The Enlightenment

Image courtesy of Sora Shimazaki/Pexels

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

• Feb. 27: Jacqueline Becerra was confirmed to the Southern District of Florida, a court that covers cities like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Key West.
• Feb. 27: David Seymour Leibowitz was confirmed to the Southern District of Florida.
• Feb. 28: Julie Simone Sneed was confirmed to the Middle District of Florida, a court that covers cities like Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa.
• Feb. 28: Melissa Jean Damian was confirmed to the Southern District of Florida.

Vacancies

On February 27th, Judge Nancy Lee Maldonado announced a vacancy on the Northern District of Illinois to occur if and when she is elevated to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. 83 vacancies remain on the federal judiciary, down from 86 a week ago.

Retirements, Deaths, and Resignations

On February 27, 2024, Senior Judge Robert Leon Jordan of the Eastern District of Tennessee died. He had been appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

Other

On February 29, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance 6 judicial nominees to the Senate, 5 to district courts and 1 to the Court of Federal Claims.

Analysis

The Senate roared into action in a big way. There were four vacancies each on the Courts of Southern and Middle Florida, and the confirmation of Biden judges to these courts has reshaped them overnight.

The Middle District of Florida now has a majority of its judges appointed by Democratic Presidents. The District had been deadlocked, having 14 Democrat and Republican judges each, but Sneed’s confirmation has tipped the scales slightly in Democrats’ favor.

The Southern District of Florida is even more dramatic. A week ago, most judges on the court were appointed by Republicans; today, Democrat-appointed judges now outnumber Republican judges on the court, 16 to 14.

Could the Judiciary Committee have voted on more judges? Yes. Could Senate Democrats have appointed one, maybe two more judges this week? Yes. But this was a very strong end to February.

The month wasn’t particularly strong; Democrats had appointed many more judges in one month than the 7 they had appointed this February. But the context must be considered.

The Senate was adjourned for weeks. Democrats are operating in an election year, where Republicans have no incentive to cooperate. And now, new vacancies have halted. In light of that, 7 judges in February is a success.

Also, Democrats have just flipped the partisan composition of two of the most active, populous, and busy courts in the country, in a deep-red state. That’s got to count for something!

I wonder if the Florida appointments are strategic. Former President Donald Trump lives in Florida, and he is currently under investigation. Perhaps Democrats are bringing judges onto Florida courts in the hopes that they can defeat any appeals that Trump may bring.

BONUS: The Federal Judiciary’s firsts

Below are some select “first” federal judges.

• May 26, 1928: Genevieve Rose Cline, first female federal judge.
• March 26, 1937: William Henry Hastie, Jr., first Black federal judge.
• April 23, 1971: Herbert Young Cho Choy, first Asian American judge.
• May 9, 1994: Deborah Anne Batts, first openly LGBT judge.
• June 22, 2021: Zahid Nisar Quraishi, first Muslim 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!