Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Federal Courts, Empty Benches: The Wednesday Vacancy Count 8/24/2011
August 24, 2011
- For a District by District break down, see: Federal Court Vacancy Warning System
The current vacancy warning level for the U.S. Federal courts is set at Yellow and is unchanged from last week with 90 vacancies, leaving approximately 10.3% 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 | 10.1% or 18 vacancies |
| District Courts | 10.4% or 71 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. There are currently 57 pending appointments in the Senate leaving 37% of the vacant posts without an appointment. So far this year there have been 34 confirmations.
There was no activity this week on the part of the President or Senate with regard to either confirmations or nominations. In addition, no new vacancies opened up. With news at a low, we at Judgepedia would again like to highlight some of the more struggling districts in the country.
Red Warning level states
Currently two districts remain in a high states of distress with vacancy warning levels currently set at red with over 40% of their posts remaining vacant. The two districts are the Western District of Wisconsin and Middle District of Pennsylvania and were originally highlighted on 4/27/2011.
Western District of Wisconsin
The Western District of Wisconsin is struggling due to the limited number of posts on the court and the continued resistance to President Obama's nomination. This critical seat has been vacant for over two years with the assumption of John Shabaz to senior status on January 20, 2009.[1] In addition, while President Obama appointed a replacement on September 30, 2009, the appointment was seen as controversial and has been unable to clear the Senate. Louis Butler's appointment has actually been returned to the President three times since the nomination was originally submitted (12/24/2009, 8/5/2010 and 12/22/2010). While receiving a rating of Unanimously Well Qualified from the American Bar Association, Butler's nomination is controversial due to Butler's political leanings and his political history in Wisconsin. Butler was the only Judge of the Wisconsin Supreme Court who was appointed to the post. He also lost two elections for the post, one prior to appointment in 2000 and one after his appointment in 2008. He was the first Wisconsin Supreme Court justice in 41 years to not be re-elected. Currently Butler's nomination is awaiting action by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Middle District of Pennsylvania
The other severely struggling district based on vacancy percentage is the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The district has jurisdiction over 33 counties in Pennsylvania with courthouses in Harrisburg, Scranton, Williamsport and Wilkes-Barre. The court has six posts and currently has only three active Article III judges. The remaining seats have been open since early 2009 with the final post opening up in early 2010. The vacancies were created on:
- January 30, 2009 - James Munley assumed senior status.
- March 31, 2009 - Richard Caputo assumed senior status.
- April 21, 2010 - Thomas Vanaskie was elevated.[2]
In addition to the high number of vacancies, the district only has one pending appointee, Robert David Mariani, appointed 12/1/2010. While Mariani's appointment was returned to the President at the end of last year with the rest of the appointments, it was immediately resubmitted on January 5. Despite his unanimously well qualified rating from the ABA, there is remarkably little activity surrounding this applicant for a struggling district. The Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to schedule a hearing and pursue action on this appointment.
Orange warning level states
Currently there are eight states with a vacancy warning level of Orange with 25% - 40% of there seats vacant. The following chart shows a list of the districts with their current vacancy levels and post numbers.
| District | Posts | Vacancies | Percentage | Appointees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle District of Louisiana | 3 | 1 | 33% | 0 |
| District of Maine | 3 | 1 | 33% | Nancy Torresen |
| Western District of Arkansas | 3 | 1 | 33% | Susan Hickey |
| District of Alaska | 3 | 1 | 33% | Sharon L. Gleason |
| District of Montana | 3 | 1 | 33% | Dana Christensen |
| District of Utah | 5 | 2 | 40% | David Nuffer |
| Northern District of West Virginia | 3 | 1 | 33% | Gina Marie Groh |
| District of Wyoming | 3 | 1 | 33% | Scott W. Skavdahl |
See also
Footnotes
| |||||
