The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island (in

case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case ci ...

s, D.R.I.) is the

federal district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

whose jurisdiction is the state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. The District Court was created in 1790 when Rhode Island ratified the Constitution. The Federal Courthouse was built in 1908. Appeals from the District of Rhode Island are taken to the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts * ...

(except for

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

claims and claims against the U.S. government under the

Tucker Act The Tucker Act (March 3, 1887, ch. 359, , ) is a federal statute of the United States by which the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits. The Tucker Act may be divided into the "Big" Tucker A ...

, which are appealed to the

Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

). The United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. the United States Attorney is Zachary A. Cunha.

Legislative history

The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island was established on June 23, 1790, by . Congress authorized one judgeship for the Court, and assigned the district to the Eastern Circuit. On February 13, 1801, the outgoing lame duck

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

-controlled Congress passed the controversial

Judiciary Act of 1801 The Midnight Judges Act (also known as the Judiciary Act of 1801; , and officially An act to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States) represented an effort to solve an issue in the U.S. Supreme Court during ...

which reassigned the District of Rhode Island to the First Circuit. The incoming Congress repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801, but in the

Judiciary Act of 1802 The Judiciary Act of 1802 () was a Federal statute, enacted on April 29, 1802, to reorganize the federal court system. It restored some elements of the Judiciary Act of 1801, which had been adopted by the Federalist majority in the previous Congre ...

, Congress again assigned the District of Rhode Island to the First Circuit. A second seat on the Court was created on March 18, 1966, by . A third seat was added on July 10, 1984, by .

Current judges

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

Notable cases

* ''

West v. Barnes ''West v. Barnes''2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 401 (1791) was the first United States Supreme Court decision and the earliest case calling for oral argument. '' Van Staphorst v. Maryland'' (1791) was docketed prior to ''West v. Barnes'' but settled before the ...

'' (1791), the first case appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court * '' Fricke v. Lynch'' (1980), case involving government gender limits on prom dates * ''

Lee v. Weisman ''Lee v. Weisman'', 505 U.S. 577 (1992), was a United States Supreme Court decision regarding school prayer. It was the first major school prayer case decided by the Rehnquist Court. It held that schools may not sponsor clerics to conduct even non- ...

'' (1992), case involving clergy-led prayer at public school graduation ceremonies

United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island

Some of the US Attorneys for Rhode Island * David Leonard Barnes (1797–1801) *

Asher Robbins Asher Robbins (October 26, 1761February 25, 1845) (also known as Ashur Robbins) was a United States senator from Rhode Island. Early life Born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, he graduated from Yale College in 1782, was a tutor in Rhode Island Co ...

(1812–1820) *

Dutee Jerauld Pearce Dutee Jerauld Pearce (April 3, 1789 – May 9, 1849) was an American politician and a United States Representative from Rhode Island. Early life Born on Prudence Island, Pearce graduated from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island in 1808, ...

(1824–1825) * George H. Browne (1852–1861) *

Wingate Hayes Wingate Hayes (1823–1877) was Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives and U.S. District Attorney for the district of Rhode Island during the American Civil War. In 1823 Wingate Hayes was born in Farmington, New Hampshire to John a ...

(1861–1871) * Nathan F. Dixon III (1877–1885) *

Walter Russell Stiness Walter Russell Stiness (March 13, 1854 – March 17, 1924) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Rhode Island. Born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, Stiness attended the public schools and was a student at Brown Uni ...

(1911–1914) * Norman S. Case (1921–1926) * John S. Murdock (1926–1929) * Henry Boss (1929–1934) *

J. Howard McGrath James Howard McGrath (November 28, 1903September 2, 1966) was an American politician and attorney from Rhode Island. McGrath, a Democrat, served as U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island before becoming governor, U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Sen ...

(1934–1940) * George Troy (1940–1952) * Edward McEntee (1952–1953) * Raymond James Pettine (1961–1966) * Edward P. Gallogly (1967–1969) *

Lincoln Almond Lincoln Carter Almond (born June 16, 1936) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 72nd Governor of Rhode Island from 1995 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the District ...

(1969–1978) * Paul F. Murray (1978–1981) *

(1981–1993) *

Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon Whitehouse (born October 20, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Rhode Island since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Attorney from 1993 to 1998 ...

(1993–1998) * Margaret E. Curran (1998–2003) * Robert Clark Corrente (2004–2009) *

Peter Neronha Peter Franz Neronha (born December 17, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician from Jamestown, Rhode Island who currently serves as the Attorney General of Rhode Island. He previously served as the United States Attorney for the District of ...

(2009–2017) * Aaron L. Weisman (2019–2021) *Richard B. Myrus (acting) (2021–present)

References

External links

United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island Official Website

United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island

Rhode Island law Providence, Rhode Island 1790 establishments in the United States Courthouses in Rhode Island Courts and tribunals established in 1790