Benchlight The federal appellate judiciary

Active judges

JudgeStatusAppointed bySenate voteCommissioned
Jeffrey S. Sutton Chief Judge George W. Bush Republican 52/41 May 5, 2003
Karen Nelson Moore Active William J. Clinton Democratic March 24, 1995
Eric L. Clay Active William J. Clinton Democratic Aug. 1, 1997
Richard Allen Griffin Active George W. Bush Republican 95/0 June 10, 2005
Raymond M. Kethledge Active George W. Bush Republican July 7, 2008
Amul Roger Thapar Active Donald J. Trump Republican 52/44 May 25, 2017
John Kenneth Bush Active Donald J. Trump Republican 51/47 July 21, 2017
Joan Louise Larsen Active Donald J. Trump Republican 60/38 Nov. 2, 2017
John Baylor Nalbandian Active Donald J. Trump Republican 53/45 May 17, 2018
Chad Andrew Readler Active Donald J. Trump Republican 52/47 March 7, 2019
Eric Earl Murphy Active Donald J. Trump Republican 52/46 March 11, 2019
Stephanie Dawkins Davis Active Joseph R. Biden Democratic 49/43 June 14, 2022
Andre Bernard Mathis Active Joseph R. Biden Democratic 48/47 Sept. 27, 2022
Rachel Sarah Bloomekatz Active Joseph R. Biden Democratic 50/48 July 20, 2023
Kevin Gafford Ritz Active Joseph R. Biden Democratic 48/46 Sept. 19, 2024
Whitney Downs Hermandorfer Active Donald J. Trump Republican 46/42 July 17, 2025
Benjamin Michael Flowers Active Donald J. Trump Republican 49/46

Senior judges

Judges who have taken senior status and continue to hear cases.

JudgeStatusAppointed bySenate voteSenior status
James Leo Ryan Senior Ronald Reagan Republican Jan. 1, 2000
Danny Julian Boggs Senior Ronald Reagan Republican Feb. 28, 2017
Alan Eugene Norris Senior Ronald Reagan Republican July 1, 2001
Richard Fred Suhrheinrich Senior George H.W. Bush Republican Aug. 15, 2001
Eugene Edward Siler Jr. Senior George H.W. Bush Republican Dec. 31, 2001
Alice Moore Batchelder Senior George H.W. Bush Republican March 7, 2019
Martha Craig Daughtrey Senior William J. Clinton Democratic Jan. 1, 2009
Ransey Guy Cole Jr. Senior William J. Clinton Democratic Jan. 9, 2023
Ronald Lee Gilman Senior William J. Clinton Democratic 98/1 Nov. 21, 2010
Julia Smith Gibbons Senior George W. Bush Republican 95/0 Sept. 17, 2024
John M. Rogers Senior George W. Bush Republican May 15, 2018
Deborah L. Cook Senior George W. Bush Republican 66/25 March 6, 2019
David William McKeague Senior George W. Bush Republican 96/0 Nov. 1, 2017
Helene N. White Senior George W. Bush Republican 63/32 June 13, 2022
Jane Branstetter Stranch Senior Barack Obama Democratic 71/21 July 14, 2025

Appointment history

Sitting judges grouped by the party of the president who appointed them. This records who nominated each judge; Benchlight does not assign judges a political affiliation of their own.

Party of appointing presidentActiveSenior
Republican 11 11
Democratic 6 4

Computed by Benchlight Counted from Federal Judicial Center appointment records for judges currently in service on this court.

Awaiting decision

CaseNo.Argued
John Doe 1 v. William Lee 25-6122 Aug. 4, 2026
NLRB v. VNS Federal Services LLC 25-1233 July 30, 2026
Lexon Insurance Company v. James Justice II 25-6096 July 30, 2026
Diamond Williams v. Mastronardi Produce-USA Inc 25-1836 July 30, 2026
FedEx Corporation v. United States 25-5694 July 30, 2026
KalshiEX LLC v. Matthew Schuler 26-3196 July 30, 2026
Danyale Tubbs v. Sherry Payton 25-1950 July 30, 2026
United States v. Garry Hayes 25-5893 July 30, 2026
Tyrelle Henderson Jr v. Kent County MI 25-1845 July 29, 2026
United States v. McKenzie McClure 25-5657 July 29, 2026

Recent cases

CaseNo.StatusDecided
United States v. Tianna Barber 25-3245 Decided Aug. 14, 2026
United States v. Jocelyn Benson 26-1225 Decided Aug. 14, 2026
SW Nashville EB Owner, LLC v. Metro. Gov't of Nashville & Davidson Cnty. 25-5781 Decided Aug. 14, 2026
Roy West v. United States 25-1660 Decided Aug. 14, 2026
Am. Freedom Law Center v. Dana Nessel 25-1684 Decided Aug. 14, 2026
Michael Washington v. City of Cincinnati 25-3692 Decided Aug. 13, 2026
Derek Antol v. Robert English 25-2054 Decided Aug. 13, 2026
United States v. Kyle Wagner 26-1294 Decided Aug. 12, 2026
Danielle Arthur v. Douglas Krause 25-2123 Decided Aug. 11, 2026
Mark Pannek v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n 25-3706 Decided Aug. 7, 2026
Leandro Spindola v. Todd Blanche 25-3600 Decided Aug. 7, 2026
Cody Henderson v. Village of New Holland 26-3051 Decided Aug. 7, 2026
Charles Klein, Jr. v. USPS 25-3965 Decided Aug. 7, 2026
Larry Richardson v. Nathan Falk 25-1867 Decided Aug. 6, 2026
Kathleen Sullivan v. Timothy Miller 25-1773 Decided Aug. 6, 2026