Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 3/28/2012

March 28, 2012

By Joshua Meyer-Gutbrod

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. This past week, the total changed due to four confirmations and three new vacancies. The final tally leaves 80 vacancies or approximately 9.2% 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	9% or 16 vacancies
District Courts	9.4% or 64 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.

New confirmations

District of Columbia

On Thursday, March 22, 2012 Rudolph Contreras was confirmed by the United States Senate to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia with a voice vote. Contreras was originally appointed by Barack Obama to the post on July 28, 2011 to fill the seat vacated by Ricardo Urbina. At the time of appointment, Contreras was an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia but has also served in the District of Delaware.. He was rated Majority Qualified, Minority Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. He had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee on October 4, 2011 and you can find his Committee Questionnaire available here and his Questions for the Record available here. The confirmation fills one of two vacancies on the court of fifteen, lowering the vacancy warning level from Yellow to Blue.

Southern District of New York

On Thursday, March 22, 2012 Ronnie Abrams was confirmed by the United States Senate to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York with a vote of 96-2. Abrams was originally appointed by Barack Obama to the post on July 28, 2011 to fill the seat vacated by Lewis Kaplan. At the time of appointment, Abrams was a Special Counsel for Pro Bono at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. She was rated Substantial Majority Qualified, Minority Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. She had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee on October 4, 2011 and you can find her Committee Questionnaire available here and her Questions for the Record available here. The confirmation fills one of five vacancies on the court of twenty-eight, leaving the vacancy warning level at Yellow.

District of Utah

On Thursday, March 22, 2012 David Nuffer was confirmed by the United States Senate to the United States District Court for the District of Utah with a vote of 96-2. Nuffer was originally appointed by Barack Obama to the post on June 29, 2011 to fill the seat vacated by Dale Kimball. At the time of appointment, Nuffer was a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of Utah. He was rated Unanimously Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. He had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee on September 20, 2011 and you can find his Committee Questionnaire available here and his Questions for the Record available here. The confirmation fills one of two vacancies on the court of five, lowering the vacancy warning level from Orange to Yellow.

Northern District of West Virginia

On Thursday, March 15, 2012 Gina Marie Groh was confirmed by the United States Senate to the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia with a vote of 95-2. Groh was originally appointed by Barack Obama to the post on May 19, 2011 to fill the seat vacated by W. Craig Broadwater. At the time of appointment, Groh was a West Virginia Circuit Court judge of the Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit, comprised of Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan Counties, West Virginia. She was rated GinaGroh by the American Bar Association. She had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee on September 7, 2011 and you can find her Committee Questionnaire available here and her Questions for the Record available here. The confirmation fills the only vacancy on the court of three, lowering the vacancy warning level from Orange to Green.

New vacancies

Northern District of Illinois

On March 20, 2012 Judge William Hibbler passed away after serving on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for 13 years on the bench. At the time of his appointment from Bill Clinton, Hibbler was an Associate judge on the Cook County Circuit Court. Hibbler earned his B.S. degree from the University of Chicago in 1969 and his J.D. from DePaul University in 1973. Hibbler's death creates the fourth vacancy on the court of 22, leaving the vacancy warning level unchanged at Yellow.

Southern District of New York

On March 21, 2012 Judge Naomi Buchwald assumed senior status after serving on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for 13 years. At the time of her appointment from Bill Clinton, Buchwald served as a Federal Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York between 1980 and 1999, serving as Chief Magistrate for 1994 to 1999. She graduated from Brandeis University with her bachelor's degree in 1965 and with her law degree from Columbia Law School in 1968. During her time on the bench, she served as the presiding judge in the case of former New York Assembly member Anthony Seminerio. Seminerio was convicted in federal court for rigging $1 million of payments towards individuals and contractors doing business with state government. On February 4, 2010, Judge Buchwald sentenced the former New York Assembly member to six years in prison. Her transition to senior status creates the sixth vacancy on the court of twenty-eight, eaving the vacancy warning level unchanged at Yellow.

Northern District of California

On March 23, 2012 Judge Saundra Armstrong assumed senior status after serving on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for 21 years. At the time of her appointment from George H.W. Bush, Armstrong served as a superior court judge in the Alameda County Superior Court from 1989 to 1991. A California native, Armstrong graduated from Merritt College with her Associate's degree in 1967 and also graduated from Fresno State University with her bachelor's degree in 1969 and later graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law with her Juris Doctorate degree in 1977. While pursuing her law degree, Armstrong was a police officer with the Oakland Police Department from 1970 to 1977. During her time on the bench, Armstrong struck down two local ballot initiatives that voters in the cities of Arcata and Eureka, California, had approved in November 2008. The measures, Measure F and Measure J, prohibited military recruitment in the two California cities of youth under the age of 18. Armstrong ruled that the anti-recruitment measures violate the clause of the federal Constitution that establishes the Constitution, federal statutes and treaties as the supreme law of the land. Government attorneys had argued that military recruitment falls under the purview of the federal government and that it cannot be regulated by state or local governments. Her transition to senior status creates the second vacancy on the court of fourteen, raising the vacancy warning level from Blue to Yellow.

New nominations

There were no new nominations this past week.

See also

• United States federal courts