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

• Apr. 9, 2024: Susan M. Bazis was confirmed for the District of Nebraska.
• Apr. 10, 2024: Robert Jerome White was confirmed for the Eastern District of Michigan, a court covering cities such as Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Flint.
• Apr. 10, 2024: Ann Marie McIff Allen was confirmed for the District of Utah.

Vacancies

• Apr. 5, 2024: Judge Cormac Joseph Carney of the Central District of California announced that he would retire on May 31, 2024.

There are now 73 vacancies on the federal judiciary, down from 75 a week ago.

Retirements, Deaths, and Resignations

No new retirements, deaths, or resignations occurred on the federal judiciary for the week of April 5 to 11, 2024.

Other

• Apr. 11, 2024: The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance four judicial nominees to the full Senate.

Analysis

I have a lot to say for this week. I’ll start here: any week where Senate Democrats nominate three judges is a good week for Senate Democrats.

However, as I have mentioned before, Democrats are rapidly approaching the point where any remaining vacancies to the federal judiciary are in states with two Republican senators. That rapidly approaching point represents a hard stop for Democrats’ nomination efforts.

What further complicates issues is the fact that forty or so vacancies are in states with hard-right Republican Senators. These Senators, including Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, are very unwilling to negotiate judicial nominees with President Biden, if at all.

I have also noticed that several judicial nominees who have been eligible for a Senate vote have been passed over month after month in favor of newer, later nominees.

This indicates to me that Democratic Senate leadership does not believe that those nominees will be confirmed if brought up for a vote. This is disturbing for a number of reasons.

First, it means various Democratic Senators are keeping the public hoodwinked about their stance. Luckily for you, I can sniff it out.

More importantly, it most likely means that certain political assassination campaigns launched by Republicans are working. I previously detailed in-depth how one circuit court nomination, that of Adeel Mangi to the Third Circuit, was effectively sunk a few weeks ago.

Republican law groups have successfully blown up what I believe to be Mangi’s very tenuous connections to two controversial groups to bully enough Democratic Senators into opposing Adeel Mangi, effectively killing his nomination.

A good article on the Mangi chronicle can be found here.

Beyond that, Sarah French Russell, a nominee to the District of Connecticut, has also been stalled over her signing a letter asking the governor of Connecticut to release prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. After that, Russell has been branded as being “soft on crime”.

Even if you disagree with these judges’ stances, it is not a good look to be wavering in the face of Republican opposition. That indicates that Republicans’ tactics are working and emboldens them to continue such campaigns.

Republicans will oppose most Biden nominees, not necessarily because they are questionable, but because they are ideological opposites.

But with less than 7 months left until the 2024 elections, Democrats are going to have to make tough choices: fight for more liberal nominees closer to the party’s ideology, or confirm conservative judges without Republican opposition?

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.