United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

	Middle District of Pennsylvania
	Third Circuit
	;
	Active judges
	Brann • Conner • Jones • Malachy Mannion • Mariani
	Senior Judges
	Caldwell • Caputo • Conaboy • Kosik • Munley • Nealon • Rambo
	Magistrate Judges
Chief Magistrate:	Thomas Blewitt
	• Mannion • Smyser • Carlson • Arbuckle
	Former Judges

	Middle District of Pennsylvania
	Third Circuit
	;
	Active judges
	Brann • Conner • Jones • Malachy Mannion • Mariani
	Senior Judges
	Caldwell • Caputo • Conaboy • Kosik • Munley • Nealon • Rambo
	Magistrate Judges
Chief Magistrate:	Thomas Blewitt
	• Mannion • Smyser • Carlson • Arbuckle
	Former Judges

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Court
Judges

Share this Court:

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

Contents

1 Court
1.1 Vacancy warning level
1.2 Jurisdiction
1.2.1 Cases heard
1.2.2 Case load
1.3 Clerk's office
1.4 History
1.4.1 Court history
1.4.2 Judicial posts
1.4.3 Notable decisions
1.4.4 Federal courthouse
1.5 Major news
1.6 See also
1.7 External links
1.8 References
2 Judges

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is a United States district court.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown Philadelphia at the James Byrne Courthouse.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania's vacancy warning level is currently set at green. The court currently has no vacancies for its six posts. The most recent confirmation was on December 21, 2012. There are no pending appointments for the district.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Middle District of Pennsylvania (click for larger map)

The geographic jurisdiction of the Middle District of Pennsylvania consists of all the following counties in the middle part of the state of Pennsylvania.

The court has jurisdiction over approximately one half of Pennsylvania. The court was created in 1901 by subdividing the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The court is under the jurisdiction of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

Because Harrisburg, the state capital, is located within the district's jurisidiction, most suits against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are filed in the Middle District. Similarly, because York County Prison served as the largest Immigration and Naturalization Service facility in the Northeast, the Middle District also adjudicated a large number of immigration cases. The courts of appeal are now responsible for most judicial review of immigration decisions, bypassing the Middle District and other district courts.

Cases heard

The Western District of Pennsylvania 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	2711	3327	6038	3224	2814	11.5	5.5	104(4.6%)	29.3	30
2009	2666	3017	5683	2892	2791	13.4	6.9	81(3.7%)	14	35
2008	2587	3021	5608	2960	2648	10.6	7.6	144(6.8%)	0	29
2007	2557	2937	5494	2905	2589	11.9	7.6	131(6.4%)	0	35
2006	2538	3252	5790	3242	2548	9.2	5.9	113(5.6%)	0	26

^*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 Middle District of Pennsylvania has four separate divisions. The official clerk of court is Mary E. D'Andrea. Offices are open Monday - Friday excluding federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address^[1]	Phone number^[2]
Scranton Headquarters	William J. Nealon Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse 235 N. Washington Ave. P.O. Box 1148 Scranton, PA 18501	570-207-5600
Harrisburg Division	Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse 228 Walnut Street. P.O. Box 983 Harrisburg, PA 17108	717-221-3920
Williamsport Division	U.S. Courthouse & Federal Office Building 240 West Third Street, Suite 218 Williamsport, PA 17701	570-323-6380
Wilkes-Barre Office	Max Rosenn U.S. Courthouse 197 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701

History

Court history

The District of Pennsylvania was established by Congress on September 24, 1789 with one post to cover the entire state. On April 20, 1818 Congress divided the district into the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Western District of Pennsylvania with one post each. On March 2, 1901, Congress again redefined the boundaries of the district, transitioning a portion of both districts to the newly formed Middle District of Pennsylvania. Over time 5 additional judicial posts were added to the Middle District of Pennsylvania for a total of 6 current posts.^[3]

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Western District of Virginia:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
September 24, 1789	1 Stat. 73	1 (Whole state)
March 2, 1901	31 Stat. 880	1
February 28, 1929	45 Stat. 1344	2
July 24, 1946	60 Stat. 654	3(1 shared temporary)
February 10, 1954	68 Stat. 8	2
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	3
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	4(1 Temporary)
1976	Post Expired	3
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	5
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	6

^[3]

Notable cases

This page is missing notable case information.

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Opinions of the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Federal courthouse

There are three federal courthouses that serve the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Harrisburg -Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse.
Scranton - William J. Nealon Federal Building and Courthouse.
Williamsport - Herman T. Schneebeli Federal Building and Courthouse
Wilkes-Barre - Max Rosenn U.S. Courthouse

Major news

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

External links

References

Share this Court:

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

Contents

1 Court
2 Judges
2.1 Active Judges
2.1.1 Article III judges
2.1.2 Pending appointments
2.1.3 Senior judges
2.2 Past judges
2.2.1 Former Chief judges
2.2.2 Former judges

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has 6 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is Yvette Kane. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Chief Judge Yvette Kane	1953	Donaldsonville, LA	Clinton	10/22/1998 - Present	2006 - Present	Edwin Kosik	Nicholls State U., B.A., 1973	Tulane Law, J.D., 1976
Judge Christopher Conner	1957	Harrisburg, PA	W. Bush	07/29/2002 - Present		Sylvia Rambo	Cornell, B.A., 1979	Dickinson Law, J.D., 1982
Judge John E. Jones	1955	Pottsville, PA	W. Bush	07/31/2002 - Present		James McClure	Dickinson College, B.A., 1977	Dickinson Law, J.D., 1980
Judge Malachy Mannion	1953	Montreal, Canada	Obama	12/21/2012 - Present		A. Richard Caputo	U. of Scranton, B.S., 1976	Pace U. Law, J.D., 1979
Judge Robert David Mariani	1950	Scranton, PA	Obama	10/19/2011 - Present		James M. Munley	Villanova U., A.B., 1972	Syracuse U. Law, J.D., 1976
Judge Matthew Brann	1965	Elmira, NY	Obama	12/21/2012 - Present		Thomas Vanaskie	Notre Dame, B.A., 1987	Pennsylvania State U. Law, J.D., 1990

According to local newscaster WFMZ, from June 1, 2011 to July 15, 2011 US Senators Bob Casey (D) and Pat Toomey (R) are accepting applications for the vacancies on the Middle District Court. Interested parties can submit an application Senator Casey's website or Senator Toomey's website.

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has 9 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 Richard Caputo	Clinton	11/12/1997 - 03/30/2009		03/31/2009 - Present	Brown, A.B., 1960	U. of Pennsylvania Law School, LL.B., 1963
Senior Judge James Munley	Clinton	10/22/1998 - 01/29/2009		01/30/2009 - Present	U. of Scranton, B.S., 1958	Temple U. Law, LL.B., 1963
Senior Judge William Nealon	Kennedy	12/13/1962 - 01/01/1989	1976 - 1989	12/31/1988 - Present	Villanova U., B.S., 1947	Catholic U. of America Law, LL.B., 1950
Senior Judge Richard Conaboy	Carter	07/24/1979 - 08/31/1992	1989 - 1992	09/01/1992 - Present	U. of Scranton, B.A., 1945	Catholic U. of America Law, LL.B., 1950
Senior Judge Sylvia Rambo	Carter	07/24/1979 - 04/17/2001	1992 - 1999	04/18/2001 - Present	Dickinson College, B.A., 1958	Dickinson Law, J.D., 1962
Senior Judge William Caldwell	Reagan	03/19/1982 - 05/30/1994		05/31/1994 - Present	Dickinson College, A.B., 1948	Dickinson Law, LL.B., 1951
Senior Judge Edwin Kosik	Reagan	06/16/1986 - 07/14/1996		07/15/1996 - Present	Wilkes College, B.A., 1949	Dickinson Law, LL.B., 1951

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Thomas Blewitt	02/21/1992 - Present	U. of Scranton, B.A., 1972	Temple U. Law, J.D., 1983
Magistrate Judge Andrew Smyser	06/16/1982 - Present	Lehigh U., B.A., 1969	Georgetown U. Law, J.D., 1972
Magistrate Judge William Arbuckle	07/29/2008 - Present	Grove City College, B.A., 1971	Akron U. Law, J.D., 1974
Magistrate Judge (Recalled) Mildred Methvin
Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson	08/15/2009 - Present	Pennsylvania State U., B.A., 1977	U. of Pennsylvania Law, J.D., 1980
Judge Susan E. Schwab	2012-Present	Wilkes University	Widener University School of Law, 1992

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Michael Sheridan	1962 - 1976
John William Murphy	1955 - 1962
Frederick Follmer	1962
Albert Leisenring Watson	1948 - 1955
Sylvia Rambo	1992 - 1999
Richard Conaboy	1989 - 1992
William Nealon	1976 - 1989
Thomas Vanaskie	1999 - 2006

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

Seat 1

Seat 2

Seat 3

Judge	Term
Murphy	5/27/1946 - 3/28/1962
Johnson	12/17/1925 - 6/28/1945
Witmer	3/2/1911 - 4/7/1925
Wodrow Archbald	1/31/1911 - 1/13/1913
McClure	4/30/1990 - 4/7/2001
Nealon	12/13/1962 - 01/01/1989
Jones	07/31/2002 - Present

There are no current judges in this category.

Seat 3T

Seat 4

Seat 5

Judge	Term
Mariani	10/19/2011 - Present
Herman	12/11/1969 - 9/24/1981
Follmer	8/7/1946 - 12/30/1967
Caldwell	03/19/1982 - 05/30/1994
Munley	10/22/1998 - 01/29/2009