	Princeton U., B.A., 1954	Stanford Law School, J.D., 1960
Senior Judge Gordon Thompson	Nixon	10/16/1970 - 12/28/1994	1984 - 1991	12/28/1994 - Present	U. of Southern California, B.S., 1951	Southwestern U. School of Law, LL.B., 1956
Senior Judge Thomas Whelan	Clinton	10/22/1998 - 8/15/2010		8/15/2010 - Present	U. of San Diego, B.A., 1961	U. of San Diego School of Law, J.D., 1965
Senior Judge Jeffrey Miller	Clinton	5/27/1997 - 6/6/2010		6/6/2010 - Present	U. of California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1964	U. of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, J.D., 1967
Senior Judge James Lorenz	Clinton	10/5/1999 - 10/25/2009		10/25/2009 - Present	U. of California at Berkeley, B.A., 1957	California Western School of Law, J.D., 1965
Senior Judge William Enright	Nixon	6/30/1972 - 7/12/1990		7/12/1990 - Present	Dartmouth College, A.B., 1947	Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA, LL.B., 1950

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Jan Adler	07/08/2003 - Present	Cornell University, A.B., 1975	Duke University School of Law, J.D., 1978
Magistrate Judge Peter Lewis	06/28/2004 - Present	U.S. International U., B.A., 1973	California Western U. Law, J.D., 1978
Magistrate Judge Barbara Major	01/05/2004 - Present	Stanford, B.A., 1983	U. of California, Berkeley, J.D., 1987
Magistrate Judge Bill McCurine	01/05/2004 - Present	Dartmouth College, B.A., 1969	Harvard Law, J.D., 1975
Magistrate Judge Nita Stormes	01/03/2000 - Present	Ohio Wesleyan U., 1976	Duke U. Law, J.D., 1979
Magistrate Judge William Gallo	10/15/2009 - Present
Magistrate Judge David Bartick	04/02/2012 - Present
Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford	03/05/2012 - Present
Magistrate Judge Ruben Brooks	09/02/1993 - Present	U. of California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1971	Yale Law, J.D., 1974
Magistrate Judge Bernard Skomal	04/28/2010 - Present		Suffolk U. Law, J.D., 1984

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Howard Turrentine	1982 - 1984
Edward Schwartz	1969 - 1982
William Mathes	1964 - 1965
Fred Kunzel	1967 - 1969
Judith Keep	1991 - 1998
Benjamin Harrison	1959 - 1959
Peirson Hall	1959 - 1964
Thurmond Clarke	1966 - 1966
William Byrne, Sr.	1965 - 1966
Leon Rene Yankwich	1951 - 1959
Paul John McCormick	1948 - 1951
Marilyn Huff	1998 - 2005
Gordon Thompson	1984 - 1991
Irma Gonzalez	2005 - 2012
James Marshall Carter	1966 - 1967

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, 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.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court 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.

Former judges

1. Erskine Mayo Ross
2. James Marshall Carter
3. Ogden Hoffman
4. James McHall Jones
5. Isaac Stockton Keith Ogier
6. Fletcher Mathews Haight
7. Olin Wellborn
8. Benjamin Franklin Bledsoe
9. Oscar Trippet
10. William James
11. Napoleon Jones
12. Edward Henning
13. Paul John McCormick
14. John Clifford Wallace
15. George Cosgrave
16. Harry Aaron Hollzer
17. Albert Lee Stephens, Sr.
18. Leon Rene Yankwich
19. Ralph Jenney
20. Campbell Beaumont
21. Albert Lee Stephens, Jr.
22. William Byrne, Sr.
23. Charles Carr
24. Thurmond Clarke
25. Elisha Crary
26. Jesse Curtis
27. William Gray
28. Peirson Hall
29. Andrew Hauk
30. Irving Hill
31. Benjamin Harrison
32. Reuben Brooks
33. Leo Papas
34. Francis Whelan
35. Earl Gilliam
36. Lawrence Irving
37. Judith Keep
38. Fred Kunzel
39. William Mathes
40. Leland Nielsen
41. James O'Connor
42. John Rhoades
43. Edward Schwartz
44. Ernest Tolin
45. Jacob Weinberger
46. Harry Westover
47. Howard Turrentine