Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 6/4/2014
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June 4, 2014
This week's Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count includes nominations, confirmations and vacancies from May 28, 2014 to June 3, 2014. Nominations, confirmations and vacancies occurring on June 4th will be reflected in the June 11th report.
Ellen Huvelle, a federal judge who ordered Guantanamo detainee Mohammed Jawad to be allowed a federal trial in 2009, assumed senior status this week after 14 years as an active judge.
The vacancy warning level remained at blue this week after one new vacancy and no new confirmations. The vacancy percentage rose to 7.9%. There were no new nominations this week, which allowed the total number of nominees waiting for confirmation to remain at 32. The number of vacancies of Article III judges rose to 68 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 | 8.6% or 58 vacancies |
| All Judges | 865 | 7.9% or 68 vacancies |
New vacancies
District of Columbia
Ellen Huvelle
| Ellen Huvelle assumed senior status on June 3, 2014, after 14 years on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Huvelle was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1999 to fill a vacancy created by John Penn. She has heard a wide breadth of cases while on the court, from granting Guantanamo detainee Mohammed Jawad the ability to have a federal trial to the trial and sentencing of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.[1][2] Prior to joining the federal court Huvelle spent nine years on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, making her a 24 year veteran of the D.C. courts. There is currently no one nominated to fill her vacancy. The transition to senior status creates a third vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The vacancy warning level remained at yellow. | 
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New confirmations
There were no new confirmations this week.
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.
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See also
Footnotes
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