United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

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, , on September 24, 1789. It was subdivided on April 20, 1818, by , Portions of these districts were subsequently subdivided into the Middle District on March 2, 1901, by 31 Stat. 880. At the time of its initial subdivision, presiding judge Richard Peters Jr. was reassigned to only the Eastern District. This made it possible for President James Monroe to appoint Jonathan Hoge Walker as the first judge of the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The Erie courthouse and division was split from Pittsburgh for initial actions in January 1867, with the Johnstown courthouse and division being split from Pittsburgh for initial actions in 1989.

Current judges

: Erie

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

United States attorneys

United States attorneys for the district have included:

• James Hamilton March 11, 1801
• Andrew Stewart April 20, 1818
• Alexander Brackenridge March 3, 1821
• George W. Buchanan October 22, 1830
• Benjamin Patton Jr. October 22, 1832
• John P. Anderson June 12, 1839
• Cornelius Darragh March 25, 1841
• William O'Hara Robinson March 29, 1844
• John L. Dawson July 22, 1845
• J. Bowman Sweitzer August 27, 1850
• Charles Shaler April 19, 1853
• Richard Biddle Roberts April 21, 1857
• Robert B. Carnahan April 12, 1861
• Henry B. Swope January 24, 1870
• David Reed March 24, 1874
• Henry H. McCormick June 29, 1876
• William A. Stone July 6, 1880
• George A. Allen December 4, 1886
• Walter Lyon June 21, 1889
• Stephen C. McCandless April 26, 1893
• Harry Alvan Hall June 8, 1893
• Daniel B. Heiner September 14, 1897
• James S. Young February 10, 1902
• John W. Dunkle March 17, 1905
• John H. Jordan April 15, 1909
• Edwin Lowry Humes September 10, 1913
• R. Lindsay Crawford September 2, 1918
• Edwin Lowry Humes August 20, 1919
• Robert J. Dodds June 1, 1920
• D. J. Driscoll August 19, 1920
• Walter Lyon March 11, 1921
• John D. Meyer July 18, 1925
• Louis Edward Graham October 31, 1929
• Horatio S. Dumbauld August 17, 1933
• Charles F. Uhl May 12, 1941
• Owen McIntosh Burns May 16, 1947
• Edward C. Boyle November 3, 1949
• John W. McIlvaine July 16, 1953
• D. Malcolm Anderson Jr. August 19, 1955
• Hubert I. Teitelbaum March 17, 1958
• Joseph S. Ammerman June 5, 1961
• Gustave Diamond February 2, 1963
• Richard L. Thornburgh June 4, 1969
• Blair A. Griffith July 7, 1975
• Robert J. Cindrich September 29, 1978
• J. Alan Johnson July 31, 1981
• Charles D. Sheehy January 15, 1989
• Thomas W. Corbett November 30, 1989
• Frederick W. Thieman August 16, 1993
• Linda L. Kelly August 1, 1997
• Harry Litman October 22, 1998
• Linda L. Kelly April 28, 2001
• Mary Beth Buchanan – September 18, 2001
• Robert S. Cessar – November 17, 2009
• David J. Hickton – August 12, 2010
• Soo C. Song (acting) – November 29, 2016
• Scott Brady – December 22, 2017
• Cindy Chung – November 2021
• Troy Rivetti (acting) – February 17, 2023
• Eric G. Olshan – June 12, 2023

References

References

1. Asbury Dickens, ''A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America'' (1852), p. 388.
2. [http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/courts_district_pa.html U.S. District Courts of Pennsylvania, Legislative history], ''[[Federal Judicial Center]]''.
3. "Untitled Document".
4. (14 July 2015). "About The Office – USAO-WDPA – Department of Justice".
5. "Beaver County Times – Google News Archive Search".
6. (2021-11-19). "PN1299 – Nomination of Cindy K. Chung for Department of Justice, 117th Congress (2021–2022)".
7. (February 17, 2023). "Troy Rivetti to Serve as Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania". U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.