In 1971 a vacancy was created on the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania when Judge Harold K. Wood assumed senior status. Senator Hugh Scott supported Green to fill the position. Green also had the support of Billy Meehan, the son of Sheriff Austin Meehan, and at the time the head of the Philadelphia Republican Committee. President Nixon nominated Green on December 1, 1971, and he was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 4, receiving his commission on December 9. In 1984 Green declined a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, citing "the joy his district court job provided him and numerous friendships he enjoyed there." He assumed senior status on April 2, 1988, and continued serving in that capacity until his death.