LGBT Article III Judges

Article III of the Constitution created the U.S. Supreme Court and gave Congress the power to create the federal courts of appeals and district courts. Since 1789, more than 3,427 judges have served on Article III courts. Currently, there are 11 openly LGBT judges.

Court of Appeals

The 94 U.S. judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a United States Court of Appeals. This court hears appeals from the district courts located within its circuit and appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies. In addition, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws and cases decided by the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims.

Judge	Court	Commission	Status	Gender
Todd Michael Hughes	Federal Circuit	9/24/2013	Active	Male

District Courts

The United States District Courts are the trial courts of the federal court system. Within limits set by Congress and the Constitution, the District Courts have jurisdiction to hear nearly all categories of federal cases, including both civil and criminal matters.

There are 94 federal district courts, including at least one district court in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Three territories of the United States—the Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands—have District Courts that hear federal cases, including bankruptcy cases.

Judge	Court	Commission	Status	Gender
Michael Walter Fitzgerald	California (CD)	3/15/2012	Active	Male
Vaughn R. Walker	California (ND)	11/27/1989	Terminated/Retired 2/28/2011	Male
Darrin Phillip Gayles	Florida (SD)	6/19/2014	Active	Male
Staci Michelle Yandle	Illinois (SD)	6/19/2014	Active	Female
Judith Ellen Levy	Michigan (ED)	3/14/2014	Active	Female
Pamela K. Chen	New York (ED)	3/5/2013	Active	Female
Alison Julie Nathan	New York (SD)	10/17/2011	Active	Female
Deborah Batts	New York (SD)	5/9/1994	Terminated/Death 2/3/20	Female
James Paul Oetken	New York (SD)	7/20/2011	Active	Male
Michael Jerome McShane	Oregon	5/30/2013	Active	Male
Nitza I. Alejandro	Pennsylvania (ED)	6/19/2013	Active	Female

Legend

CD - Central District	ED - Eastern District	MD - Middle District	ND - Northern District	SD - Southern District
WD - Western District	± LGBT	*** Current Chief Judge

Data is based on information collected through May 7, 2020. To learn more about the federal courts go to www.fjc.gov.

Judge Vaughn Richard Walker

In 1989, Vaughn R. Walker was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to the federal district court for the Northern District of California. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 21, 1989, on unanimous consent and received his commission on November 27, 1989.