Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 6/11/2014

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

June 11, 2014

By Courtney Collins

This week's Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count includes nominations, confirmations and vacancies from June 4, 2014 to June 10, 2014. Nominations, confirmations and vacancies occurring on June 11th will be reflected in the June 18th report.

This week saw the District of Nevada and the Eastern District of Virginia return to the green warning level as Hannah Lauck and Richard Franklin Boulware II were confirmed. The confirmation of Leo Sorokin and Mark G. Mastroianni removed two of the vacancies on the District of Massachusetts. Finally, the District of Columbia gained Tanya S. Chutkan and the District of South Carolina gained Bruce Hendricks.

The vacancy warning level remained at blue this week after no new vacancies and six new confirmations. The vacancy percentage fell to 7.2%. There were no new nominations this week, which allowed the total number of nominees waiting for confirmation to fall to 26. The number of vacancies of Article III judges fell to 62 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.

Vacancies by court

Court	# of Seats	Vacancies
Supreme Court	9	0% or no vacancies
Appeals Courts	179	5.6% or 10 vacancies
District Courts	677	7.6% or 52 vacancies
All Judges	865	7.2% or 62 vacancies

New vacancies

There were no new vacancies this week.

New confirmations

District of Columbia

Tanya S. Chutkan

The United States Senate confirmed Tanya S. Chutkan to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on June 4, 2014, on a vote of 95-0. Chutkan leaves the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, after 12 years as an attorney, to join the federal bench. Her entire 27 year career prior to confirmation was spent as an attorney. She earned her B.A. from George Washington University and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983 and 1987, respectively. The confirmation comes 167 days after her nomination. The confirmation fills a vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The vacancy warning level remained at yellow.

District of Massachusetts

Leo Sorokin

The United States Senate confirmed Leo Sorokin to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on June 10, 2014, by a vote of 91-0. Sorokin joined the court in 2005 as a federal magistrate judge. He has served as both an Assistant Attorney General and an Assistant Public Defender for a total of 11 years. He earned his B.A. from Yale and his J.D. from Columbia Law, graduating in 1983 and 1991, respectively. Sorokin's confirmation came 173 days after his nomination and filled the vacancy created by Joseph Tauro, who took senior status in September of 2013. The confirmation removes one vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The vacancy warning level fell from yellow to blue.

Mark G. Mastroianni

The United States Senate confirmed Mark G. Mastroianni to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on June 4, 2014, on a vote of 92-2. Mastroianni vacates his position of three years as District Attorney for Hampden County, Massachusetts to join the federal bench. He has 24 years of experience as an attorney and started his career clerking for the law offices of Hurley, Melikian, Sousa & McFarlin. He earned his B.A. from American International College and his J.D. from Western New England College of Law. His confirmation came 253 days after his nomination and fills a vacancy created by Michael Ponsor, who took senior status in August of 2011. The confirmation removes one of the vacancies on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The vacancy warning level fell from yellow to blue.

District of Nevada

Senator Dean Heller spoke on the floor on Boulware's nomination.

Richard Franklin Boulware II

Richard Franklin Boulware II received confirmation to the United States District Court for the District of Nevada from the United States Senate on June 10, 2014, by a vote of 58-35. Boulware leaves a position at the Federal Public Defenders Office of Las Vegas, Nevada after seven years to join the federal court. His other experience includes four years as an Attorney at the Federal Defenders Office of New York and as a clerk for Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York. He holds an A.B. from Harvard and a J.D. from Columbia Law, graduating in 1993 and 2001, respectively. Boulware's confirmation comes 145 days after his nomination and fills the vacancy created by Phil Pro, who assumed senior status in December of 2011. The confirmation removes the only vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. The vacancy warning level fell from yellow to green.

District of South Carolina

Bruce Hendricks

Bruce Hendricks received confirmation to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina on June 4, 2014, when the United States Senate voted 95-0. The confirmation elevates Hendricks from a federal magistrate judge of the District of South Carolina, where she served from 2002, to a federal judge for the same court. After earning her B.S. from the College of Charleston and her J.D. from the University of South Carolina, Hendricks spent eleven years as an Assistant United States Attorney. Hendricks' confirmation came 343 days after her nomination and fills a vacancy created by Margaret Seymour, who took senior status in January of 2013. The confirmation removes a vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. The vacancy warning level fell from yellow to blue.

Eastern District of Virginia

Hannah Lauck

The United States Senate confirmed Hannah Lauck to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on June 10, 2014, on a vote of 90-0. The confirmation elevated Lauck from her position as a federal magistrate judge for the same court, an appointment she received in 2005. She obtained a B.A. from Wellesley College and her J.D. from Yale, earning them in 1986 and 1991. Lauck's prior experience includes ten years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, three years as an attorney for various law firms and thirteen years teaching law. Her confirmation comes 173 days after her nomination and fills the vacancy created by James Spencer who took senior status in March of this year. The confirmation removes the only vacancy on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The vacancy warning level fell from yellow to green.

New nominations

There were no new nominations this week.

Weekly map

The weekly map is updated every week and posted here and on the Federal Court Vacancy Warning System analysis page.

See also

• United States federal courts

Footnotes

[[Category:DC 2014 news