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Bold Justice: February 18, 2019

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Alexander Hamilton may have thought them the least dangerous branch, but we at Ballotpedia think federal courts are the most exciting!

Ballotpedia's Bold Justice

Welcome to the Feb. 18 edition of Bold Justice, Ballotpedia's newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S. Wondering how you can celebrate Presidents Day? Follow us on Twitter or subscribe to the Daily Brew for the most up-to-date political information!

We #SCOTUS so you don't have to

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases this week. The court has heard 43 cases so far this term. As of publication, it has agreed to hear 72 cases.

In its October 2017 term, SCOTUS heard arguments in 69 cases. Click here to read more about SCOTUS' current October 2018 term.

Click the links below to read more about the specific cases SCOTUS will hear this week:

February 19

  • In Return Mail v. U.S. Postal Service, Return Mail, Inc. filed a lawsuit against U.S. Postal Service (USPS) alleging the Postal Service used its patented mail processing system unlawfully and alleging it infringed upon the patent. USPS filed a petition with the Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) and the Board ruled the challenged patent claims were unpatentable. In 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Board's ruling.

    The issue: Whether the government is a "person" who may petition to institute review proceedings under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.

February 20

  • In Mission Product Holdings v. Tempnology LLC, Tempnology, LLC, made and owned the intellectual property to products designed to keep a person cool while exercising. Tempnology and Mission Product Holdings (Mission) entered an agreement that stated the company had distribution rights to some of Tempnology’s products, a nonexclusive license to Tempnology’s intellectual property, and a license to use Tempnology’s trademark and logo.

    Tempnology filed for Chapter 11 and tried to reject its agreement with Mission. The bankruptcy court found Mission could only claim damages for breach of contract and Tempnology was not required to perform the license agreement.

    The issue: Whether under §365 of the Bankruptcy Code, a debtor-licensor's "rejection" of a license agreement which "constitutes a breach of such contract," 11 U.S.C. §365(g)-terminates rights of the licensee that would survive the licensor's breach under applicable non-bankruptcy law.
SCOTUS trivia

SCOTUS heard arguments in 69 cases during its October 2017 term. One case sought to challenge earlier U.S. Supreme Court rulings prohibiting states from imposing sales taxes on merchants who sold products in the state but did not have any physical presence in the state.

Name that case!

Choose an answer to find out!
Federal Court action

Confirmations

The Senate has not confirmed any additional nominees since our Jan. 21 issue.

The Senate has confirmed 85 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—53 district court judges, 30 appeals court judges, and two Supreme Court justices—since January 2017.

New nominations

President Trump announced one nomination since our Jan. 21 edition.

At the sine die adjournment of the 115th Congress on Jan. 3, 2019, 71 judicial nominees were returned to President Trump. The president has renominated 57 of those individuals.

The president has announced 168 Article III judicial nominations since taking office Jan. 20, 2017. The president named 69 judicial nominees in 2017 and 92 in 2018. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.



Vacancies

The federal judiciary currently has 150 vacancies. As of publication, there were 60 pending nominations.

According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, an additional 20 judges have announced their intention to leave active judicial status during Trump’s first term.

For more information on judicial vacancies during Trump's first term, click here.

Committee action

The Senate Judiciary Committee reported 44 new nominees out of committee since our Jan. 21 issue. They now face a confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate:

  • Bridget Bade, nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
  • Paul Matey, nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
  • Eric Miller, nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
  • Eric Murphy, nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
  • Chad Readler, nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
  • Allison Jones Rushing, nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
  • Rossie Alston, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
  • Roy Altman, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
  • Raul Arias-Marxuach, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
  • Thomas Barber, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
  • J. Campbell Barker, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • Pamela Barker, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
  • Kenneth Bell, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
  • Wendy Berger, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
  • Jean-Paul Boulee, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
  • Holly Brady, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
  • Andrew Brasher, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
  • Brian Buescher, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska
  • James Cain, Jr., nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
  • Stephen Clark, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
  • Clifton Corker, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
  • Daniel Domenico, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
  • Karin Immergut, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
  • Matthew Kacsmaryk, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
  • Damon Leichty, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
  • Corey Maze, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
  • David Morales, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • Sarah Daggett Morrison, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
  • Carl Nichols, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  • Howard Nielson, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah
  • J. Nicholas Ranjan, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
  • Rodolfo Ruiz, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
  • Rodney Smith, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
  • Michael Truncale, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • Wendy Vitter, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
  • T. Kent Wetherell, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
  • Allen Winsor, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
  • Joshua Wolson, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • Patrick Wyrick, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma
  • John Younge, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • Miller Baker, nominee for the U.S. Court of International Trade
  • Richard Hertling, nominee for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims
  • Ryan Holte, nominee for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims
  • Timothy Reif, nominee for the U.S. Court of International Trade

Love judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? We figured you might. Our monthly Federal Vacancy Count, published on the last Wednesday of each month, monitors all the faces and places moving in, moving out, and moving on in the federal judiciary.

Need a daily fix? Click here for continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees.

Or, if you prefer, we also maintain a list of individuals President Trump has nominated.
A judge you oughta know

In each issue of Bold Justice, we highlight a federal court you should know more about. Right now, we’re taking a closer look at the 13 United States courts of appeals, or circuit courts.

In this edition,  we're getting ready for the peach harvest at the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The 11th Circuit has jurisdiction over the nine U.S. District Courts in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

The 11th Circuit has 12 authorized judgeships. Republican presidents have appointed six of the court's 12 current judges. There are no vacancies.

SCOTUS has heard 54 appeals of 11th Circuit decisions since 2007 and reversed 41 of them (75.9 percent).
Looking ahead

We'll be back with a new edition of Bold Justice on Feb. 25, 2019.


Why subscribe to Bold Justice?

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Ballotpedia has been providing new areas of coverage, performing in-depth analyses, and developing new tools to help keep our readers in the know since 2006. This is one more resource to keep you informed—one that can be delivered to your inbox once a week.







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Why Bold Justice?

Well, there’s a story behind it, and we’re happy to credit Justice Samuel Alito for the inspiration. Back in October of 2014, Justice Alito joined his fellow Supreme Court Yale Law alumni, Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor, for a panel as part of the law school’s alumni weekend (video below). During the discussion, the moderator asked the audience if they could guess which of the three justices on the panel served as the inspiration for a coffee house to name one of their blends of coffee, Bold Justice. Justice Alito responded, “Obviously, it’s me.”

He went on to tell the story of how, during his days as a Third Circuit judge, his law clerks participated in a Newark, New Jersey, coffee shop’s year-long promotion wherein if customers sampled every blend for one year, the customers could then create and name a blend of coffee. Justice Alito described Bold Justice as a blend that was “designed for about three o’clock in the afternoon if you’re working and you’re starting to fall asleep, if you have this, it will jolt you awake.” A blend of courts and coffee: sounds perfect to us!

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