U.S. District Courts for the Districts of California: Succession Charts

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
September 28, 1850 9 Stat. 521	August 5, 1886 24 Stat. 308²	March 2, 1907 34 Stat. 1253	September 14, 1922 42 Stat. 837	May 31, 1938 52 Stat. 584	June 15, 1946 60 Stat. 260	August 3, 1949 63 Stat. 493	August 3, 1949 63 Stat. 493
Hoffman, Ogden, Jr.¹ 1851-1866	Hoffman, Ogden, Jr. 1886-1891	Van Fleet, William C. 1907-1923	Partridge, John S. 1923-1926	Welsh, Martin I. 1939-1947	Harris, George B. 1946-1970	Carter, Oliver J. 1950-1976	Murphy, Edward P. 1950-1958
	Morrow, William W. 1891-1897	Kerrigan, Frank H. 1924-1935	Louderback, Harold 1928-1941	Lemmon, Dal M. 1947-1954	Schnacke, Robert H. 1970-1983	Poole, Cecil F. 1976-1980	Sweigert, William T. 1959-1973
	DeHaven, John J. 1897-1913	Roche, Michael J. 1935-1958	Goodman, Louis E. 1942-1961	Halbert, Sherrill ⁴ 1954-1966	Legge, Charles A. 1984-2001	Henderson, Thelton E. 1980-1998	Orrick, William H., Jr. 1974-1985
	Dooling, Maurice T. 1913-1924	Wollenberg, Albert C. 1958-1975	Weigel, Stanley A. 1962-1982		White, Jeffrey S. 2002-2021	Alsup, William H. 1999-2021	Jensen, D. Lowell 1986-1997
	St. Sure, Adolphus F. 1925-1947	Schwarzer, William W 1976-1991	Vukasin, John P., Jr. 1983-1993		Martinez-Olguin, Araceli 2023-	Corley, Jacqueline S. 2022-	Breyer, Charles R. 1997-2011
	Erskine, Herbert W. 1949-1951	Caulfield, Barbara A. 1991-1994	Chesney, Maxine M. 1995-2009				Orrick, William H., III 2013-2023
	Friedman, Monroe M. 1952-1953	Illston, Susan Y. 1995-2013	Seeborg, Richard G. 2010-
	Hamlin, Oliver D., Jr. 1953-1958	Chhabria, Vince G. 2014-
	Burke, Lloyd H.³ 1958-1988

May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80	May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75	June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294	June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294	October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629	September 2, 1957 (effective September 18, 1979) 71 Stat. 586⁷
MacBride, Thomas J.⁴ 1961-1966	Zirpoli, Alfonso J. 1961-1975	Peckham, Robert F. 1966-1988	Levin, Gerald S. 1969-1971	Conti, Samuel 1970-1987	Williams, Spencer M. 1971-1987	Aguilar, Robert P. 1980-1996	Patel, Marilyn H. 1980-2009
	Ingram, William A. 1976-1990	Ware, James 1990-2012	Renfrew, Charles B. 1971-1980	Smith, Fern M.⁵ 1988-2003	Walker, Vaughn R. 1989-2011	Fogel, Jeremy D.⁶ 1998-2014	Davila, Edward J. 2011-
	Armstrong, Saundra B. 1991-2012	Donato, James 2014-	Lynch, Eugene F. 1982-1997		Rogers, Yvonne G. 2011-
	Tigar, Jon S. 2013-		Jenkins, Martin J. 1997-2008
			Chen, Edward M. 2011-2022
			Lin, Rita F. 2023-

December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089	December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089	December 1, 1990 (effective July 1999) 104 Stat. 5089⁸	December 1, 1990 (effective October 2011) 104 Stat. 5089⁹
Whyte, Ronald M. 1992-2009	Wilken, Claudia A. 1993-2014	Hamilton, Phyllis J. 2000-2021	Freeman, Beth Labson 2014-
Koh, Lucy H. 2010-2021	Gilliam, Haywood S., Jr. 2014-	Thompson, Trina L. 2022-
Pitts, P. Casey 2023-
1. The act of July 23, 1866, 14 Stat. 209, transferred this judgeship to the District of California. 2. The act of August 5, 1886, 24 Stat. 308, transferred this judgeship from the District of California. 3. On September 18, 1979, the president certified Lloyd Burke involuntarily as disabled pursuant to the act of September 2, 1957, 71 Stat. 586, which authorized the president to appoint an additional judge for the court and provided that no successor to the judge certified as disabled be appointed. 4. The act of March 18, 1966, 80 Stat. 75, transferred these judgeships to the Eastern District of California. 5. Pursuant to the act of December 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5089, no successor to Fern Smith was appointed because hers was the first seat to become vacant following her return to the court in 2003 from her appointment as director of the Federal Judicial Center. 6. Pursuant to the act of December 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5089, no successor to Jeremy Fogel was appointed because his seat became vacant during his service as director of the Federal Judicial Center. 7. The act of September 2, 1957, 71 Stat. 586, was made applicable to the Northern District of California on September 18, 1979, when the president certified Judge Burke as disabled. Marilyn Patel was appointed to the additional judgeship authorized by the statute. 8. The act of December 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5089, provided for the appointment of an additional judge for the court if an active judge assumed "the duties of a full-time office of Federal judicial administration." Fern Smith became director of the Federal Judicial Center in July 1999, and Phyllis Hamilton was appointed to the additional judgeship authorized by the statute. 9. The act of December 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5089, provided for the appointment of an additional judge for the court if an active judge assumed "the duties of a full-time office of Federal judicial administration." Jeremy Fogel became director of the Federal Judicial Center in October 2011, and Beth Freeman was appointed to the additional judgeship authorized by the statute.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
September 28, 1850 9 Stat. 521	August 31, 1852 10 Stat. 76	January 18, 1854 10 Stat. 265	August 5, 1886 24 Stat. 308	July 30, 1914 38 Stat. 580	September 14, 1922 42 Stat. 837	July 27, 1930 46 Stat. 819	August 2, 1935 49 Stat. 508
Jones, James M.¹ 1850-1851	Hoffman, Ogden, Jr.² 1852-1854	Ogier, Isaac S. K. 1854-1861	Ross, Erskine M. 1887-1895	Bledsoe, Benjamin F. 1914-1925	James, William P. 1923-1940	Hollzer, Harry A. 1931-1946	Stephens, Albert L, Sr. 1935-1937
		Haight, Fletcher M.³ 1861-1866	Wellborn, Olin 1895-1915	Henning, Edward J. 1925-1929	O'Connor, James F. T. 1940-1949	Weinberger, Jacob 1946-1958	Jenney, Ralph E. 1937-1945
			Trippet, Oscar A. 1915-1923	Cosgrave, George 1930-1940	Byrne, William M., Sr. 1950-1966	Kunzel, Fred 1959-1969	Mathes, William C. 1945-1965
			McCormick, Paul J. 1924-1951	Hall, Peirson M.⁴ 1942-1966	Hauk, A. Andrew⁴ 1966	Turrentine, Howard B. 1970-1984	Hill, Irving⁴ 1965-1966
			Tolin, Ernest A. 1951-1961			Brewster, Rudi M. 1984-1998
			Crary, E. Avery⁴ 1962-1966			Lorenz, M. James 1999-2009
						Battaglia, Anthony J. 2011-2021
						Simmons, James E., Jr. 2023-

August 2, 1935 49 Stat. 508	May 31, 1938 52 Stat. 584	May 24, 1940 54 Stat. 219	August 3, 1949 63 Stat. 493	August 3, 1949 63 Stat. 493	February 10, 1954 68 Stat. 8	May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80	May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80
Yankwich, Leon R. 1935-1964	Beaumont, Campbell E. 1939-1954	Harrison, Benjamin 1940-1960	Carter, James M. 1949-1967	Westover, Harry C. 1949-1965	Clarke, Thurmond⁴ 1955-1966	Carr, Charles H.⁴ 1962-1966	Curtis, Jesse W., Jr.⁴ 1962-1966
Whelan, Francis C.⁴ 1964-1966	Jertberg, Gilbert H. 1955-1958	Stephens, Albert L, Jr.⁴ 1961-1966	Schwartz, Edward J. 1968-1982	Gray, William P.⁴ 1966
	Crocker, Myron D.⁵ 1959-1966		Irving, J. Lawrence 1982-1990
			Gonzalez, Irma E. 1992-2013
			Bashant, Cynthia A. 2014-

June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294	June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294	June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294	October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629	October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629	December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089	November 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1758	November 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1758
Thompson, Gordon, Jr. 1970-1994	Wallace, J. Clifford 1970-1972	Nielsen, Leland C. 1971-1985	Keep, Judith N. 1980-2004	Gilliam, Earl B. 1980-1993	Moskowitz, Barry T. 1995-2019	Burns, Larry A. 2003-2021	Sabraw, Dana M. 2003-
Miller, Jeffrey T. 1997-2010	Enright, William B. 1972-1990	Rhoades, John S., Sr. 1985-1995	Sammartino, Janis L. 2007-	Jones, Napoleon A., Jr. 1994-2007	Ohta, Jinsook 2021-	Schopler, Andrew G. 2023-
Bencivengo, Cathy A. 2012-	Huff, Marilyn L. 1991-2016	Whelan, Thomas J. 1998-2010		Anello, Michael M. 2008-2018
	Robinson, Todd W. 2020-	Curiel, Gonzalo P. 2012-2023		Huie, Robert S. 2022-

November 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1758	November 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1758	November 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1758
Hayes, William Q. 2003-2021	Houston, John A. 2003-2018	Benitez, Roger T. 2004-2017
	Montenegro, Ruth B. 2022-	Lopez, Linda 2021-
1. Following the death of James Jones, Congress passed the act of August 31, 1852, 10 Stat. 76, authorizing the judge of the Northern District of California to hold court in the Southern District of California. 2. The act of January 18, 1854, 10 Stat. 265, assigned this judgeship exclusively to the Northern District of California. 3. The act of July 27, 1866, 14 Stat. 300, abolished the Southern District of California and reorganized the state as a single judicial district with one judgeship. 4. The act of March 18, 1966, 80 Stat. 75, transferred these judgeships to the Central District of California. 5. The act of March 18, 1966, 80 Stat. 75, transferred this judgeship to the Eastern District of California.

U.S. District Court for the District of California

July 27, 1866
14 Stat. 300¹

Hoffman, Ogden, Jr.²
1866-1886

1. The act of July 27, 1866, 14 Stat. 300, transferred this judgeship from the Northern District of California.
2. The act of August 5, 1886, 24 Stat. 308, transferred this judgeship to the Northern District of California.

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹
Hall, Peirson M. 1966-1968	Clarke, Thurmond 1966-1970	Stephens, Albert L., Jr. 1966-1979	Carr, Charles H. 1966-1973	Curtis, Jesse W., Jr. 1966-1975	Crary, E. Avery 1966-1975	Whelan, Francis C. 1966-1978	Hill, Irving 1966-1980
Williams, David W. 1969-1981	Lydick, Lawrence T. 1971-1984	Kenyon, David V. 1980-1995	Firth, Robert 1974-1979	Waters, Laughlin E., Sr. 1976-1986	Takasugi, Robert M. 1976-1996	Pfaelzer, Mariana R. 1978-1997	Gadbois, Richard A., Jr. 1982-1996
Rafeedie, Edward 1982-1996	Ideman, James M. 1984-1998	Wardlaw, Kim M. 1995-1998	Marshall, Consuelo B. 1980-2005	Lew, Ronald S. W. 1987-2006	Moreno, Carlos R. 1998-2001	Manella, Nora M. 1998-2006	Morrow, Margaret M. 1998-2015
Snyder, Christina A. 1997-2016	Feess, Gary A. 1999-2014	Anderson, Percy 2002-	Fairbank, Valerie B. 2007-2012	Wu, George H. 2007-2023	Carney, Cormac J. 2003-	Nguyen, Jacqueline H. 2009-2012	Vera, Hernán D. 2023-
Frimpong, Maame E. 2022-	Birotte, Andre, Jr. 2014-		O'Connell, Beverly R. 2013-2017			Olguin, Fernando M. 2013-
			Kato, Kenly K. 2023-

March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75	June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294	June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294	June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294
Hauk, A. Andrew 1966-1982	Gray, William P. 1966-1982	Ferguson, Warren J. 1966-1979	Real, Manuel L. 1966-2018	Pregerson, Harry 1967-1979	Kelleher, Robert J. 1970-1983	Byrne, William M., Jr. 1971-1998	Lucas, Malcolm M. 1971-1984
Hupp, Harry L. 1984-1997	Rymer, Pamela A. 1983-1989	Tashima, A. Wallace 1980-1996	Garnett, Sherilyn P. 2022-	Hall, Cynthia H. 1981-1984	Stotler, Alicemarie H. 1984-2009	Phillips, Virginia A. 1999-2022	Rea, William J. 1984-1998
Matz, A. Howard 1998-2011	Bonner, Robert C. 1989-1990	Pregerson, Dean D. 1996-2016		Davies, John G. 1986-1998	Staton, Josephine L. 2010-	Hsu, Wesley L. 2023-	Carter, David O. 1998-
Fitzgerald, Michael W. 2012-	Collins, Audrey B. 1994-2014	Holcomb, John W. 2020-		Walter, John F. 2002-
	Blumenfeld, Stanley, Jr. 2020-

October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629	July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333	July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333	July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333	July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333	July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333	December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089	December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089
Hatter, Terry J., Jr. 1979-2005	Keller, William D. 1984-1999	Fernandez, Ferdinand F. 1985-1989	Wilson, Stephen V. 1985-	Letts, J. Spencer 1985-2000	Tevrizian, Dickran M., Jr. 1985-2005	Baird, Lourdes G. 1992-2004	McLaughlin, Linda H. 1992-1999
Gutierrez, Philip S. 2007-	Klausner, R. Gary 2002-	Taylor, Gary L. 1990-2004		Selna, James V. 2003-2020	Guilford, Andrew J. 2006-2019	Schiavelli, George P. 2004-2008	Cooper, Florence-Marie 1999-2010
		Wright, Otis D., II 2007-		Sykes, Sunshine S. 2022-	Slaughter, Fred W. 2022-	Gee, Dolly M. 2010-	Kronstadt, John A. 2011-2022
							Almadani, Monica R. 2024-

December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089	December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089	December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089	November 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1758²
Paez, Richard A. 1994-2000	Timlin, Robert J. 1994-2005	King, George H. 1995-2017	Fischer, Dale S. 2003-2024
Otero, S. James 2003-2018	Larson, Stephen G. 2006-2009	Scarsi, Mark C. 2020-
Aenlle-Rocha, Fernando L. 2020-	Bernal, Jesus G. 2012-
1. The act of March 18, 1966, 80 Stat. 75, transferred these judgeships from the Southern District of California. 2. The act of November 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1758, authorized a temporary judgeship for the court, extended most recently by the act of March 23, 2024, Pub. L. 118-47, which provided that the first vacancy in the district after April 27, 2025, not be filled.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75¹	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75²	March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75²	October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629	October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629	October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629	December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089
Crocker, Myron D. 1966-1981	Halbert, Sherrill 1966-1969	MacBride, Thomas J. 1966-1979	Schwartz, Milton L. 1979-1990	Price, Edward D. 1979-1989	Ramirez, Raul A. 1980-1989	Burrell, Garland E., Jr. 1992-2012
Coyle, Robert E. 1982-1996	Wilkins, Philip C. 1969-1983	Karlton, Lawrence K. 1979-2000	Wanger, Oliver W. 1991-2006	Levi, David F. 1990-2007	Shubb, William B.³ 1990-2004	Nunley, Troy L. 2013-
Ishii, Anthony W. 1997-2012	Garcia, Edward J. 1984-1996	England, Morrison C., Jr. 2002-2019	O'Neill, Lawrence J. 2007-2020	Mendez, John A. 2008-2022
Drozd, Dale A. 2015-	Damrell, Frank C., Jr. 1997-2008	de Alba, Ana I. 2022-2023	Thurston, Jennifer L. 2021-	Calabretta, Daniel J. P. 2023-
	Mueller, Kimberly J. 2010-	Sherriff, Kirk E. 2024-
1. The act of March 18, 1966, 80 Stat. 75, transferred this judgeship from the Southern District of California. 2. The act of March 18, 1966, 80 Stat. 75, transferred these judgeships from the Northern District of California. 3. The act of December 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5089, as amended by the act of October 6, 1997, 111 Stat. 1173, authorized a temporary judgeship for the court and provided that the first vacancy in the district occurring ten years or more after the confirmation date of the judge appointed to fill the temporary judgeship not be filled. In accordance with the statute, no successor to William Shubb was appointed.

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