Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 4/4/2012
April 4, 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. This past week, the total changed due to two new confirmations and one new vacancy. The final tally leaves 79 vacancies or approximately 9.1 percent 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 percent or no vacancies |
| Appeals Courts | 9 percent or 16 vacancies |
| District Courts | 9.3 percent or 63 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.
One year of vacancy counts
This weeks vacancy count marks the one year mark for our vacancy tracker project. With one year of vacancy data and lots of new ideas about the project, we at Judgepedia are excited to announce some new weekly features and some new graphs based on the past years data.
Monthly map
The new weekly map feature will be updated every week and posted here and on the vacancy warning level analysis page.
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Weekly charts
New weekly analysis will include weekly charts, situating the weeks changes in the broader historical picture of vacancy progress. You can find the charts here and at Federal Court Vacancy Warning System.
Weekly vacancy changes
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Weekly net vacancy changes
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Weekly vacancy percentage by court level
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Weekly total vacancy percentage
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Monthly rotation
A new feature will allow you to see the progress over the past year, by month. Click on the map to click through the past 12 months of vacancy changes.
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New confirmations
Eastern District of Louisiana
On Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Susie Morgan was confirmed by the United States Senate to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana with a vote of 96-1.[1] Morgan was originally appointed by Barack Obama to the post on June 7, 2011 to fill the seat vacated by Thomas Porteous after his impeachment. At the time of appointment, Morgan was a a partner in the New Orleans law firm of Phelps Dunbar LLP a position she had held since 2005. She was rated Unanimously Qualified by the American Bar Association. She had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee on October 19, 2011 and you can find her Committee Questionnaire available here and her Questions for the Record available here.[2] The confirmation fills the only vacancy on the court of twelve, lowering the vacancy warning level from Blue to Green.
District of Nevada
On Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Miranda Du was confirmed by the United States Senate to the United States District Court for the District of Nevada with a vote of 59-39.[1] Du was originally appointed by Barack Obama to the post on August 2, 2011 to fill the seat vacated by Roger Hunt. At the time of appointment, Du was a partner at the firm McDonald Carano Wilson LLP, in Reno, Nevada. She was rated Substantial Majority Qualified, Minority Not 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.[2] The confirmation fills one of two vacancies on the court of five, lowering the vacancy warning level from Orange to Yellow.
New vacancies
Middle District of Florida
On April 1, 2012, Judge Gregory Presnell of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida assumed senior status after serving on the bench for 12 years. At the time of his appointment from Bill Clinton, Presnell was a private practice attorney in Florida. Born in Tampa, Florida, Presnell graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1964 and later graduated from the University of Florida Law School in 1966.[3] His transition to senior status will create the second vacancy on the court of 15, raising the vacancy warning level from Blue to Yellow.
New nominations
There were no new nominations this past week.
See also
Footnotes
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