Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 6/20/2012
June 20, 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 was one new confirmation and one new vacancy this week, leaving the final tally at 72 vacancies or approximately 8.3% 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 | 6.7% or 12 vacancies |
| District Courts | 8.8% or 60 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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New confirmations
District of South Carolina
On June 18, 2012, the United States Senate confirmed Mary Geiger Lewis to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina with vote of 64-27.[1][2] Lewis was originally appointed on March 16, 2011, by Barack Obama to the seat vacated by Henry Franklin Floyd. At the time of appointment, Lewis was a partner at the law firm Lewis & Babcock located in Columbia, South Carolina. She was rated Unanimously Qualified by the American Bar Association. She had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 15, 2012 and you can find her Committee Questionnaire available here and her Questions for the Record available here.[3] The confirmation fills the only vacancy on the court of ten, lowering the vacancy warning level from Blue to Green.
New vacancies
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
On June 18, 2012, Judge Berle Schiller assumed senior status for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania after serving on the court for 12 years.[4] Schiller was originally appointed by Bill Clinton and was a Pennsylvania Superior Court Appellate Judge at the time of appointment. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Schiller graduated from Bowdoin College with his bachelor's degree in 1965 and obtained his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1968.[5] The vacancy creates the fifth vacancy on the court of twenty-two leaving the vacancy warning level unchanged at Yellow.
New nominations
There were no new nominations this past week.
See also
Footnotes
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