United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

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First Circuit

Sitting judges
Michael Boudin
Levin Campbell
Jeffrey R. Howard
Kermit Lipez
Sandra Lea Lynch
Bruce Selya
Norman Stahl
Juan Torruella
Former judges
Federal Courts of Appeal

Contents

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, sometimes referred to as just the First Circuit, is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:

The court is based at the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts. The court normally meets in Boston, but for two weeks each year it assembles in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico and occasionally at other locations within the circuit.

History

Congress established the U.S. circuit courts of appeals for each of the nine judicial circuits in 1891.

Judges of the First Circuit

With five active judges (out of six that are authorized) and three senior judges (out of four that are authorized), the First Circuit is the smallest of the thirteen United States courts of appeals.

Despite its small size, the First Circuit has two alumni—David Souter and Stephen Breyer—who have sat on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Number of allowed judges

Year Number of judges
1891 2
1905 3
1978 4
1984 6

Judges

# Title Judge Duty station Born Term of service Appointed by
Active Chief Senior
25 Chief Judge Sandra Lea Lynch Boston, MA 1946 1995–present 2008–present — Clinton
21 Circuit Judge Juan R. Torruella San Juan, PR 1933 1984–present 1994–2001 — Reagan
27 Circuit Judge Michael Boudin Boston, MA 1939 1992–present 2001-2008 — G.H.W. Bush
28 Circuit Judge Kermit Victor Lipez Portland, ME 1941 1998–present — — Clinton
29 Circuit Judge Jeffrey R. Howard Concord, NH 1955 2002–present — — G.W. Bush
— Circuit Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson August 8, 1951 2010-present — — Barack Obama
18 Senior Circuit Judge Levin Hicks Campbell Boston, MA 1927 1972–1992 1983–1990 1992–present Nixon
18 Senior Circuit Judge Conrad Cyr -- 1931 1989–1997 -- 1997–present George H.W. Bush
22 Senior Circuit Judge Bruce Marshall Selya Providence, RI 1934 1986–2006 (none) 2006–present Reagan
26 Senior Circuit Judge Norman Stahl Boston, MA 1931 1992–2001 (none) 2001–present G.H.W. Bush

Chief judges

Chief Judges
Magruder 1948–1959
Woodbury 1959–1964
Aldrich 1965–1972
Coffin 1972–1983
Campbell 1983–1990
Breyer 1990–1994
Torruella 1994–2001
Boudin 2001–2008
Lynch 2008-

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.


Notable decisions

External links

Navigation

v • d • e
Federal judges who have served the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Active judges

Chief Judge: Lynch • Boudin • Howard • Lipez • Thompson • Torruella

Senior judges

Campbell • Cyr • Selya • Stahl

Former judges

Aldrich • Anderson • Bingham • Bownes • Breyer • Colt • Dodge • Hartigan • Johnson • Lowell • Magruder • Mahoney • McEntee • Morton • Putnam • Schofield • Souter • Wilson • Woodbury

Parts of this article have been adapted from this article on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright notice here.

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