United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Encyclopedia
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (in case citation
s, N.D. Cal.) is the federal
United States district court
whose jurisdiction comprises following counties of California
: Alameda
, Contra Costa
, Del Norte
, Humboldt
, Lake
, Marin
, Mendocino
, Monterey
, Napa
, San Benito
, San Francisco, San Mateo
, Santa Clara
, Santa Cruz
, and Sonoma
. The court hears cases in its courtrooms in Eureka
, Oakland
, San Francisco
, and San Jose
. It is headquartered in San Francisco.
Cases from the Northern District of California are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
(except for patent
claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act
, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit
).
, by Act of Congress approved September 28, 1850, 9 Stat. 521. The boundary line was at the 37th parallel of North Latitude. The creating act provided that:
The Act of August 31, 1852 made the Judge of the Northern District be Judge of the Southern District as well until otherwise provided, by 10 Stat. 76, 84, effectively creating a single District in all but name until an Act of January 18, 1854 provided for the appointment of a Judge for the Southern District. The Southern District of California was abolished and the State made to constitute a single district - the United States District Court for the District of California - by Act of Congress approved July 27, 1866, 14 Stat. 300.
Twenty years later, on August 5, 1886, Congress re-created the Southern District of California by 24 Stat. 308. Erskine M. Ross was appointed Judge of the new district and served until his promotion to the Circuit Judgeship, when he was succeeded by Olin Wellborn
. On March 18, 1966, the Eastern
and Central
Districts were created from portions of the Northern and Southern Districts by 80 Stat. 75.
was nominated by President Barack Obama
to serve as the United States Attorney
for the Northern District of California on March 25, 2010, confirmed by the Senate on August 5, and sworn in on August 13, 2010.
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
s, N.D. Cal.) is the federal
United States federal courts
The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
whose jurisdiction comprises following counties of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
: Alameda
Alameda County, California
Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...
, Contra Costa
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...
, Del Norte
Del Norte County, California
Del Norte County is a county located at the far northwest corner of the U.S. state of California on the Pacific adjacent to the Oregon border. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 28,610. The county seat is Crescent City, the county's only incorporated city. Del Norte is the abbreviated...
, Humboldt
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
, Lake
Lake County, California
Lake County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of California, north of the San Francisco Bay Area. It takes its name from Clear Lake, the dominant geographic feature in the county and the largest natural lake wholly within California...
, Marin
Marin County, California
Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...
, Mendocino
Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County is a county located on the north coast of the U.S. state of California, north of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and west of the Central Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 87,841, up from 86,265 at the 2000 census...
, Monterey
Monterey County, California
Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2010, the population was 415,057. The county seat and largest city is Salinas...
, Napa
Napa County, California
Napa County is a county located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is coterminous with the Napa, California, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population is 136,484. The county seat is Napa....
, San Benito
San Benito County, California
San Benito County is a county located in the Coast Range Mountains of the U.S. state of California, south of San Jose. As of 2010 the population was 55,269. The county seat is Hollister, which includes nearly two-thirds of the county's population. El Camino Real passes through the county and...
, San Francisco, San Mateo
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
, Santa Clara
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...
, and Sonoma
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
. The court hears cases in its courtrooms in Eureka
Eureka, California
Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
, Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, and San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. It is headquartered in San Francisco.
Cases from the Northern District of California are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
(except for patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act
Tucker Act
Through the Tucker Act , the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits....
, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
-Vacancies and pending nominations:-List of former judges:-Chief judges:Notwithstanding the foregoing, when the court was initially created, Congress had to resolve which chief judge of the predecessor courts would become the first chief judge...
).
History
California was admitted as a state on September 9, 1850, and was initially divided into two districts, the Northern and the SouthernUnited States District Court for the Southern District of California
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties in California: Imperial and San Diego. In terms of filed indictments, it is one of the busiest criminal districts in the United States...
, by Act of Congress approved September 28, 1850, 9 Stat. 521. The boundary line was at the 37th parallel of North Latitude. The creating act provided that:
- In addition to the ordinary jurisdiction and powers of a District Court of the United States, with which the Southern District Court of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New YorkThe United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...
has been invested, the said Courts be and hereby are invested respectively within the limits of its district with the exercise of concurrent jurisdiction and power in all civil cases now exercised by the Circuit Courts of the United States; and that in all cases where said Courts shall exercise such jurisdiction, appeals may be taken from the judgments, orders or decrees of said Courts to the Supreme Court of the United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
.
The Act of August 31, 1852 made the Judge of the Northern District be Judge of the Southern District as well until otherwise provided, by 10 Stat. 76, 84, effectively creating a single District in all but name until an Act of January 18, 1854 provided for the appointment of a Judge for the Southern District. The Southern District of California was abolished and the State made to constitute a single district - the United States District Court for the District of California - by Act of Congress approved July 27, 1866, 14 Stat. 300.
Twenty years later, on August 5, 1886, Congress re-created the Southern District of California by 24 Stat. 308. Erskine M. Ross was appointed Judge of the new district and served until his promotion to the Circuit Judgeship, when he was succeeded by Olin Wellborn
Olin Wellborn
Olin Wellborn was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from Texas.-Early years:...
. On March 18, 1966, the Eastern
United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California is composed of six divisions.The Bakersfield division has jurisdiction over certain cases in Inyo and Kern counties and on federal lands and National Parks...
and Central
United States District Court for the Central District of California
The United States District Court for the Central District of California serves over 18 million people in southern and central California, making it the largest federal judicial district by population...
Districts were created from portions of the Northern and Southern Districts by 80 Stat. 75.
Current judges
- As of October 3, 2011 a vacancy exists due to the resignation of Jeremy Fogel to head the Federal Judicial Center. No appointment to fill this vacant seat is currently pending.
- A second vacancy will occur on December 31, 2011, when Charles Breyer assumes senior status. No replacement nominee is pending.
- A third vacancy will occur on March 23, 2012, when Saundra Brown ArmstrongSaundra Brown ArmstrongSaundra Brown Armstrong is a United States federal judge.Born in Oakland, California, Armstrong received an A.A. from Merritt College in 1967 and a B.A. from California State University, Fresno in 1969. She was a police officer in the Oakland Police Department from 1970 to 1977. She then received...
assumes senior status. No replacement nominee is pending.
Former judges
Magistrate judges
| Magistrate Judge | Appointed | Ended service |
| Nandor Vadas Nandor Vadas Nandor Joseph Vadas is a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California. He was appointed as a part-time magistrate in July 2004 and as a full-time magistrate in August 2009. Vadas is also a member of the Magistrate Advisory Group to the U.S... |
July 2004 | |
United States Attorney
The United States Attorney for the Northern District of California represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. Melinda HaagMelinda Haag
Melinda L. Haag , commonly known as Melinda Haag, is U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.-Early life and education:...
was nominated by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
to serve as the United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
for the Northern District of California on March 25, 2010, confirmed by the Senate on August 5, and sworn in on August 13, 2010.
External links
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California Official Website
- United States Attorney for the Northern District of California Official Website
- Community History Exhibits at SanFrancisco Court facilities
See also
- Courts of CaliforniaCourts of CaliforniaCourts of California include:State courts of California*Supreme Court of California**California Courts of Appeal ***Superior Courts of California Federal courts located in California...
- List of United States federal courthouses in California