Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 11/14/2012
November 14, 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 were three new vacancies this past week, with two at the district level and one at the appellate level. That leaves the final tally at 80 vacancies or approximately 9.3% 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 | 8.4% or 15 vacancies |
| District Courts | 9.6% or 65 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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News
With no news regarding changes to the 80 current judicial vacancies for Article III federal court posts, JP would like to follow up on our post from the October 17 and highlight the election results for the current members of the senate judiciary committee . 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
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 are election results for current sitting judiciary committee members:
| Senator | Partisan Challenger | Winner |
|---|---|---|
Dianne Feinstein(D) | Elizabeth Emken(R) | Dianne Feinstein(D) |
| Amy Klobuchar(D) | Kurt Bills(R) | Amy Klobuchar(D) |
| Sheldon Whitehouse(D) | Barry Hinckley(R) | Sheldon Whitehouse(D) |
| Orrin Hatch(R) | Scott Howell(D) | Orrin Hatch(R) |
All 4 of the Senate Judiciary members that were up for election have held their seats for another six years. However, the retirement of Jon Kyl (R) of Arizona and Herb Kohl (D) will open up seats on both sides of the aisle changing the committee structure. This does not account for potential changes due to seat movement of current members. Further, the re-election of President Obama has breathed new life into a number of nominees and could potentially encourage senate action to reduce the current 9.3% vacancy level during this term. If the Senate fails to act on any pending nominations, we will see 4 additional district court nominations by the end of the year, raising the vacancy warning level to 10.1% for the district courts. By January 31, the courts will see at least 9 district vacancies and 1 appellate vacancy, raising the percentage of vacancies from 9.3% to 10.4% and the vacancy warning level for the entire federal judiciary from Blue to Yellow. This estimate only accounts for planned vacancies.[1]
See also
Footnotes
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