Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 4/3/2013
April 3, 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 vacancies this past week, leaving the final tally at 84 vacancies or approximately 9.7% 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 | 9.5% or 17 vacancies |
| District Courts | 9.9% or 67 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
There were no new confirmations this past week.
New vacancies
Southern District of California
On March 29, 2013, Judge Irma Gonzalez assumed senior status for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California after serving on the court for over 20 years.[1] Gonzalez served as the Chief Judge of the court from 2005 until 2012. She was originally nominated by George H.W. Bush and joined the court on August 12, 1992. At the time of her nomination, she was a superior court judge in the San Diego County, California Superior Court. Born in Palo Alto, California, Gonzalez graduated from Stanford University with her bachelor's degree in 1970 and later from the University of Arizona College of Law with her J.D. degree in 1973.[2] Her transition to senior status creates the first vacancy on the court of thirteen, raising the vacancy warning level from Green to Blue.
District of New Hampshire
On April 1, 2013, Judge Steven McAuliffe assumed senior status for the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire after serving on the court for over 20 years.[3] McAuliffe served as the Chief Judge of the court from 2004 until 2011. He was originally nominated by George H.W. Bush and joined the court on October 10, 1992. At the time of his nomination, he was a private practice attorney in New Hampshire. Born in Cambridge, MA, Gonzalez graduated from Virginia Military Institute with her bachelor's degree in 1970 and later from Georgetown University Law with his J.D. degree in 1973.[4] His transition to senior status creates the first vacancy on the court of three, raising the vacancy warning level from Green to Orange.
Ninth Circuit
On April 1, 2013, Judge Raymond Fisher assumed senior status for the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit after serving on the court for over 13 years.[5] He was originally nominated by Bill Clinton and joined the court on October 12, 1999. At the time of his nomination, he was the Associate Attorney General, for the United States Department of Justice. Born in Oakland, California, Fisher graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with his bachelor's degree in 1961 and later graduated from Stanford Law School with his Law degree, LL.B., in 1966.[2] His transition to senior status creates the second vacancy on the court of twenty-nine, leaving the vacancy warning level unchanged at Blue.
New nominations
There were no new nominations this past week.
New feature
Wondering how long nominees in your state have been waiting. See our new nomination tracking chart to check the number of days since nomination and since committee report for vacancies in your district and state: Pending Nomination Chart.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ U.S. Courts Current Vacancies
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Judge Irma Gonzalez Biography at the Federal Judicial Center Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "FJC Bio" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ U.S. Courts Current Vacancies
- ↑ Judges of the New Hampshire District
- ↑ U.S. Courts Current Vacancies
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