Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 7/24/2013
July 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 was no change this past week, leaving the final tally at 83 vacancies or approximately 9.6% 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 | 9.6% or 17 vacancies |
| District Courts | 9.7% or 66 vacancies |
There are currently 9 Supreme Court posts, 179 appellate court posts and 681 district court posts for a total of 869 Article III judges. This count includes four temporary posts, one each in the District of Columbia, 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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News
With no new confirmations, vacancies and nominations made this past week we will attempt to review high risk districts and long standing nominees that are pending actions by the Senate.
Red Districts
There are three districts with over 50% of their posts vacant. President Obama has acted on both vacancies for the District of Montana while the other two courts have no pending nominees.
Western District of Wisconsin
With one active judge and one pending vacancy, the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin has had a red vacancy warning level since January 20, 2009. President Barack Obama's first nominee, Louis Butler, was rejected by the United States Senate repeatedly after numerous renominations. He was returned for the fourth and last time on December 17, 2011. Obama has yet to submit a new nomination to the Senate.
Western District of Kentucky
The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin has had a red vacancy warning level since February 1, 2013. The court currently has three vacancies for its five posts. There are no pending nominees for the court.
District of Montana
The United States District Court for the District of Montana elevated to a red vacancy warning level on March 18, 2013 with the transition to senior status of Richard Cebull. On May 23, 2013, President Obama nominated two to fill the vacancies. Both nominees are pending hearings from the United States Senate.
Long standing nominees
Three nominees have been pending for over 365 days.
District of Arizona
- Pending for 762 days.
- Pending for 762 days.
Rosemary Marquez was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona by President Obama on June 23, 2011. Returned at the end of the previous Congress, Marquez's nomination was resubmitted on January 3, 2013. She was rated Unanimously Qualified by the American Bar Association. You can find her Committee Questionnaire available here. She has yet to have a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[1] The vacancy warning level for the Middle District of Florida is currently set at Orange with five vacancies for its thirteen posts.
Eleventh Circuit
- Pending for 524 days.
- Pending for 524 days.
Jill Pryor was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit by President Obama on February 16, 2012. Returned at the end of the previous Congress, Pryor's nomination was resubmitted on January 4, 2013. She was rated Unanimously Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. You can find her Committee Questionnaire available here. She has yet to have a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[1] The vacancy warning level for the Middle District of Florida is currently set at Yellow with two vacancies for its twelve posts.
Middle District of Florida
- Pending for 511 days.
- Pending for 511 days.
Brian J. Davis was nominated to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida by President Obama on February 29, 2012. He was rated Unanimously Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. He had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 9, 2012 and you can find his Committee Questionnaire available here and his Questions for the Record available here.[2]
He was approved by the committee on June 21, 2012, but his nomination was returned at the end of the previous Congressional session. You can find his Renomination Questions for the Record available here. He has yet to clear committee during this session.[1] The vacancy warning level for the Middle District of Florida is currently set at Yellow with two vacancies for its fifteen posts.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 113th Congress Nomination Materials Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "113thmaterials" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 112th Congress Nomination Materials
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