Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 10/17/2012

October 17, 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. There were no new vacancies 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.

News

With no news regarding changes to the 76 current judicial vacancies for Article III federal court posts, JP would like to take an opportunity to highlight key Senate races in the upcoming election. The role of the Senate Judiciary Committee in confirming judicial candidates to office is critical and members of the committee have increased power to block hearings and votes to candidates they deem controversial.

Elections

Special thanks to the staff at Ballotpedia for all their work breaking down the 2012 Senate elections

The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary is composed of 18 members with 10 Democrats and 8 Republicans. While committee assignments are done at the start of the next congressional session and members may opt to or be forced to leave a committee, a loss on the part of a committee member in the general election will always open a spot on the committee. There are two Judiciary Committee members leaving office, one from each party, and three Democrats and one Republican up for election. The following senators on the committee are up for election:

Arizona

United States Senate elections in Arizona, 2012 from Ballotpedia

Senator Jon Kyl (R) of Arizona will be retiring from his post on the Judiciary Committee with his retirement from the United States Senate in 2013. Kyl first joined the Senate in 1994 and immediately was assigned a post on the Judiciary Committee. The 2012 Arizona senate election has Richard Carmona (D), Jeff Flake (R), Marc Victor (Libretarian) and Ian Gilyeat (Independent) all competing for the open seat.

California

United States Senate elections in California, 2012 from Ballotpedia

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) of California will be up for election this November, facing Republican challenger Elizabeth Emken. Feinstein joined the Senate in 1992 when she was immediately assigned to the Judiciary Committee, and was one of the first women assigned to the committee and one of the few non-lawyers on the committee. The consensus among race projections published in the months leading up to November's general election, such as The New York Times 2012 Battle for the Senate, rate the race for the California Class 1 Senate seat as Solid Democratic. In addittion, the Cook Political Report gave the district a rating of solidly Democratic. Much of this one-sided ratings corresponds to the fund-raising capacity of the two candidates with Feinstein bringing in $2,480,342.71 while her opponent only garnered $350,057.16.

Minnesota

United States Senate elections in Minnesota, 2012 from Ballotpedia

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) of Minnesota will be up for election this November, facing Republican challenger Kurt Bills as well as three third party challengers, Stephen Williams (Independence), Timothy Davis (Grassroots) and Michael Cavlan (Minnesota Open Progressives). Klobuchar joined the Senate in 2006 and she was assigned to the Judiciary Committee in 2009. Current race projections published by the New York Times and the Cook Political Report rate the race as solidly Democratic. Yet again, a stark disparity in funding underlies this rating with Klobuchar bringing in $1,016,244.75 to Bills $289,434.68.

Rhode Island

United States Senate elections in Rhode Island, 2012 from Ballotpedia

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D) of Rhode Island will be up for election this November, facing Republican challenger Barry Hinckley as well as five independent challengers, Todd Giroux, Dany LaPorte, Christopher D. Reynolds, David J. Slavin and Gregory Raposa (Vigilant Fox Party). Whitehouse joined the Senate in 2006 and he was assigned to the Judiciary Committee when he was sworn in. Current race projections published by the New York Times and the Cook Political Report rate the race as solidly Democratic.

Utah

United States Senate elections in Utah, 2012 from Ballotpedia

Senator Orrin Hatch (R) of Utah will be up for election this November, facing Democratic challenger Scott Howell as well as three third party challengers, Shaun McCausland (Constitution Party), Bill Barron and Daniel Geery (Utah Justice Party). Hatch joined the Senate in 1977 and he was assigned to the Judiciary Committee when he was sworn in. Senator Hatch has served as the Committee's Republican Ranking Member from 1993 to 1995. After the Republicans won control of the US Senate in the 1994 elections, Hatch became the Committee's chairman from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2003 to 2005. Hatch also served as the Ranking Member from 2001 to 2003. Hatch is the longest tenured Republican on the committee and served in the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Chief Justices William Rehnquist in 1986 and John Roberts in 2005. Also, Hatch served in the confirmation hearings of Associate Justices Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981, Antonin Scalia in 1986, Robert Bork in 1987, Anthony Kennedy in 1988, David Souter in 1990, Clarence Thomas in 1991, Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993, Stephen Breyer in 1994, Samuel Alito in 2006, and Sonia Sotomayor in 2009. Also, Senator Hatch is the longest serving member of the committee as he is in his 33rd year on the committee. Patrick Leahy is the longest serving Democrat with 31 years experience. Current race projections published by the Cook Political Report rate the race as solidly Republican.

Wisconsin

United States Senate elections in Wisconsin, 2012 from Ballotpedia

Senator Herb Kohl (D) of Wisconsin will be retiring from his post on the Judiciary Committee with his retirement from the United States Senate in 2013. Kohl first joined the Senate in 1988 and immediately was assigned a post on the Judiciary Committee. In 2009 he was elevated to Vice Chairman. The 2012 Wisconsin senate election has U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin (D), Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Tompson (R), Nimrod Allen III (Ind.) and Joseph Kexel (Libertarian) all competing for the open seat.

General election coverage

While losses to any of these committee members will change the committee structure slightly, broad losses or transitions of control present a much greater capacity to change the make up of the Senate Judiciary Committee. You can follow your state's senate elections and elections from across the country on Ballotpedia's page: United States Senate elections, 2012.

See also

• United States federal courts