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United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Safiel (talk | contribs) at 00:22, 29 January 2016 (Vacancies and pending nominations: Adding nominee). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
LocationThomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse St. Louis, Missouri
EstablishedDecember 10, 1869

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts:

The court is composed of eleven active judges and is based at the Thomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of thirteen United States courts of appeals. In 1929 Congress passed a statute dividing the Eighth Circuit that placed Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas in the Eighth Circuit and created a Tenth Circuit that included Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma.[1]

Composition

Republican Presidents have appointed a greater percentage of judges to the Eighth Circuit (eight of ten active judges, or 80%) than any other Court of Appeals in the United States.[citation needed]

Current composition of the court

# Title Judge Duty station Born Term of service Appointed by
Active Chief Senior
51 Chief Judge William J. Riley Omaha, NE 1947 2001–present 2010–present G. W. Bush
42 Circuit Judge Roger Leland Wollman Sioux Falls, SD 1934 1985–present 1999–2002 Reagan
45 Circuit Judge James B. Loken Minneapolis, MN 1940 1990–present 2003–2010 G. H. W. Bush
48 Circuit Judge Diana E. Murphy Minneapolis, MN 1934 1994–present Clinton
53 Circuit Judge Lavenski R. Smith Little Rock, AR 1958 2002–present G. W. Bush
54 Circuit Judge Steven M. Colloton Des Moines, IA 1963 2003–present G. W. Bush
55 Circuit Judge Raymond W. Gruender Saint Louis, MO 1963 2004–present G. W. Bush
56 Circuit Judge William Duane Benton Kansas City, MO 1950 2004–present G. W. Bush
57 Circuit Judge Bobby E. Shepherd El Dorado, AR 1951 2006–present G. W. Bush
58 Circuit Judge Jane Louise Kelly Cedar Rapids, IA 1964 2013–present Obama
59 Circuit Judge vacant
32 Senior Circuit Judge Myron H. Bright Fargo, ND 1919 1968–1985 1985–present L. Johnson
41 Senior Circuit Judge Pasco Bowman II Kansas City, MO 1933 1983–2003 1998–1999 2003–present Reagan
44 Senior Circuit Judge C. Arlen Beam Lincoln, NE 1930 1987–2001 2001–present Reagan
46 Senior Circuit Judge David R. Hansen inactive 1938 1991–2003 2002–2003 2003–present G. H. W. Bush
47 Senior Circuit Judge Morris Sheppard Arnold Little Rock, AR 1941 1992–2006 2006–present G. H. W. Bush
50 Senior Circuit Judge Kermit Edward Bye Fargo, ND 1937 2000–2015 2015–present Clinton
52 Senior Circuit Judge Michael Joseph Melloy Cedar Rapids, IA 1948 2002–2013 2013–present G. W. Bush

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat Seat last held by Vacancy reason Date of vacancy Nominee Date of nomination
9 Kermit Edward Bye Senior Status April 22, 2015 Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl January 28, 2016

List of former judges

# Judge State Born–died Active service Chief Judge Senior status Appointed by Reason for
termination
1 Henry Clay Caldwell AR 1832–1915 1891–1903 [2] retirement
2 Walter Henry Sanborn MN 1845–1928 1892–1928 B. Harrison death
3 Amos Madden Thayer MO 1841–1905 1894–1905 Cleveland death
4 Willis Van Devanter WY 1859–1941 1903–1910 T. Roosevelt elevation to Supreme Court
5 William Cather Hook KS 1857–1921 1903–1921 T. Roosevelt death
6 Elmer Bragg Adams MO 1842–1916 1905[3]–1916 T. Roosevelt death
John Emmett Carland SD 1853–1922 1911–1922 [4] death
7 Walter I. Smith IA 1862–1922 1911–1922 Taft death
8 Kimbrough Stone MO 1875–1958 1916–1947 1947–1958 Wilson death
9 Robert E. Lewis CO 1857–1941 1921–1929 Harding reassignment to 10th Circuit
10 William Squire Kenyon IA 1869–1933 1922–1933 Harding death
11 Wilbur Franklin Booth MN 1861–1944 1925–1932 1932–1944 Coolidge death
12 Arba Seymour Van Valkenburgh MO 1862–1944 1925–1933 1933–1944 Coolidge death
13 John Hazelton Cotteral OK 1864–1933 1928–1929 Coolidge reassignment to 10th Circuit
14 Archibald K. Gardner SD 1867–1962 1929–1960 1948–1959 1960–1962 Hoover death
15 John B. Sanborn, Jr. MN 1883–1964 1932–1958 1959–1964 Hoover death
16 Joseph William Woodrough NE 1873–1977 1933–1961 1961–1977 F. Roosevelt death
17 Charles Breckenridge Faris MO 1864–1938 1935–1935 1935–1938 F. Roosevelt death
18 Seth Thomas IA 1873–1962 1935(b)–1954 1954–1962 F. Roosevelt death
19 Harvey M. Johnsen NE 1895–1975 1940–1965 1959–1965 1965–1975 F. Roosevelt death
20 Walter Garrett Riddick AR 1883–1953 1941–1953 F. Roosevelt death
21 John Caskie Collet MO 1898–1955 1947–1955 Truman death
22 Charles Joseph Vogel ND 1898–1980 1954–1968 1965–1968 1968–1980 Eisenhower death
23 Martin Donald Van Oosterhout IA 1900–1979 1954–1971 1968–1970 1971–1979 Eisenhower death
24 Charles Evans Whittaker MO 1901–1973 1956–1957 Eisenhower elevation to Supreme Court
25 Marion Charles Matthes MO 1906–1980 1958–1973 1970–1973 1973–1980 Eisenhower death
26 Harry Blackmun MN 1908–1999 1959–1970 Eisenhower elevation to Supreme Court
27 Albert Alphonso Ridge MO 1898–1967 1961–1965 1965–1967 Kennedy death
28 Pat Mehaffy AR 1904–1981 1963–1974 1973–1974 1974–1981 Kennedy death
29 Floyd Robert Gibson MO 1910–2001 1965–1979 1974–1979 1979–2001 L. Johnson death
30 Donald P. Lay MN 1926–2007 1966–1992 1979–1992 1992–2007 L. Johnson death
31 Gerald William Heaney MN 1918–2010 1966–1988 1988–2006 L. Johnson retirement
33 Donald Roe Ross NE 1922–2013 1970–1987 1987–2013 Nixon death
34 Roy Laverne Stephenson IA 1917–1982 1971–1982 1982–1982 Nixon death
35 William Hedgcock Webster MO 1924–present 1973–1978 Nixon resignation to become FBI Director
36 Jesse Smith Henley AR 1917–1997 1975–1982 1982–1997 Ford death
37 Theodore McMillian MO 1919–2006 1978–2003 2003–2006 Carter death
38 Richard Sheppard Arnold AR 1936–2004 1980–2001 1992–1998 2001–2004 Carter death
39 John R. Gibson MO 1925–2014 1982–1994 1994–2014 Reagan death
40 George Gardner Fagg IA 1934–2015 1982–1999 1999–2006 Reagan retirement
43 Frank J. Magill ND 1927–2013 1986–1997 1997–2013 Reagan death
49 John David Kelly ND 1934–1998 1998–1998 Clinton death

Chief judges

Chief Judge
Gardner 1948–1959
Johnsen 1959–1965
Vogel 1965–1968
Van Oosterhout 1968–1970
Matthes 1970–1973
Mehaffy 1973–1974
Gibson 1974–1979
Lay 1979–1992
R. Arnold 1992–1998
Bowman 1998–1999
Wollman 1999–2002
Hansen 2002–2003
Loken 2003–2010
Riley 2010–present

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve, unless the circuit justice (the Supreme Court justice responsible for the circuit) is also on the panel. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the circuit 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, with seniority determined first by commission date, then by age. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. If no judge qualifies to be chief, the youngest judge over the age of 65 who has served on the court for at least one year shall act as chief until another judge qualifies. If no judge has served on the court for more than a year, the most senior judge shall act as chief. Judges can forfeit or resign their chief judgeship or acting chief judgeship while retaining their active status as a circuit judge.[5]

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.[6]


Succession of seats

The court has had thirteen seats for active judges. Two of these seats were reassigned to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, leaving a eleven-seat court. The seats are numbered in the order in which they were initially filled. Judges who assume senior status enter a kind of retirement in which they remain on the bench but vacate their seats, thus allowing the U.S. President to appoint new judges to fill their seats.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Tenth Circuit Act of 1929". Official website of the Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on 2006-09-26. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
  2. ^ Caldwell was appointed as a circuit judge for the Eighth Circuit in 1890 by Benjamin Harrison. The Judiciary Act of 1891 reassigned his seat to what is now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
  3. ^ Recess appointment, confirmed by the United States Senate at a later date.
  4. ^ Carland did not have a permanent seat on this court. Instead, he was appointed to the ill-fated United States Commerce Court in 1911 by William Howard Taft. Aside from their duties on the Commerce Court, the judges of the Commerce Court also acted as at-large appellate judges, able to be assigned by the Chief Justice of the United States to whichever circuit most needed help. Carland was assigned to the Eighth Circuit upon his commission.
  5. ^ 28 U.S.C. § 45
  6. ^ 62 Stat. 871, 72 Stat. 497, 96 Stat. 51

References

  • "Standard Search". Federal Law Clerk Information System. Retrieved June 10, 2005.
    • primary but incomplete source for the duty stations
  • "Instructions for Judicial Directory". Website of the University of Texas Law School. Archived from the original on November 11, 2005. Retrieved July 4, 2005.
    • secondary source for the duty stations
    • data is current to 2002
  • "U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit". Official website of the Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on May 2, 2005. Retrieved June 10, 2005.
    • source for the state, lifetime, term of active judgeship, term of chief judgeship, term of senior judgeship, appointer, termination reason, and seat information