From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit 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 a 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 which offers RSS features.

Contents 1 Current composition of the court 2 Pending nominations 3 List of former judges 4 Chief judges 5 Succession of seats 6 See also 7 References 8 External links 9 Navigation

As of December 2007, the judges on the court are:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
44	Chief Judge	Frank H. Easterbrook	Chicago, IL	1948	1985–present	2006-present	—	Reagan
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
45	Circuit Judge	Kenneth Francis Ripple	South Bend, IN	1943	1985–present	(none)	—	Reagan
47	Circuit Judge	Michael Stephen Kanne	Lafayette, IN	1938	1987–present	(none)	—	Reagan
48	Circuit Judge	Ilana Rovner	Chicago, IL	1938	1992–present	(none)	—	G.H.W. Bush
49	Circuit Judge	Diane Pamela Wood	Chicago, IL	1950	1995–present	(none)	—	Clinton
50	Circuit Judge	Terence T. Evans	Milwaukee, WI	1940	1995–present	(none)	—	Clinton
51	Circuit Judge	Ann Claire Williams	Chicago, IL	1949	1999–present	(none)	—	Clinton
52	Circuit Judge	Diane S. Sykes	Milwaukee, WI	1957	2004–present	(none)	—	G.W. Bush
53	Circuit Judge	John Daniel Tinder	South Bend, IN	1950	2007–present	(none)	—	G.W. Bush
37	Senior Circuit Judge	William Joseph Bauer	Chicago, IL	1926	1974–1994	1986–1993	1994–present	Nixon
38	Senior Circuit Judge	Harlington Wood, Jr.		1920	1976–1992	(none)	1992–present	Ford
39	Senior Circuit Judge	Richard Dickson Cudahy	Chicago, IL	1926	1979–1994	(none)	1994–present	Carter
42	Senior Circuit Judge	John Louis Coffey	Milwaukee, WI	1922	1982–2004	(none)	2004–present	Reagan
46	Senior Circuit Judge	Daniel Anthony Manion	South Bend, IN	1942	1986–2007	(none)	2007-present	Reagan

• As of Judge Tinder's appointment on Dec. 18, 2007 to Judge Manion's seat, there are no vacancies on the 7th Circuit.

#	Judge	State	Born/Died	Term of service			Appointed by	Reason for termination
				Active	Chief	Senior
1	Walter Q. Gresham	IN	1832–1895	1891–1893	(none)	(none)	[1]	resignation
2	William Allen Woods	IN	1837–1901	1892–1901	(none)	(none)	B. Harrison	death
3	James Graham Jenkins	WI	1834–1921	1893–1905	(none)	(none)	Cleveland	retirement
4	John William Showalter	IL	1844–1898	1895–1898	(none)	(none)	Cleveland	death
5	Peter Stenger Grosscup	IL	1852–1921	1899–1911	(none)	(none)	McKinley	resignation
6	Francis Elisha Baker	IN	1860–1924	1902–1924	(none)	(none)	T. Roosevelt	death
7	William Henry Seaman	WI	1842–1915	1905–1915	(none)	(none)	T. Roosevelt	death
8	Christian Cecil Kohlsaat	IL	1844–1918	1905–1918	(none)	(none)	T. Roosevelt	death
—	Julian William Mack	IL	1866–1943	1911–1929	(none)	(none)	[2]	reassignment to the 6th Circuit
9	Samuel Alschuler	IL	1859–1939	1915[3]–1936	(none)	1936–1939	Wilson	death
10	Evan Alfred Evans	WI	1876–1948	1916–1948	(none)	(none)	Wilson	death
11	George True Page	IL	1859–1941	1919–1930	(none)	1930–1941	Wilson	death
12	Albert Barnes Anderson	IN	1857–1938	1925–1929	(none)	1929–1938	Coolidge	death
13	William Morris Sparks	IN	1872–1950	1929–1948	1948–1948	1948–1950	Hoover	death
14	Louis FitzHenry	IL	1870–1935	1933–1935	(none)	(none)	F. Roosevelt	death
15	James Earl Major	IL	1887–1972	1937–1956	1948–1954	1956–1972	F. Roosevelt	death
16	Walter Emanuel Treanor	IN	1883–1941	1937–1941	(none)	(none)	F. Roosevelt	death
17	Otto Kerner, Sr.	IL	1884–1952	1938[3]–1952	(none)	(none)	F. Roosevelt	death
18	Sherman Minton	IN	1890–1965	1941–1949	(none)	(none)	F. Roosevelt	elevation to the Supreme Court
19	F. Ryan Duffy	WI	1888–1979	1949–1966	1954–1959	1966–1979	Truman	death
20	Philip J. Finnegan	IL	1886–1959	1949–1959	(none)	(none)	Truman	death
21	Walter C. Lindley	IL	1880–1958	1949–1958	(none)	(none)	Truman	death
22	Hardress Nathaniel Swaim	IN	1880–1957	1949[3]–1957	(none)	(none)	Truman	death
23	Elmer Jacob Schnackenberg	IL	1889–1968	1953[3]–1968	(none)	(none)	Eisenhower	death
24	John Simpson Hastings	IN	1898–1977	1957–1969	1959–1968	1969–1977	Eisenhower	death
25	William Lynn Parkinson	IN	1902–1959	1957–1959	(none)	(none)	Eisenhower	death
26	Winfred George Knoch	IL	1895–1983	1958–1967	(none)	1967–1938	Eisenhower	death
27	Latham Castle	IL	1900–1986	1959–1970	1968–1970	1970–1986	Eisenhower	death
28	Roger Joseph Kiley	IL	1900–1974	1961–1974	(none)	1974–1974	Kennedy	death
29	Luther Merritt Swygert	IN	1905–1988	1961–1981	1970–1975	1981–1988	Kennedy	death
30	Walter J. Cummings, Jr.	IL	1916–1999	1966–1999	1981–1986	(none)	L. Johnson	death
31	Thomas E. Fairchild	WI	1912-2007	1966–1981	1975–1981	1981–2007	L. Johnson	death
32	Otto Kerner, Jr.	IL	1908–1976	1968–1974	(none)	(none)	L. Johnson	resignation
33	Wilbur Frank Pell, Jr.	IN	1915–2000	1970–1984	(none)	1984–2000	Nixon	death
34	John Paul Stevens	IL	1920–present	1970–1975	(none)	(none)	Nixon	elevation to the Supreme Court
35	Robert Arthur Sprecher	IL	1917–1982	1971–1982	(none)	(none)	Nixon	death
36	Philip Willis Tone	IL	1923–2001	1974–1980	(none)	(none)	Nixon	resignation
40	Jesse E. Eschbach	IN	1920–2005	1981–1985	(none)	1985–2005	Reagan	death

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 – 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 Frank Easterbrook, who succeeded Judge Joel Flaum in November 2006.

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 DC 1979 – 1994 T. Evans WI 1995 – 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 DC 1985 – present

• Federal judicial appointment history#Seventh Circuit

• Standard Search. Federal Law Clerk Information System. Retrieved on July 2, 2005.
  • primary but incomplete source for the duty stations
• Instructions for Judicial Directory. Website of the University of Texas Law School. Retrieved on 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. Retrieved on 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

• 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

v • d • e United States courts of appeals
1st Circuit · 2nd Circuit · 3rd Circuit · 4th Circuit · 5th Circuit · 6th Circuit · 7th Circuit · 8th Circuit · 9th Circuit · 10th Circuit · 11th Circuit · DC Circuit · Federal Circuit · Armed Forces