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Bold Justice: January 22, 2018

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Bold Justice: Waiting on decisions

The Supreme Court is done with arguments for the month, but we have a full serving of Bold Justice for you. Check out a note on court opinions, a case you oughta know, and our usual updates—read on!

Wondering where the opinions are?

So are we! So far this year, the Supreme Court has only released one opinion in an argued case. Although it’s common for the court to release the majority of its opinions in the second half of its term, it’s unusual to have published so few by January. The court controls its own schedule, so it’s entirely within the justices’ discretion when opinions are released. Why the slow rate this year? It’s impossible to know. It could simply be that the opinions from this fall happen to be longer or more complicated than most. It could be that the justices are still deciding how to vote in controversial cases. Or it could be that high-profile urgent cases (like the challenges to President Trump’s executive orders on immigration) have taken up time and slowed the publication rate. Whatever the reason, we’re watching closely, and we’ll let you know as soon as the court publishes more opinions.

A case you oughta know

This week, we’re highlighting a case you oughta know: Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, et al., a case decided on June 30, 2016, by the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. The case is included in Ballotpedia’s Administrative State Project. The administrative state is a phenomenon within the federal government that developed over time as the legislative and judicial branches of government delegated increasing authority to executive agencies. It includes the broad, unspecified compilation of delegated governing authorities that function outside of the traditional system of checks and balances that serve to reign in the authority of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

The case

Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, et al. was a case decided on June 30, 2016, by the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. It involved the Fish and Wildlife Service's designation of private land in Louisiana as critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog. The Endangered Species Act requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to designate areas of critical habitat for species that have been listed as endangered. The Fish and Wildlife Service designated 6,477 acres of land in Mississippi and Louisiana as critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog (Rana sevosa). 1,544 acres of that land lay in Louisiana and was privately owned. Weyerhaeuser Company, along with several other companies whose land fell under the designation, challenged the Service's decision in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, which upheld the designation. The case then advanced to the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which ruled 2-1 to uphold the designation. Writing for the majority, Judge Stephen Higginson concluded that the designation was not arbitrary or capricious, did not violate the Commerce Clause, and did not violate the Environmental Policy Act. Judge Priscilla Owen dissented.

Why it matters

The decision clarified guidelines for reviewing agency actions performed under the auspices of the Endangered Species Act and reaffirmed several earlier legal precedents.

We #SCOTUS, so you don’t have to

As of publication today, the court has agreed to hear arguments in 67 cases so far this term; of those 67, the court has heard arguments in 36 cases. SCOTUS typically adds more cases throughout the term. In its previous term, SCOTUS heard arguments in 71 cases. The court will continue to hear arguments in cases this term through April 2018 and will continue to consider new appeals.

SCOTUS trivia

We know that life-term Supreme Court nominations are made by the President and by the U.S. Senate. But did you know that the president can make a short-term recess appointment to the Supreme Court? A recess appointment does not require a vote of the Senate, but it only lasts until the end of the next session of Congress. Your question for the week: How many recess appointments to the Supreme Court have there been?
a) Twelve
b) Three
c) Seventeen
d) Eight
Choose an answer to find out!

Federal court action

Confirmations

The U.S. Senate did not confirm any additional nominees last week. As of publication, the Senate has confirmed 23 of President Trump’s judicial nominees.

Nominations

President Trump did not announce any new nominations this week.

Vacancies

As of publication, there were 145 vacancies in the federal judiciary out of 870 Article III life-term judicial positions. Of those 145 vacancies, 102 have had no nominee put forth as yet during President Trump’s administration. According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts and other outlets, an additional 26 judges have announced their intention to leave active judicial status during Trump’s first term. There are 43 pending judicial nominations. Check out the chart below to see vacancies of four years or more:

Longest federal court vacancies 1.22.2018.png

Committee action

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet to consider two additional judicial nominees.

  • Michael B. Brennan, nominated to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
  • Daniel Desmond Domenico, nominated to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.

The Committee also voted to report 17 nominees to be considered for a full confirmation vote by the U.S. Senate:

  • Holly Lou Teeter, United States District Court for the District of Kansas
  • Eli Richardson, United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
  • William M. Ray, II, United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
  • Mark Norris, United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
  • Terry F. Moorer, United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
  • Emily Coody Marks, United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
  • Matthew Kacsmaryk, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
  • Michael Juneau, United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
  • Charles Goodwin, United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma
  • Thomas Farr, United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
  • Liles Burke, United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
  • Jeffrey Beaverstock, United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
  • Stan Baker, United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia
  • Annemarie Axon, United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
  • David Stras, United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit
  • Kyle Duncan, United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
  • Elizabeth Branch, United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit

Love judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancies information? We figured. Our monthly Federal Vacancy Count, which is published on the last Wednesday of every month, monitors all of the faces, places, and spaces moving in, moving out, and moving on in the federal judiciary. Need a daily fix? Our Federal Vacancy Warning System’s got you covered with continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees. Or, if you prefer, we maintain a list of individuals nominated by President Trump.

A judge you oughta know

Every week, we at Ballotpedia want to highlight a federal judge or judicial nominee. We’re in our review of President Donald Trump’s list of 25 individuals from which he indicated he would choose nominees to fill Supreme Court vacancies. This week, let’s get to know Charles Canady, a justice on the Florida Supreme Court and a judge you oughta know. He was appointed to the court in August 2008 by Governor Charlie Crist, who was a Republican at the time, though he later became a Democrat. Canady earned his undergraduate degree from Haverford College in 1976 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, and he previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Looking ahead

Here’s what we’re looking ahead to this week:

  • We expect the U.S. Supreme Court to issue orders and possibly opinions this week.
  • We expect the Senate Judiciary Committee to meet on January 24 to consider additional nominees.

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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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