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The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, M.D. Pa.) is a district level federal court with 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 United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(M.D. Pa.)
Location	Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse (Harrisburg) More locations William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse (Scranton) Williamsport Wilkes-Barre Lewisburg
Appeals to	Third Circuit
Established	March 2, 1901
Judges	6
Chief Judge	Matthew W. Brann
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Gerard Karam
U.S. Marshal	Martin John Pane
www.pamd.uscourts.gov

Because Harrisburg, the state capital, is located within the district's jurisdiction, 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 (INS) facility in the Northeast, the Middle District also adjudicated many immigration cases. The courts of appeal are now responsible for most judicial review of immigration decisions, bypassing the Middle District and other district courts.

Judge Matthew W. Brann is the Chief Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; Martin John Pane is the United States Marshal for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. As of June 21, 2022^[update], the U.S. Attorney is Gerard Karam.[1]

History

The United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 73, on September 24, 1789.[2][3] It was subdivided on April 20, 1818, by 3 Stat. 462,[2][3] into the Eastern and Western Districts to be headquartered in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, respectively.[2] Portions of these districts were subsequently subdivided into the Middle District on March 2, 1901, by 31 Stat. 880.[3]

Current judges

As of September 30, 2022^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
24	Chief Judge	Matthew W. Brann	Williamsport	1965	2012–present	2021–present	—	Obama
20	District Judge	Christopher C. Conner	Harrisburg	1957	2002–present	2013–2020	—	G.W. Bush
23	District Judge	Malachy E. Mannion	Scranton	1953	2012–present	—	—	Obama
25	District Judge	Jennifer P. Wilson	Harrisburg	1975	2019–present	—	—	Trump
26	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
27	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
12	Senior Judge	Sylvia H. Rambo	Harrisburg	1936	1979–2001	1992–1999	2001–present	Carter
18	Senior Judge	Yvette Kane	Harrisburg	1953	1998–2018	2006–2013	2018–present	Clinton
22	Senior Judge	Robert D. Mariani	Scranton	1950	2011–2022	—	2022–present	Obama

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
1	Harrisburg	John E. Jones III	Retirement	August 1, 2021	–	–
3	Scranton	Robert D. Mariani	Senior status	September 30, 2022	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Robert Wodrow Archbald	PA	1848–1926	1901–1911	—	—	McKinley	elevation to 3d Cir.
2	Charles B. Witmer	PA	1862–1925	1911–1925	—	—	Taft	death
3	Albert Williams Johnson	PA	1872–1957	1925–1945	—	—	Coolidge	resignation
4	Albert Leisenring Watson	PA	1876–1960	1929–1955	1948–1955	1955–1960	Hoover	death
5	John W. Murphy	PA	1902–1962	1946–1962	1955–1962	—	Truman	death
6	Frederick Voris Follmer	PA	1885–1971	1946–1967[Note 1]	1962	1967–1971	Truman	death
7	Michael Henry Sheridan	PA	1912–1976	1961–1976	1962–1976	—	Kennedy	death
8	William Joseph Nealon Jr.	PA	1923–2018	1962–1989[Note 2]	1976–1989	1989–2018	Kennedy	death
9	Robert Dixon Herman	PA	1911–1990	1969–1981	—	1981–1990	Nixon	death
10	Malcolm Muir	PA	1914–2011	1970–1984	—	1984–2011	Nixon	death
11	Richard Paul Conaboy	PA	1925–2018	1979–1992	1989–1992	1992–2018	Carter	death
13	William W. Caldwell	PA	1925–2019	1982–1994	—	1994–2019	Reagan	death
14	Edwin Michael Kosik	PA	1925–2019	1986–1996	—	1996–2019	Reagan	death
15	James Focht McClure Jr.	PA	1931–2010	1990–2001	—	2001–2010	G.H.W. Bush	death
16	Thomas I. Vanaskie	PA	1953–present	1994–2010	1999–2006	—	Clinton	elevation to 3d Cir.
17	A. Richard Caputo	PA	1938–2020	1997–2009	—	2009–2020	Clinton	death
19	James Martin Munley	PA	1936–2020	1998–2009	—	2009–2020	Clinton	death
21	John E. Jones III	PA	1955–present	2002–2021	2020–2021	—	G.W. Bush	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

Notable cases

• Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
• Whitewood v. Wolf This case struck down Pennsylvania's statutory ban on same-sex marriage on May 20, 2014. This was not appealed to the Third Circuit.
• Lozano et al. v. City of Hazleton, M.D. Pa. No. 3:06-cv-01586-JMM (2006) (affirmed in part by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 07-3531 (September 9, 2010)).

List of U.S. Attorneys

The people in the district are represented by the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

• Samuel McCarrell (1901–1908)
• Charles B. Witmer (1908–1911)
• Andrew B. Dunsmore (1911–1914)
• Rogers L. Burnett (1914–1921)
• Andrew B. Dunsmore (1921–1934)
• Frank J. McDonnell (1934–1935)
• Frederick V. Follmer (1935–1946)
• Arthur A. Maguire (1946–1953)
• Joseph C. Kreder (1953)
• Julius Levy (1953–1957)
• Robert J. Hourigan (1957–1958)
• Daniel Jenkins (1958–1961)
• Bernard J. Brown (1961–1969)
• John Cottone (1969–1979)
• Carlon M. O'Malley, Jr. (1979–1982)
• David Dart Queen (1982–1985)
• James J. West (1985–1993)
• Wayne P. Samuelson (1993)
• David Barasch (1993–2001)
• Martin Carlson (2001–2002)
• Tom Marino (2002–2007)
• Martin Carlson (2007–2009)
• Dennis Pfannenschmidt (2009–2010)
• Peter J. Smith (2010–2016)[4]
• Bruce D. Brandler (2016–2017)[4]
• David Freed (2017–2020)[4]
• Bruce D. Brandler (2021–2022)[4]
• Gerard Karam (2022–present)

Courthouses

Within the Middle District, federal courthouses are located in:

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

• 
  The Federal Courthouse in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, PA
• 
  The Federal Courthouse in Williamsport, Lycoming County, PA

Counties of jurisdiction

The Court's jurisdiction includes the following counties:

See also

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

References

External links

• Official website

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