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Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 1/11/2012
January 11, 2012
- For a District by District break down, see: Federal Court Vacancy Warning System
The current vacancy warning level for the U.S. District courts is set at Blue. Since our last report on December 21, the holiday season has resulted in five new vacancies, three at the district level and two at the appellate level. The final tally leaves 82 vacancies or approximately 9.4% of the total Article III posts currently unfilled. The vacancy information for the various court levels is as follows:
| Key: | |
| (Percentage of seats vacant.) | |
| 0% | 1%-9% |
| 10%-24% | 25%-40% |
| More than 40% | |
| Supreme Court | 0% or no vacancies |
| Appeals Courts | 8.9% or 16 vacancies |
| District Courts | 9.7% or 66 vacancies |
There are currently 9 Supreme Court posts, 179 appellate court posts and 680 district court posts for a total of 868 Article III judges. This count includes four temporary posts, one each in the Northern District of Alabama, District of Arizona, Southern District of Florida and the Central District of California. This also includes a shared post between the two Missouri districts and counts it as two posts with separate vacancies.
Monthly map
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New confirmations
Because the Senate has been in recess for the past few weeks, there have been no new confirmations to the federal court system.
New vacancies
Numerous federal judges from both district and appellate courts took the opportunity over the holidays to retire and transition to senior status. In all, the courts had three vacancies open up at the district level and two at the appellate level.
First Circuit
On December 31, 2011 Kermit Lipez assumed senior status after serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit for 13 years.[1] Prior to his appointment, Lipez served as a justice on the Maine Supreme Court for 4 years and Maine Superior Court prior to that. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lipez graduated from Haverford College in Ardmore, Pennsylvania with his bachelor's degree in 1963 and later from Yale Law School with his bachelor's of Law degree in 1967.[2] Lipez's transition raises the vacancy warning level on the court from Green to Yellow.
Ninth Circuit
On December 31, 2011 Mary Schroeder assumed senior status after serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit for 32 years.[1] Prior to her appointment, Schroeder served on the Arizona Court of Appeals for four years. Schroeder graduated from Swarthmore College with her bachelor's degree in 1962. She earned her J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1965.[3] The vacancy creates the fourth opening on the court of 29, raising the vacancy warning level from Blue to Yellow. Andrew Hurwitz was appointed on November 2, 2011 to fill the vacancy.
Northern District of California
Charles Breyer also assumed senior status on December 31, 2011 for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California after 14 years serving on the court.[1] Prior to appointment, Breyer was a private practice attorney in California. Born in San Francisco, California, Breyer graduated from Harvard College with his bachelor's degree in 1963 and later from the University of California Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law with his Juris Doctor degree in 1966.[4] Breyer is known for an August 4, 2009 ruling which upheld a City of Oakland ordinance that requires abortion protesters to be eight feet away from a clinic.[5] The vacancy raises the vacancy warning level for the district from Green to Blue.
District of Nevada
Philip Pro assumed senior status for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada on December 31, 2011 after 24 years serving on the court.[1] Pro served as chief judge from 2002 - 2007. At the time of appointment, he worked for the US Attorney's Office as the Chief assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada. A California native, Pro graduated from Contra Costa Community College with his Associate's degree in 1966 and his bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University in 1968. He received his J.D. from the Golden Gate University School of Law in 1972.[6] He is known for his ruling in Righthaven v. Hoehn, where he ruled that the republishing of an entire article without permission from the rights holder was acceptable.[7] The vacancy creates a second vacancy on the court of eleven, raising the vacancy warning level from Yellow to Orange.
District of New Jersey
On January 2, 2012 Garrett Brown assumed senior status after serving on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey for 27 years.[1] He served as chief judge from 2005 - 2012. Prior to appointment, he served as the Chief counsel for the U.S. Maritime Administration. Kevin McNulty was appointed on December 16, 2011 to fill the vacancy. A native of New Jersey, Brown graduated from Lafayette College with his bachelor's degree in 1965 and later graduated from the Duke University School of Law with his Juris Doctorate degree in 1968.[8] The vacancy is the second vacancy on the court of seventeen, raising the vacancy warning level from Blue to Yellow.
New nominations
There were no new nominations during the recessed congress.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 U.S.Courts Current Judicial Vacancies
- ↑ Judge Kermit Lipez Bio (dead link)
- ↑ Judge Schroeder's Biography at the Federal Judicial Center
- ↑ Judge Charles Breyer Biography at the Federal Judicial Center
- ↑ "LA Times" Federal judge upholds 'bubble ordinance' for abortion protesters, August 5, 2009
- ↑ Judge Pro Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
- ↑ Wired "Righthaven Loss: Judge Rules Reposting Entire Article Is Fair Use," June 20, 2011
- ↑ Judge Brown's Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
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