United States District Court for the District of Delaware

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. federal court

The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington.

Because Delaware is the state of incorporation for most major U.S. corporations, the District of Delaware hears and tries many patent and other complex commercial disputes that must be heard in federal court for diversity of citizenship reasons, and hears many appeals from bankruptcy disputes which are filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Appeals from the Court are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which sits in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The acting United States attorney for the District of Delaware is Shannon T. Hanson since January 21, 2025.

History

The court was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, Template:USStat, on September 24, 1789. From its establishment until 1946, the court had a single judge. A temporary additional judgeship was authorized on July 24, 1946, by Template:USStat, and was made permanent on September 5, 1950, by Template:USStat. A third judge was authorized on February 10, 1954, by Template:USStat, and a fourth on July 10, 1984, by Template:USStat.

Current judges

Template:As of: Template:Start U.S. judgeship Current Template:U.S. judgeship row Current Template:U.S. judgeship row Current Template:U.S. judgeship row Current Template:U.S. judgeship row Current Template:U.S. judgeship row Current Template:U.S. judgeship row Current Template:End U.S. judgeship Current

Former judges

Template:Start U.S. judgeship Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:U.S. judgeship row Former Template:End U.S. judgeship Former Template:Reflist

Chief judges

Template:ChiefJudgeDC

Succession of seats

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break Template:Start U.S. judge succession Template:U.S. judge succession note Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:End U.S. judge succession Template:Col-break Template:Start U.S. judge succession Template:U.S. judge succession note Template:U.S. judge succession note Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:End U.S. judge succession Template:Col-break Template:Start U.S. judge succession Template:U.S. judge succession note Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:End U.S. judge succession Template:Col-break Template:Start U.S. judge succession Template:U.S. judge succession note Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:U.S. judge succession row Template:End U.S. judge succession Template:Col-break Template:Col-end

United States attorneys

Source: <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

U.S. Attorney Term started Term ended Presidents served under
George Read II 1789 1816 George Washington and John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison
George Read III 1816 1836 James Monroe, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson
James A. Bayard Jr. 1837 1843 Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, and John Tyler
William Horsey Rogers 1843 1849 John Tyler and James K. Polk
Perry Sheward Johnson 1849 1853 Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore
Thomas F. Bayard 1853 1855 Franklin Pierce
Daniel Moore Bates 1855 1861 Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan
Edward Green Bradford 1861 1866 Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson
John Lockwood Pratt 1866 1869 Andrew Johnson
Anthony Higgins 1869 1876 Ulysses S. Grant
William Corbit Spruance 1876 1880 Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes
John Cunningham Patterson 1880 1888 Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, and Grover Cleveland
Alexander Bradshaw Cooper 1888 1891 Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison
Beniah Watson 1891 1894 Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland
Lewis Cass Vandergrift 1894 1899 Grover Cleveland and William McKinley
William Michael Byrne 1899 1903 William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt
John Percy Nields 1903 1916 Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson
Charles F. Curley 1916 1920 Woodrow Wilson
James H. Hughes, Jr. 1920 1924 Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, and Calvin Coolidge
David J. Reinhardt 1924 1927 Calvin Coolidge
Leonard E. Wales Leonard_Eugene_Wales 1927 1935 Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt
John J. Morris, Jr. 1935 1939 Franklin D. Roosevelt
Charles Stewart Lynch 1939 1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt
John J. Morris, Jr. 1944 1948 Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman
William Marvel 1948 1953 Harry Truman
Leonard G. Hagner 1953 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Alexander Greenfield<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

1961 1969 John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
F. L. Peter Stone 1969 1973 Richard Nixon
Ralph F. Keil 1973 1975 Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
W. Laird Stabler Jr. 1975 1977 Gerald Ford
James W. Garvin, Jr. 1977 1981 Jimmy Carter
Joseph James Farnan Jr. 1981 1985 Ronald Reagan
William C. Carpenter, Jr. 1985 1993 Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
Gregory M. Sleet Gregory_M._Sleet,_U.S._District_Court_Judge 1993 1998 Bill Clinton
Carl Schnee 1999 2001 Bill Clinton
Colm Connolly 2001 2009 George W. Bush
Charles Oberly 2010 2018 Barack Obama and Donald Trump
David C. Weiss 2018 2025 Donald Trump and Joe Biden

Template:Notelist

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Template:United States 3rd Circuit district judges Template:United States 3rd Circuit senior district judges Template:USDistCourts Template:Authority control