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Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 10/2/2013
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October 2, 2013
The vacancy warning level remains at yellow this week after three new vacancies, raising the vacancy percentage to 10.8%. There were no new nominations this week keeping the total number of nominees waiting for confirmation at 55. There were three transitions to senior status in the past week, allowing the total number of vacancies of Article III judges to rise to 94 out of 865. A breakdown of the vacancies on each level can be found in the table below. For a more detailed look at the vacancies on the federal courts, see our Federal Court Vacancy Warning System.
Example tables
| Court | # of Seats | Vacancies |
| Supreme Court | 9 | 0% or no vacancies |
| Appeals Courts | 179 | 9.4% or 17 vacancies |
| District Courts | 677 | 11.3% or 77 vacancies |
| All Judges | 865 | 10.8% or 94 vacancies |
New confirmations
There were no new confirmations this past week.
New vacancies
Eleventh Circuit Court
Rosemary Barkett
| On September 30, 2013, Judge Rosemary Barkett resigned from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to join the Iran-United States Tribunal in The Hague.[1] Judge Barkett served on the court for 19 years. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994 to replace Judge Paul Roney. Before becoming a federal judge, Judge Barkett served on the Florida Supreme Court from 1985 to the time of her appointment. Her resignation creates a third vacancy on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals; this vacancy has no effect on the warning level, which remains at yellow. | 
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District of Massachusetts
Joseph Tauro
On September 26, 2013, Judge Joseph Tauro took senior status after 41 years on the bench.[2] Tauro was appointed by President Richard Nixon in 1972 to fill a seat vacated by Francis Ford. Judge Tauro served as the Chief Judge from 1992 to 1999 and was the last judge appointed by Richard Nixon to take senior status. Tauro was only the second judge to invoke the Adam Walsh Act, which allows a sex offender to be held indefinitely if they are thought to be a threat to society. Tauro invoked the Act in 2009 when Wayne Hunt of New York was found to be a threat. He was also the judge that heard the Massachusetts case against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), in which he ruled that DOMA was unconstitutional. Current Chief Judge Patti Saris had this to say about Tauro's career,
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Western District of Pennsylvania
Terrence McVerry
| Terrence McVerry took senior status on September 30, 2013, after 11 years on the court.[5] Judge McVerry was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 to a seat vacated by Donald Ziegler. Prior to becoming a federal judge, Judge McVerry was a Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas judge for Allegheny County. Judge McVerry earned both his undergraduate and J.D. from Duquesne University, in 1965 and 1968 respectively.[6] This transition creates a third vacancy on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, which this raises the vacancy warning level from yellow to orange. | 
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New nominations
There were no new nomination this past week.
Weekly map
The new weekly map is updated every week and posted here and on the vacancy warning level analysis page.
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ U.S. Courts Current Vacancies
- ↑ U.S. Courts Current Vacancies
- ↑ Boston.com, "Joseph Tauro, longest-serving judge, to step down from active service, take senior status," August 14, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ U.S. Courts Current Vacancies
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Terrence McVerry," accessed October 2, 2013
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