Bold Justice: January 11, 2021
![]() Welcome to the January 11 edition of Bold Justice, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S. New year, new court business: SCOTUS ushers in its 2021 sittings to hear arguments and Congress has begun its 117th session. With all of these updates, Ballotpedia’s got you covered. Click here to subscribe to Ballotpedia’s Daily and Weekly Transition Trackers. Stay up to date on the latest news by following us on Twitter or subscribing to the Daily Brew. The Supreme Court will hear three hours of arguments the week of January 11 via teleconference with live audio. The court is conducting proceedings this way in accordance with public health guidance in response to COVID-19. SCOTUS has agreed to hear 48 cases during its 2020-2021 term. Twelve of those were originally scheduled for the 2019-2020 term but were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ current term. In its October 2019 term, SCOTUS heard arguments in 61 cases. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ previous term. Click the links below to read more about the specific cases before SCOTUS during its January sitting. January 11
January 12
January 13
Upcoming SCOTUS datesHere are the court’s upcoming dates of interest:
Who was the first sitting president to observe an oath ceremony for a new justice at the Supreme Court? Choose an answer to find out! The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts in a one-month period. This month’s edition includes nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from December 1 to December 31. Highlights
Vacancy count for December 31, 2020A breakdown of the vacancies at each level can be found in the table below. For a more detailed look at the vacancies on the federal courts, click here. *Though the United States territorial courts are named as district courts, they are not Article III courts. They are created in accordance with the power granted under Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. Click here for more information. New vacanciesNo judges left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies, since the previous vacancy count. A presidential nomination is required to fill an Article III vacancy. Nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. The chart below shows the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals from the inauguration of President Donald Trump (R) on January 20, 2017, to December 31, 2020. U.S. District Court vacanciesThe following map displays U.S. District Court vacancies as of December 31. New nominationsPresident Trump has not announced any new nominations since the November 2020 report. The president has announced 274 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on January 20, 2017. The president named 69 judicial nominees in 2017, 92 in 2018, and 77 in 2019. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here. New confirmationsBetween December 1 and December 31, 2020, the Senate confirmed seven of the president’s nominees to Article III courts.
Between January 2017 and December 31, 2020, the Senate confirmed 234 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—174 district court judges, 54 appeals court judges, three Court of International Trade judges, and three Supreme Court justices. Need a daily fix of judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? Click here for continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees. Or, check out our list of individuals the president has nominated. In the next several Bold Justice editions, we’re taking a closer look at the U.S. Supreme Court justices. Today, we’re learning about Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Before joining the U.S. Supreme Court, Gorsuch was a judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit (2006-2017). Before that, he was a principal deputy, associate attorney general with the U.S. Department of Justice (2005-2006), and a partner and associate with a private practice, Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans, and Figel (1995-2005). Click here to learn more about Gorsuch’s professional career. Gorsuch was born on August 29, 1967, in Denver, Colorado. He earned his B.A. from Columbia University in 1988, his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991, and his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in 2004. In the 2019-2020 term, Gorsuch wrote the following opinions:
We’ll be back on January 18 with a new edition of Bold Justice. Until then, gaveling out! ContributionsKate Carsella compiled and edited this newsletter, with contributions from Sara Reynolds and Jace Lington.
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Archive
2021
- Bold Justice: November 1, 2021
- Bold Justice: October 12, 2021
- Bold Justice: October 4, 2021
- Bold Justice: September 13, 2021
- Bold Justice: August 9, 2021
- Bold Justice: July 19, 2021
- Bold Justice: July 12, 2021
- Bold Justice: June 7, 2021
- Bold Justice: May 10, 2021
- Bold Justice: May 3, 2021
- Bold Justice: April 26, 2021
- Bold Justice: April 19, 2021
- Bold Justice: April 12, 2021
- Bold Justice: March 29, 2021
- Bold Justice: March 22, 2021
- Bold Justice: March 8, 2021
- Bold Justice: March 1, 2021
- Bold Justice: February 22, 2021
- Bold Justice: February 8, 2021
- Bold Justice: January 18, 2021
2020
- Bold Justice: December 7, 2020
- Bold Justice: November 9, 2020
- Bold Justice: November 2, 2020
- Bold Justice: October 12, 2020
- Bold Justice: October 5, 2020
- Bold Justice: September 30, 2020
- Bold Justice: September 14, 2020
- Bold Justice: August 10, 2020
- Bold Justice: August 3, 2020
- Bold Justice: July 13, 2020
- Bold Justice: June 29, 2020
- Bold Justice: June 22, 2020
- Bold Justice: June 8, 2020
- Bold Justice: May 11, 2020
- Bold Justice: May 4, 2020
- Bold Justice: April 6, 2020
- Bold Justice: March 23, 2020
- Bold Justice: March 9, 2020
- Bold Justice: March 2, 2020
- Bold Justice: February 24, 2020
- Bold Justice: February 10, 2020
- Bold Justice: January 20, 2020
- Bold Justice: January 13, 2020
2019
- Bold Justice: December 9, 2019
- Bold Justice: December 2, 2019
- Bold Justice: November 12, 2019
- Bold Justice: November 4, 2019
- Bold Justice: October 14, 2019
- Bold Justice: October 7, 2019
- Bold Justice: September 9, 2019
- Bold Justice: August 5, 2019
- Bold Justice: July 1, 2019
- Bold Justice: June 17, 2019
- Bold Justice: June 3, 2019
- Bold Justice: May 20, 2019
- Bold Justice: May 6, 2019
- Bold Justice: April 29, 2019
- Bold Justice: April 22, 2019
- Bold Justice: April 15, 2019
- Bold Justice: April 1, 2019
- Bold Justice: March 25, 2019
- Bold Justice: March 18, 2019
- Bold Justice: February 25, 2019
- Bold Justice: February 18, 2019
- Bold Justice: January 21, 2019
- Bold Justice: January 14, 2019
- Bold Justice: January 7, 2019
2018
- Bold Justice: December 3, 2018
- Bold Justice: November 26, 2018
- Bold Justice: November 5, 2018
- Bold Justice: October 29, 2018
- Bold Justice: October 8, 2018
- Bold Justice: October 1, 2018
- Bold Justice: September 6, 2018
- Bold Justice: August 6, 2018
- Bold Justice: July 2, 2018
- Bold Justice: June 25, 2018
- Bold Justice: June 18, 2018
- Bold Justice: June 11, 2018
- Bold Justice: June 4, 2018
- Bold Justice: May 21, 2018
- Bold Justice: May 14, 2018
- Bold Justice: May 7, 2018
- Bold Justice: April 30, 2018
- Bold Justice: April 23, 2018
- Bold Justice: April 16, 2018
- Bold Justice: April 9, 2018
- Bold Justice: April 2, 2018
- Bold Justice: March 26, 2018
- Bold Justice: March 19, 2018
- Bold Justice: March 12, 2018
- Bold Justice: March 5, 2018
- Bold Justice: February 12, 2018
- Bold Justice: January 29, 2018
- Bold Justice: January 22, 2018
- Bold Justice: January 15, 2018
- Bold Justice: January 8, 2018
2017
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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