[6] On December 4, 1981, Kanne was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana vacated by Judge Phil McClellan McNagny Jr.[7] Kanne was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 8, 1982, and received his commission on February 9, 1982.

[6] On February 2, 1987, Reagan nominated Kanne to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated by Judge Jesse E.

[6][14] His seat on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals remained vacant until January 30, 2024, when Joshua P. Kolar was confirmed as his successor.

[15] In December 2017, Kanne supported the 4–3 en banc decision to reverse an earlier federal magistrate judgement that a confession had been unlawfully coerced from 16-year-old Brendan Dassey.

On August 27, 2019, Kanne dissented when David F. Hamilton and Ilana Rovner blocked a parental notification requirement for abortions in Indiana.