Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.

Bold Justice: August 5, 2019

From Ballotpedia
Revision as of 14:41, 6 August 2021 by Maintenance script (contribs) (Inventory category installation for: On-site_newsletters)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to: navigation, search

%%subject%%

Ballotpedia's Bold Justice
Welcome to the August 5 edition of Bold Justice, Ballotpedia's newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S. Starting with this issue, I'm handing the reins to Sara Reynolds, our top SCOTUS expert on staff. You'll be in good hands with her knowledge and insight of the federal court system.

Enjoy the rest of summer stress-free knowing we've got your back when it comes to news! Follow us on Twitter or subscribe to the Daily Brew for the most up-to-date political information.
 
We #SCOTUS so you don't have to

The SCOTUS justices are on their summer recess. The 2019-2020 term will begin October 7. Click here to read more about SCOTUS' upcoming term.
 
Court news

The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts in a one-month period. This month's edition includes nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from June 27 to July 31, 2019.

Highlights

  • Vacancies: There have been seven new judicial vacancies since the June 2019 report. As of July 31, 114 of 870 active Article III judicial positions on courts covered in this report were vacant—a vacancy percentage of 13.1 percent.

    Including the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, 123 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
     
  • Nominations: There have been two new nominations since the June 2019 report.
     
  • Confirmations: There have been 21 new confirmations since the June 2019 report. Vacancy count for July 31, 2019 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, click here.

Vacancy count for July 31, 2019

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, click here.

Vacancies by court as of July 31, 2019

Court

# of seats

Vacancies

Supreme Court

9

0%
0 vacancies

Appeals courts

179

2.2%

4 vacancies

District courts (including territorial courts)*

677

15.7%

 106 vacancies

International trade

9

44.4%

4 vacancies
*Though the United States territorial courts are named as district courts, they are not Article III courts. They are created in accordance with the power granted under Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. Click here for more information.

New vacancies

The following judges left active status, creating Article III vacancies. As Article III judicial positions, they must be filled by a nomination from the president. Nominations are subject to Senate confirmation.

Courts with the most vacancies

The Central District of California, the District of New Jersey, and the Southern District of New York have the most vacancies of the U.S. District Courts.
  • The Central District of California
    • Nine vacancies out of 28 total positions.
    • Longest vacancy: Five years. Judge Audrey Collins took senior status in October 2012 and retired from the court on August 1, 2014.
    • Most recent vacancy: One month. Judge Andrew Guilford assumed senior status on July 5, 2019. Three nominations are pending.
  • The District of New Jersey
    • Six vacancies out of 17 total positions.
    • Longest vacancy: Four and one-half years. Judge William Martini assumed senior status on February 10, 2015.
    • Most recent vacancy: Ten weeks. Judge Jose Linares retired May 16, 2019.
    • No nominations are pending.
  • The Southern District of New York
    • Six vacancies out of 28 total positions.
    • Longest vacancy: Four years. Judge Paul Crotty assumed senior status on August 1, 2015.
    • Most recent vacancy: Almost 10 months. Judge Richard Sullivan was elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit on October 11, 2018.
For more information on judicial vacancies during President Trump's first term, click here.

New nominations

President Trump has announced two new nominations since the June 2019 report.
  • Lee Rudofsky, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
  • R. Austin Huffaker, to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
The president has announced 193 Article III judicial nominations since taking office January 20, 2017. The president named 69 judicial nominees in 2017 and 92 in 2018. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.

New confirmations

Between June 27 and July 31, 2019, the Senate confirmed 21 of the president’s nominees to Article III courts.


 

Since January 2017, the Senate has confirmed 144 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—99 district court judges, 43 appeals court judges, and two Supreme Court justices.

Need a daily fix of judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? Click here for continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees.

Or, if you prefer, we also maintain a list of individuals President Trump has nominated.
Looking ahead

We'll be back September 9 with a new edition of Bold Justice.


Why subscribe to Bold Justice?

Stay on top of the whirlwind world of the federal judiciary


Need to stay on top of the whirlwind world of the federal judiciary of the United States?

Join us, counsel, as we lay the foundation for what happened this week in the world of federal courts. Our record will reflect the cases SCOTUS heard, which judges retired, which were nominated, and what important rulings come out of other federal courts. Call us as your next witness and get the most in-depth coverage of federal courts available to your inbox. Subscribe for free today.

Ballotpedia has been providing new areas of coverage, performing in-depth analyses, and developing new tools to help keep our readers in the know since 2006. This is one more resource to keep you informed—one that can be delivered to your inbox once a week.







Archive

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017


Why Bold Justice?

Well, there’s a story behind it, and we’re happy to credit Justice Samuel Alito for the inspiration. Back in October of 2014, Justice Alito joined his fellow Supreme Court Yale Law alumni, Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor, for a panel as part of the law school’s alumni weekend (video below). During the discussion, the moderator asked the audience if they could guess which of the three justices on the panel served as the inspiration for a coffee house to name one of their blends of coffee, Bold Justice. Justice Alito responded, “Obviously, it’s me.”

He went on to tell the story of how, during his days as a Third Circuit judge, his law clerks participated in a Newark, New Jersey, coffee shop’s year-long promotion wherein if customers sampled every blend for one year, the customers could then create and name a blend of coffee. Justice Alito described Bold Justice as a blend that was “designed for about three o’clock in the afternoon if you’re working and you’re starting to fall asleep, if you have this, it will jolt you awake.” A blend of courts and coffee: sounds perfect to us!

v • e
Ballotpedia-Logo-UPDATED-white background.jpg
Ballotpedia coverage by project
Federal
State
Local
Policy
News
Indexes


Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Bold_Justice:_August_5,_2019&oldid=8439707"