The Enlightenment

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Welcome to The Judiciary at Noon! Take a break from work to get an update on the oft-neglected third branch of the United States government, the judicial branch.

The series covers any updates to the federal judiciary, including any new judges confirmed, any deaths, resignations, or retirements from the courts, and any new vacancies that have occurred. It includes political analysis and fun information about the United States judiciary at the very end. All information spans the previous week.

Confirmations

No new judges were confirmed this week. The Senate will begin voting on judicial appointments this coming Monday, on January 8th. For a refresher on how the Senate confirms judges, skim the final part of last week’s post here.

Vacancies

The following judges have assumed senior status (a form of semi-retirement), opening up vacancies on their respective courts:

• Ann Louise Aiken, of the District of Oregon, on December 29th, 2023.
• Brian Jordan Davis, of the Middle District of Florida, on December 30th, 2023.
• Eldon E. Fallon, of the Eastern District of Louisiana, on January 1st, 2024.
• Malachy Edward Mannion, of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, on January 3rd, 2024.

In addition, on January 2nd, 2024, Judge Sarah S. Vance of the Eastern District of Louisiana announced she would take senior status on January 16th, 2024. There are now 91 vacancies on the federal judiciary, up from 89 a week ago.

Retirements, deaths, and resignations

On January 2nd, 2024, Senior Judge Daniel R. Domínguez of the District of Puerto Rico, nominated by President Bill Clinton, retired. There are now 9 judges on the court, with 5 having been nominated by Democratic Presidents and 4 by Republicans.

Other

Two new District Court Chief Judges were inaugurated on January 1st, 2024:

• Judge Robert David Proctor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, became the Chief Judge of the Northern District of Alabama, taking over the position from Judge Lawrence Scott Coogler, also a Bush appointee.
• Judge Michael J. McShane, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, became the Chief Judge of the District of Oregon, taking over the position from Judge Marco Antonio Hernandez, also an Obama appointee.

Analysis

Big rumblings in just one week! Judges typically take senior status around the time of New Year, and the terms of Chief Judges expire before New Year, so the high level of activity we’ve seen over the last week is to be expected. Looking ahead, the Senate will kick back into gear on Monday, and they’ve got their work cut out for them.

President Joe Biden will now be nominating judges to more conservative states, and it appears he’s setting his sights on Texas. The 4 staunchly conservative District Courts of Texas became an easy avenue for conservative lawyers to move cases up to the Supreme Court in the Trump era, but Biden could be bringing that to an end.

The Texas District Courts have a large number of vacancies, and Biden has a chance to make the courts significantly more Democratic. The Western District of Texas is particularly vulnerable, having 4 vacancies and 15 judges. If Biden were to appoint them all, he would be appointing over 20% of the entire Court and bringing the partisan split of the Western District—which covers big cities like El Paso, San Antonio, and Austin—close to even.

Bonus: What is senior status?

I’ve mentioned senior status several times. It refers to a form of quasi-retirement available for federal judges. If a federal judge is at least 65 years old, and the number of years they have served plus their age amounts to at least 80 years, then they are eligible for senior status. So, for example, if I was appointed a federal judge at age 60, I could become a senior judge at age 70 because my age (70 years) plus my time on the court (10 years) adds up to 80.

Senior judges must maintain a reduced workload (at least 25% of the case work they were doing previously) to continue to work on the court. Senior judges can choose to retire, resign, or remain a judge until the time of death. Judges who are eligible do not have to become senior judges; there are at least 30 such judges serving in the District Courts alone. Becoming a senior judge opens up a vacancy for the President to put in a new judge.

In recent years, senior status has become more politicized. Judges increasingly “time” their senior status retirements so that the President that they want nominates their replacement, typically a President of the same party that nominated the judge.

SIGN-OFF

That’s it for this week’s The Judiciary at Noon. This has been Anthony Myrlados. I’ll see you next noon and until then I wish you all an enjoyable weekend!