Active Native American 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 two active Native American Article III Judges.

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
Diane Humetewa	Arizona	5/16/2014	Active	Female
Frank Howell Seay	Oklahoma (ED)	11/12/1979	Senior Status 9/25/03	Male

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 Diane Humetewa

In 2014, President Barack Obama appointed the first Native American woman, Diane Humetewa, to the federal bench, the U.S. District Court of Arizona.