The Federal Vacancy Count 11/25/2015
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November 25, 2015
This month's Federal Vacancy Count includes nominations, confirmations and vacancies from October 28, 2015, to November 24, 2015. Nominations, confirmations and vacancies occurring on November 25, 2015, will be reflected in the December report.
The vacancy warning level remained at blue this month after two vacancies and one new confirmation. The vacancy percentage rose to 7.6 percent. There were no new nominations this month, allowing the total number of nominees waiting for confirmation to fall to 28. The number of vacancies of Article III judges rose to 66 out of 874. A breakdown of the vacancies at 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 | 5.0% or 9 vacancies |
| District Courts | 677 | 7.8% or 53 vacancies |
| International Trade | 9 | 44.4% or 4 vacancies |
| All Judges | 874 | 7.6% or 66 vacancies |
New vacancies
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
| Margaret Morrow is a federal judge on senior status for the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Born in Columbus, Nebraska, Morrow graduated from Bryn Mawr College with her bachelor's degree in 1971 and later from Harvard Law School with her J.D. degree in 1974. Morrow was nominated to the United States District Court for the Central District of California by former President Bill Clinton on January 7, 1997, to a seat vacated by Richard Gadbois. Morrow was confirmed by the Senate on February 11, 1998, and she received her commission on February 24, 1998. With Morrow's transition to senior status on October 29, 2015, the court now has two vacancies. The vacancy warning level remains at blue.[1][2] | 
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U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii
| Susan Oki Mollway is a federal judge on senior status for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mollway graduated from the University of Hawaii with her bachelor's degree in 1971 and master's degree in 1973, before graduating from Harvard Law School in 1981 with her J.D. Mollway was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii by former President Bill Clinton on January 7, 1997, to a seat vacated by Harold Fong. Mollway was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 22, 1998, on a majority vote and received her commission on June 23, 1998. She acted as chief judge from 2009 to 2015. With Mollway's transition to senior status on November 6, 2015, the court now has one vacancy. The vacancy warning level changed from green to yellow.[3][3][4] | 
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New confirmations
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
| LaShann Moutique DeArcy Hall is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Hall earned her B.A. from Antioch College in 1992 and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Howard University School of Law in 2000. Hall was nominated to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on November 12, 2014, by President Barack Obama. She was nominated to fill the vacancy created by Nicholas Garaufis, who took senior status on October 1, 2014. Hall's nomination was returned on December 31, 2014. She was renominated by President Barack Obama on January 7, 2015. Her nomination was reported to the full Senate on June 4, 2015, and confirmed by the Senate on November 16, 2015. The court still has one remaining vacancy, but Hall's transition changes the court's vacancy warning level from yellow to blue.[5][6] |
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New nominations
There were no new nominations from October 28, 2015, to November 25, 2015.
Other notable federal court transitions
Note: Transitions noted in this section relate to posts with limited, not lifetime, judicial appointments. Because of this, they are not included in Ballotpedia's overall vacancy warning calculations, though vacancy warning levels are often assigned for the individual courts.
U.S. Tax Court
| Vik Edwin Stoll is a nominee for the post of Article I federal judge for the United States Tax Court to replace James S. Halpern. He was nominated by President Barack Obama on November 9, 2015. Stoll earned both a B.S. and J.D. from the University of Missouri. Stoll currently acts as both the deputy chief administrative officer and the director of collections for Jackson County, Missouri. He has held the positions since 2012 and 2014, respectively. The tax court currently has two vacancies, and the vacancy warning level is at yellow.[7][8] |
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Monthly map
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ The Library of Congress, "Search Presidential Nominations," accessed October 30, 2015 (Search term PN20-105)
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Morrow, Margaret M.," accessed October 30, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Federal Judicial Center, "Mollway, Susan Oki," accessed November 9, 2015
- ↑ The Library of Congress, "PN19-105," accessed November 9, 2015
- ↑ The White House, "President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the United States District Courts," November 12, 2014
- ↑ The Library of Congress, "PN15-114," accessed November 23, 2015
- ↑ Whitehouse.gov, "Presidential Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate," November 9, 2015
- ↑ Whitehouse.org, "President Obama Nominates Vik Edwin Stoll to the United States Tax Court," November 5, 2015
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