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 federal judges were confirmed for the week of January 12th to 18th, 2024.

Vacancies

On the 12th of December, Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals announced she would be taking senior status (a form of semi-retirement) at a date as of yet unknown, opening up a vacancy on the court.

On the 16th of December, Judge Sarah S. Vance of the Eastern District of Louisiana assumed senior status. There are now 92 vacancies on the federal judiciary, up from 90 a week ago.

Retirements, deaths, and resignations

On January 16th, Senior Circuit Judge David Stephen Tatel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals retired. He had been nominated by President Bill Clinton. The partisan balance of the Court is now 9-7, Democratic-Republican.

Other

On January 18th, 2024, the Senate Judiciary Committee, the committee that reviews all federal judicial nominees to be voted on in the Senate, voted to advance 20 judicial nominees for a full vote in the Senate.

On January 10th, President Biden nominated 6 judges for consideration to the federal bench in Washington, D.C., Rhode Island, Virginia, California, Illinois, and Michigan.

Analysis

Democrats are continuing their slow start to confirming judges this year. The Senate did not confirm any new judges this week. Though the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced 20 nominees to the Senate, the vote was meant to happen on the 11th of January—Chairman Dick Durbin, Senator from Illinois, abruptly cancelled the meeting.

It is not quite clear what the goal of the Biden administration is in it judicial nominations. Is Biden trying to appoint judges to conservative states? Nope: most of his nominees have been to blue states.

Is Biden trying to shift the partisan balance of courts? Doesn’t appear that way. Biden has nominated a lot of judges to courts that are already heavily Democratic, rather than courts that have a more even partisan balance.

Is he trying to nominate judges to courts with a large number of vacancies? Doesn’t look like it. Otherwise, we’d be seeing more nominations to courts in Texas or Florida.

Perhaps Biden is trying to nominate judges in states where both Senators are Democrats, to make the blue-slip process easier. That seems to be the most likely scenario. Then again, Biden nominated judges to Wyoming, Utah, and Nebraska some weeks ago—all states with two Republican senators.

It may just be that the White House isn’t making a priority out of judicial confirmations. In my opinion, that’s a grave mistake for Biden. He’s not doing too well in the presidential polls, and Democrats may lose the Senate even if Biden wins. With less than 11 months until the next presidential election, this could be Biden’s last chance to leave a lasting impact on the country.

Bonus: Who’s who?

In my The Judiciary at Noon series, I’ve brought up names of people with a big role to play in the operation of the federal judiciary. I thought I’d name the ones you should know about.

John Roberts: Roberts is the Chief Justice of the United States of America. He is one of nine voting members of the nation’s highest court, the Supreme Court, which issues final decisions on all federal constitutional issues.

In addition, he has some non-judicial duties, such as chairing the Judicial Conference, a body that advises Congress on the judiciary.

Joe Biden: the current and 46th President of the United States. He is a Democrat. As President, Biden has the power to nominate all judges to the federal judiciary. Biden had a near-record speed of appointing judges in his first two years, though his pace has since slowed.

Biden has made an effort to nominate female, non-white, and LGBT judges. He has also appointed a record number of former public defenders as judges.

Richard “Dick” Durbin: Durbin has served as a Democratic Senator from Illinois since 1997. He is the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a committee of 21 Senators that review nominees to the federal judiciary.

As Chair, Durbin is pivotal in advancing judicial nominees. He sets the schedule for hearings for judicial nominations and the rules for how the Committee conducts itself.

Charles “Chuck” Schumer: Schumer has served as a Democratic Senator from New York since 1999. He is the Senate Majority Leader, meaning he is the top Democrat in the Senate, the party currently in control.

Since the Senate votes to confirm or reject all judicial nominees, Schumer has tremendous sway over the confirmations process. He decides what is up for a vote on any given day in the Senate, when the Senate convenes, and whether or not it takes certain days off.

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!