United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

Eastern District of Washington
Ninth Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 4
Judges: 4
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Stanley Bastian
Active judges: Stanley Bastian, Mary Dimke, Rebecca Pennell, Thomas Rice Senior judges: William Nielsen, Rosanna Peterson, Edward Shea, Lonny Suko, Robert Whaley

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington is one of 94 United States district courts. It has jurisdiction over the cities of Richland, Spokane, and Yakima. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse, but the court hears initial appeals at the Pioneer Federal Courthouse in Portland, Oregon.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, out of the court's four judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article III judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Thomas Rice	Barack Obama (D)	March 8, 2012 -	Gonzaga University, 1983	Gonzaga University Law, 1983
Stanley Bastian	Barack Obama (D)	May 1, 2014 -	University of Oregon, 1980	University of Washington School of Law, 1983
Mary Dimke	Joe Biden (D)	December 21, 2021 -	Pepperdine University, 1999	Vanderbilt Law School, 2002
Rebecca Pennell	Joe Biden (D)	December 9, 2024 -	University of Washington	Stanford University

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 4
• Republican appointed: 0

Senior judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
William Nielsen	George H.W. Bush (R)	May 30, 2003 -	University of Washington, 1956	University of Washington School of Law, 1962
Robert Whaley	Bill Clinton (D)	July 12, 2009 -	Princeton University, 1965	Emory University School of Law, 1968
Edward Shea	Bill Clinton (D)	June 7, 2012 -	Boston State College,Ed., 1965	Georgetown University Law Center, 1970
Lonny Suko	George W. Bush (R)	November 1, 2013 -	Washington State University, 1965	University of Idaho College of Law, 1968
Rosanna Peterson		October 1, 2021 -	University of North Dakota School of Law, 1977	University of North Dakota School of Law, 1991

Senior judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 3
• Republican appointed: 2

Magistrate judges

Federal magistrate judges are federal judges who serve in United States district courts, but they are not appointed by the president and they do not serve life terms. Magistrate judges are assigned duties by the district judges in the district in which they serve. They may preside over most phases of federal proceedings, except for criminal felony trials. The specific duties of a magistrate judge vary from district to district, but the responsibilities always include handling matters that would otherwise be on the dockets of the district judges. Full-time magistrate judges serve for renewable terms of eight years. Some federal district courts have part-time magistrate judges, who serve for renewable terms of four years.

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
James Goeke	United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington	November 1, 2021 -	University of Washington	University of California, Berkeley

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.

On the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the president of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.

Thomas Rice - (2016-2020) Rosanna Peterson - (2011-2016) Lonny Suko - (2009 - 2011) Robert Whaley - (2005 - 2009) Frederick Van Sickle - (2000 - 2005) William Nielsen - (1995 - 2000) Justin Quackenbush - (1989 - 1995)

Robert McNichols - (1980 - 1989) Marshall Neill - (1973 - 1979) William Goodwin - (1973 - 1975) Charles Powell - (1959 - 1972) Samuel Driver - (1948 - 1958)

Former judges

For more information on the judges of the Eastern District of Washington, see former federal judges of the Eastern District of Washington.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Eastern District of Washington (click for larger map)

The Eastern District of Washington has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The geographic jurisdiction of the Eastern District of Washington consists of all the following counties in the eastern part of the state of Washington. The court's headquarters are in Spokane, with courthouses in Yakima, and Richland.

• Adams County
• Asotin County
• Benton County
• Chelan County
• Columbia County
• Douglas County
• Ferry County
• Franklin County
• Garfield County
• Grant County
• Kittitas County
• Klickitat County
• Lincoln County
• Okanogan County
• Pend Oreille County
• Spokane County
• Stevens County
• Walla Walla County
• Whitman County
• Yakima County

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2024.

Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

Caseload statistics explanation
Term	Explanation
Cases filed and terminated	The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated or decided by the court in a calendar year. The chart below reflects the table columns Cases filed and Cases terminated.
Average time from filing to disposition	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to date of disposition (acquittal, sentencing, dismissal, etc.). The chart below reflects the table columns Median time (Criminal) and Median time (Civil).
Starting case load	The number of cases pending from the previous calendar year.
Cases filed	The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated in a calendar year.
Cases terminated	The total number of civil and criminal lawsuits decided by the court in a calendar year.
Remaining cases	The number of civil and criminal cases pending at the end of a given year.
Median time (Criminal)	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition. In criminal cases, the date of disposition occurs on the day of sentencing or acquittal/dismissal.
Median time (Civil)	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition.
Three-year civil cases	The number and percent of civil cases that were filed more than three years before the end of the given calendar year.
Vacant posts	The number of months during the year an authorized judgeship was vacant.
Trial/Post	The number of trials completed divided by the number of authorized judgeships on the court. Trials include evidentiary trials, hearings on temporary restraining orders, and preliminary injunctions.
Source: United States Courts, "Explanation of the Judicial Caseload Profiles for United States District Courts," accessed September 25, 2018

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington caseload stats, 2010-2023
Year	Cases Filed	Cases Terminated	Cases Pending	Number of Judgeships	Vacant Judgeship Months	Average Total Filings per Judgeship	Trials Completed per Judgeship	Median time from filing to disposition, criminal	Median time from filing to disposition, civil	Three-year civil cases (#)	Three-year civil cases (%)
2010	1,660	1,617	1,062	4	13	415	17	8	11	30	4
2011	1,728	1,674	1,059	4	15	432	22	8	11	33	4
2012	1,825	1,697	1,266	4	9	456	22	8	10	27	3
2013	1,964	1,985	1,269	4	14	491	18	8	12	33	4
2014	1,881	1,956	1,167	4	9	470	19	9	11	27	4
2015	1,717	1,804	1,099	4	0	429	18	11	10	36	5
2016	1,909	1,859	1,175	4	0	477	21	10	10	46	6
2017	1,955	1,841	1,258	4	0	489	19	9	9	44	5
2018	2,043	1,998	1,260	4	0	511	11	9	10	49	6
2019	2,271	2,274	1,259	4	0	568	17	11	9	42	5
2020	1,977	1,860	1,359	4	0	494	9	13	8	42	5
2021	1,857	1,954	1,251	4	3	464	12	17	9	49	6
2022	1,946	1,877	1,319	4	4	487	13	16	9	50	7
2023	1,636	1,812	1,133	4	9	409	16	16	8	47	7
Average	1,884	1,872	1,210	4	5	471	17	11	10	40	5

History

Washington was established by Congress as one judicial district on April 5, 1890, with one post to cover the entire state and it was assigned to the Ninth Circuit. On March 2, 1905, Washington was divided into two judicial districts—the Eastern District and the Western District—with a post assigned to each. The post existing before the division was assigned over to the Western District. Over time, three additional judicial posts were added for a total of four current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Eastern District of Washington:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
April 5, 1890	26 Stat. 45	1
March 2, 1905	33 Stat. 824	1
January 20, 1940	63 Stat. 493	1
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	1
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	2
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 333	3
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	4

Noteworthy cases

• Judge declares farmworkers a class in lawsuit against farm (2015-2017)

Click for summary→

Judge Stanley Bastian declared domestic migrant and seasonal farmworkers were a certified class in a lawsuit against the Mercer Canyoons in 2015. The plaintiffs said Mercer Canyons had provided false information about the availability of certain jobs under a temporary work visa program or underpaid them. The Ninth Circuit upheld Bastain's ruling. In 2017, the lawsuit was settled for $1.2 million. Articles:

• Use of deadly force by U.S. marshals (2015)

Click for summary→

Judge Robert Whaley granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a wrongful death suit against the U.S. government relating to the killing of Jimmy Georgeson. In January 2012, U.S marshals attempted to arrest Georgeson, who had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. During the pursuit, Georgeson attempted to flee by car and was shot and killed in a parking lot. Georgeson's family argued that the marshals should not have attempted to arrest Georgeson in a crowded parking lot as it violated the marshals' own policies. The judge found that the policy was not mandatory although negligent. Because the policy of avoiding crowded areas when making arrests was not mandatory, the marshals acted within their discretion. The family also argued that the marshals acted wrongly when using deadly force in an effort to stop Georgeson from fleeing. Whaley said that the marshals had a mandatory policy of not using deadly force when a suspect was fleeing unless they, or others, were in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. This portion of the family's case was allowed to proceed. In 2016, the family settled the lawsuit for $250,000. Articles:

Federal courthouse

Three separate courthouses serve the Eastern District of Washington.

About United States District Courts

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.

There is a United States bankruptcy court and a number of bankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one.

There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. District courts in three insular areas—the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts. Despite their name, these courts are technically not District Courts of the United States. Judges on these territorial courts do not enjoy the protections of Article III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.

There are 677 U.S. District Court judgeships.

The number of federal district judge positions is set by the U.S. Congress in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133, which authorizes a set number of judge positions, or judgeships, making changes and adjustments in these numbers from time to time.

In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through March 1 of the first year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, no president had made Article III judicial appointments.