Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 3/27/2013
March 27, 2013
- For a District by District break down, see: Federal Court Vacancy Warning System
The vacancy warning level for the U.S. Federal courts is currently set at Blue. There were three new confirmations this past week, leaving the final tally at 81 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 | 8.9% or 16 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 two shared post between the two Missouri districts and the two Kentucky districts, which count 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
Eastern District of California
On March 23, 2013, the United States Senate confirmed Troy L. Nunley to an Article III post for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California with voice vote.[1][2] Nunley was originally nominated on June 25, 2012, by Barack Obama to the seat vacated by Garland Burrell. At the time of nomination, Nunley was a judge for the Superior Court of Sacramento County in California. He was rated Majority Qualified, Minority Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. He had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 19, 2012, and you can find his Committee Questionnaire available here, his Questions for the Record available here (dead link) and his Renomination Questions for the Record available here.[3] The confirmation fills the one of two vacancies on the court of six, lowering the vacancy warning level from Orange to Yellow.
District of Colorado
On March 23, 2013, the United States Senate confirmed Raymond P. Moore to an Article III post for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado with voice vote.[1][4] Moore was originally nominated on November 15, 2012, by Barack Obama to the seat vacated by Wiley Daniel. At the time of nomination, Moore was the Federal Public Defender for the Districts of Colorado and Wyoming. He was rated Unanimously Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. He had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 23, 2013, and you can find his Committee Questionnaire available here and his Questions for the Record available here.[3] The confirmation fills the only vacancy on the court of seven, lowering the vacancy warning level from Yellow to Green.
District of Columbia
On March 23, 2013, the United States Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to an Article III post for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia with voice vote.[1][5] Jackson was originally nominated on September 20, 2012, by Barack Obama to the seat vacated by Henry Kennedy. At the time of nomination, Jackson was a Vice Chair and Commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission. Jackson was rated Unanimously Qualified by the American Bar Association. She had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on December 12, 2012 and you can find her Committee Questionnaire available here, her Questions for the Record available here and her Renomination Questions for the Record available here.[6] The confirmation fills the only vacancy on the court of fifteen, lowering the vacancy warning level from Blue to Green.
New vacancies
There were no new vacancies this past week.
New nominations
There were no new nominations this past week.
Withdrawals
On March 22, 2013, President Barack Obama accepted the request from Caitlin Halligan to withdrawal her nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The withdrawal comes on the heels of a major cloture vote for Halligan's nomination which failed to achieve the 60 vote threshold to overcome the filibuster. Obama commented on the withdrawal stating:
| “ | I am deeply disappointed that even after nearly two and a half years, a minority of Senators continued to block a simple up-or-down vote on her nomination. This unjustified filibuster obstructed the majority of Senators from expressing their support. I am confident that with Caitlin’s impressive qualifications and reputation, she would have served with distinction.[7][8] | ” |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 113th Congress Confirmations
- ↑ United States Periodic Press Gallery
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 112th Congress Nomination Materials
- ↑ United States Periodic Press Gallery
- ↑ United States Periodic Press Gallery
- ↑ 113th Congress Nomination Materials
- ↑ "Statement by the President on the Withdrawal of the Nomination of Caitlin Halligan" 3/22/2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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