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Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 5/11/2011

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May 11, 2011

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. Federal courts is set at Yellow and is unchanged despite two additional confirmations at the district court level. Approximately 10.1% of the total Article III posts are currently left 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 17 vacancies
District Courts 10.4% or 71 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. There are currently 53 pending appointments in the Senate leaving 40% of the vacant posts without an appointment. So far this year there have been 21 confirmations.

New confirmations

District of Rhode Island

John McConnell was confirmed to the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island on May 4, 2011 with a party-line vote of 50-44. The nomination had been returned to the president twice since Obama first nominated McConnell on March 10, 2010. McConnell's confirmation lowers the vacancy warning level of the District of Rhode Island from Orange to Green by filling the only vacant seat in the district.[1]

Northern District of California

Edward Chen was confirmed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on May 9, 2011 by a senate vote of 56-42. Chen's nomination, like McConnell, had been returned to the president repeatedly. Obama has had to resubmit the nomination 3 times since the original submission on August 6, 2009.[2] The second controversial confirmation this past week, Chen's appointment was opposed by the GOP due to his history with the ACLU and a perceived sense of "judicial activism".[3][4][5] Many have defended his appointment, including Charles Renfrew, a former U.S. District Court judge, pointing to Chen's eight years as a magistrate judge on the court as evidence of his commitment to upholding justice.[6] The confirmation lowers the vacancy warning level of the district from Yellow to Blue filling one of the two vacant posts in the district.

New nominations

Fifth Circuit

On May 5, 2011 Obama nominated Stephen Higginson to the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Higginson works part time in the U.S. Attorney's Office and is a full time Associate Professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. Obama commented on his nomination, stating, “Stephen Higginson is a distinguished candidate for the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Both his legal and academic credentials are impressive and his commitment to judicial integrity is unwavering. I am confident he will serve the American people with distinction.”[7] The nomination would fill the only vacant post on the circuit court.

6 to District Court, 1 to Appellate

May 5, 2011

Shortly after last week's Vacancy Count was released, President Obama submitted seven new nominations to the Senate. The nominations cover the following districts:

To read more, please see: Obama appoints six to district court, one to appellate court.

Hearings and meetings

May 5, 2011

The Senate Judiciary Committee held an Executive Business Meeting on May 5, 2011. The following judicial candidates were considered at the meeting:

You can watch the webcast here.

May 12, 2011

The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled an Executive Business Meeting on May 12, 2011. The following judicial candidates will be considered at the meeting:


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Providence Journal, "Third time the charm: McConnell confirmed," May 5, 2011
  2. ↑ 112th Congress Nomination Materials
  3. ↑ Human Events "'Press 1 for English' Nominee Voted Up by Senate Judiciary," October 16, 2009
  4. ↑ Blog of Legal Times "ACLU Back as a Whipping Boy," October 15, 2009
  5. ↑ The Reality Check "Obama’s Newest Racemongering Judge: California’s Edward Chen," October 16, 2009
  6. ↑ Sacramento Bee "LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Quotes Could Hurt Nominee," November 18, 2009 (dead link)
  7. ↑ "President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Stephen Higginson to Serve on United States Court of Appeals" 5/5/2011
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