Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 10/26/2011
October 26, 2011
- For a District by District break down, see: Federal Court Vacancy Warning System
The current vacancy warning level for the U.S. Federal courts is set at Blue and is unchanged from last week. There were three additional confirmations at the district court level. The final tally leaves 83 vacancies or approximately 9.6% 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 | 10.1% or 18 vacancies |
| District Courts00ccff | 9.6% or 65 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. There are currently 55 pending appointments in the Senate leaving 22% of the vacant posts without an appointment. So far this year there have been 53 confirmations.
New confirmations
The United States Senate confirmed three judges to new posts on October 19, 2011.
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Robert David Mariani was confirmed to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania by a Senate vote of 82-17.[1] Mariani was originally appointed on December 1, 2010 to replace James M. Munley. At the time of appointment, Mariani was a private practice attorney in Scranton, PA. The confirmation aides one of the most struggling districts in the country, lowering the vacancy warning level of the district from Red to Orange.
Southern District of Florida
Robert N. Scola, Jr. was confirmed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida by a Senate voice vote. He was originally appointed on May 4, 2011 to fill the seat vacated by Paul Huck. At the time of his appointment, Scola served as a Family Division judge of the Eleventh Circuit of Florida. The confirmation fills one of two vacancies on the court of 16, lowering the vacancy warning level from Yellow to Blue.
Western District of Pennsylvania
Mark Raymond Hornak was confirmed to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania by a Senate voice vote. Hornak was appointed on December 1, 2010, by Barack Obama to fill the post vacated by Donetta Ambrose. At the time of appointment, Hornak was a partner at the law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC. The confirmation fills the only remaining vacancy on the court, lowering the vacancy warning level from Blue to Green.
New vacancies
There were no new vacancies in the past week.
==New nominations==There were no new appointments in the past week.
See also
Footnotes
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