United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Appeals toSeventh CircuitEstablishedJune 30, 1870Judges5Chief JudgePamela PepperOfficers of the courtU.S. AttorneyGregory HaanstadU.S. MarshalAnna M. Ruzinskiwww.wied.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (in case citations, E.D. Wis.) is a federal trial court of limited jurisdiction. The court is under the auspices of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, although patent claims and claims against the federal government under the Tucker Act are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Eastern District was established on June 30, 1870.^[1]

The district's headquarters, central courthouse, and the majority of its offices are located in Milwaukee, but the northern counties of the district are serviced by a courthouse in Green Bay. Currently, Pamela Pepper is the district's chief judge. As of September 20, 2022^[update], the United States attorney for the district is Gregory Haanstad.^[2]

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin is one of two federal judicial districts in Wisconsin.^[3] Court for the Eastern District is held at Green Bay and Milwaukee.

Green Bay Division comprises the following counties: Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Forest, Kewaunee, Langlade, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara, and Winnebago.

Milwaukee Division comprises the following counties: Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Kenosha, Marquette, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha.

Current judges

As of September 10, 2020^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
21	Chief Judge	Pamela Pepper	Milwaukee	1964	2014–present	2019–present	—	Obama
16	District Judge	Joseph Peter Stadtmueller	Milwaukee	1942	1987–present	1995–2002	—	Reagan
19	District Judge	Lynn Adelman	Milwaukee	1939	1997–present	—	—	Clinton
22	District Judge	Brett H. Ludwig	Milwaukee	1969	2020–present	—	—	Trump
23	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Senior Judge	William C. Griesbach	Green Bay	1954	2002–2019	2012–2019	2019–present	G.W. Bush

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
5	Green Bay	William C. Griesbach	Senior status	December 31, 2019	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Andrew G. Miller	WI	1801–1874	1870–1873[Note 1]	—	—	Polk/Operation of law	retirement
2	James Henry Howe	WI	1827–1893	1873–1875	—	—	Grant	resignation
3	Charles E. Dyer	WI	1834–1905	1875–1888	—	—	Grant	resignation
4	James Graham Jenkins	WI	1834–1921	1888–1893	—	—	Cleveland	elevation to 7th Cir.
5	William Henry Seaman	WI	1842–1915	1893–1905	—	—	Cleveland	elevation to 7th Cir.
6	Joseph V. Quarles	WI	1843–1911	1905–1911	—	—	T. Roosevelt	death
7	Ferdinand August Geiger	WI	1867–1939	1912–1939	—	—	Taft	retirement
8	F. Ryan Duffy	WI	1888–1979	1939–1949	—	—	F. Roosevelt	elevation to 7th Cir.
9	Robert Emmet Tehan	WI	1905–1975	1949–1971	1954–1971	1971–1975	Truman	death
10	Kenneth Philip Grubb	WI	1895–1976	1955–1965	—	—	Eisenhower	retirement
11	John W. Reynolds Jr.	WI	1921–2002	1965–1986	1971–1986	1986–2002	L. Johnson	death
12	Myron L. Gordon	WI	1918–2009	1967–1983	—	1983–2009	L. Johnson	death
13	Robert W. Warren	WI	1925–1998	1974–1991	1986–1991	1991–1998	Ford[Note 2]	death
14	Terence T. Evans	WI	1940–2011	1979–1995	1991–1995	—	Carter	elevation to 7th Cir.
15	Thomas John Curran	WI	1924–2012	1983–1997	—	1997–2012	Reagan	death
17	Rudolph T. Randa	WI	1940–2016	1992–2016	2002–2009	2016	G.H.W. Bush	death
18	Charles N. Clevert Jr.	WI	1947–present	1996–2012	2009–2012	2012–2017	Clinton	retirement

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, 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 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.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was 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. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

See also

• Courts of Wisconsin
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in Wisconsin

References

External links

• United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin

43°02′17.7″N 87°54′16.5″W / 43.038250°N 87.904583°W / 43.038250; -87.904583