President Obama has nominated Edward Smith, a judge on the Court of Common Pleas in Northampton County, and Gerald McHugh, a partner at Raynes McCarty, for seats on the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
If they are confirmed, Smith and McHugh would fill half the seats currently vacant on the Eastern District bench. Altogether, there are four empty seats — the seat now open for the longest time became vacant in the fall of 2011 and the most recent opened in May when former Chief Judge J. Curtis Joyner took senior status.
