Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 10/10/2012
October 10, 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. There was one new vacancy this past week. That leaves the final tally at 76 vacancies or approximately 8.8% 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 | 7.8% or 14 vacancies |
| District Courts | 9.1% or 62 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.
Weekly 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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New confirmations
There were no new confirmations this past week.
New vacancies
District of Connecticut
On September 30, 2012, Judge Mark Kravitz passed away after serving as a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut for 9 years. Judge Kravitz passed away after a long battle with Lou Gehrig's disease at the age of 62.[1] Kravitz originally joined the court on 6/12/2003 after an appointment from George W. Bush. At the time of appointment, he was a private practice attorney in Connecticut.[2] Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Kravitz graduated from Wesleyan University with his bachelor's degree in 1972 and later from Georgetown University Law Center with his J.D. degree in 1975.[2] Fellow federal Judge Alvin Thompson commented on his passing, stating "Judge Kravitz was a wonderful colleague and a very dedicated and able jurist. He loved the work of judging. I think it was his intellect, his temperament and the fact that he enjoyed every aspect of the work."[3] The vacancy creates the second vacancy on the court of eight, leaving the vacancy warning level unchanged at Yellow.
New nominations
There were no new nominations this past week.
See also
Footnotes
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