Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 4/24/2013
April 24, 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 two new confirmation this past week, leaving the final tally at 80 vacancies or approximately 9.2% 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 | 9.4% or 64 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
Southern District of New York
On April 18, 2013, the United States Senate confirmed Analisa Torres to an Article III post for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York with a voice vote.[1][2] Torres was originally nominated on November 15, 2012, by Barack Obama to the seat vacated by Naomi Buchwald. At the time of nomination, Torres was a judge for the New York Supreme Court 1st Judicial District. She was rated Unanimously Qualified by the American Bar Association. She had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 23, 2013 and you can find her Committee Questionnaire available here and her Questions for the Record available here.[3] The confirmation fills one of five vacancies on the court of twenty-eight, leaving the vacancy warning level unchanged at Yellow.
District of Hawaii
On April 18, 2013, the United States Senate confirmed Derrick Kahala Watson to an Article III post for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii with a vote of 94-0.[1][4] Watson was originally nominated on November 15, 2012, by Barack Obama to the seat vacated by David Alan Ezra. At the time of nomination, Watson was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Hawaii. He was rated Substantial Majority Well Qualified, Minority 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 five, lowering the vacancy warning level from Yellow to Green.
New vacancies
There were no new vacancies this past week.
New nominations
There were no new nominations this past week.
See also
Footnotes
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