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 at the very end. All information spans the previous week.

Confirmations

• May 20: Seth Robert Aframe was confirmed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
• May 21: Krissa Marie Lanham was confirmed to the District of Arizona.
• May 22: Angela M. Martinez was confirmed to the District of Arizona.
• May 22: Dena Michaela Coggins was confirmed to the Eastern District of California.

With the confirmation of Judges Lanham and Martinez, there is now a Democratic majority in the District of Arizona, with 14 Democratic judges to 12 Republican judges.

With the confirmation of Judge Coggins, all vacancies in the Eastern District of California have now been filled.

Vacancies

• May 17: An active judge died in the District of Eastern Pennsylvania, opening up a vacancy on that court.

69 vacancies remain on the federal judiciary, down from 72 a week ago.

Retirements, Deaths, and Resignations

• May 17, 2024: Judge Gene Ellen Kreyche Pratter, of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, died at the age of 75. She was appointed to the court on June 16, 2004 by former President George W. Bush.

Other

• May 22: The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on five nominees to the federal judiciary.
• May 23: President Joe Biden announced the nomination of four new judges to the federal judiciary, two to circuit courts and two to district courts.

Analysis

This was a big week for Democrats.

With the confirmation of Angela M. Martinez on May 22nd, President Biden has confirmed his 200th federal judge.

This is a big milestone that has been reported on in the mainstream press. There is speculation whether President Biden will be able to surpass former President Donald Trump’s 234 judges confirmed. With 201 judges confirmed by Biden as of the date of this publication and another 23 nominees currently waiting in the wings, I believe Biden will in fact outpace Trump on this front.

Again, however, there are some tough roadblocks ahead. As I have previously reported, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia is voting “No” on every nominee that doesn’t get at least one Republican “Yea” vote.

Likewise, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey is not able to be present to vote in the Senate, as he is busy defending himself at his corruption trial. This means that the default vote for any nominee is currently 49 in favor and 50 against – a defeat.

However, large numbers of Republicans have been absent from the chamber as of late, likely on the campaign trail or fundraising, giving the judges confirmed this week an unusually large margin of confirmation.

And what a week it has been! Four judges in one week, including another circuit judge. Four judges in one week is fantastic. And now the District of Arizona will be joining an ever-growing list of federal courts that have gained a Democratic majority under Joe Biden.

I don’t have much more to add. Democrats are doing a good job confirming judges, and this week’s milestone is a great testament to that.

BONUS: What ARE the Circuit Courts?

My, my! A bonus section, two weeks in a row? I am spoiling my readers.

I’ve thrown around “First Circuit”, “Third Circuit” in my series. I did it today: I stated that Seth Robert Aframe was confirmed to the First Circuit.

But what ARE the Circuit Courts? Well, if you have an important case that concerns the United States Constitution, you go to one of the 94 district courts of the United States to have a judge hear your case and decide if your case is valid or not.

If you lose that case, and the judge rules against you, you have the option of appealing the decision to a circuit court. This is why they are called the Circuit Courts of Appeal and are referred to as “appeals” or “appellate” courts. If the circuit court rules against you, you can petition the Supreme Court.

So the circuit courts are the second tier of the federal judiciary, above district courts and below the Supreme Court. They are arguably more important than the Supreme Court, because the decisions the Circuit Courts make must be obeyed by lower courts. We call this the “setting of precedent”.

The precedent of the Supreme Court is, well, supreme, but the Supreme Court only hears about 800 cases a year, far fewer than the Circuit Courts. So most of the time, what Circuit courts say is the law is the law in their jurisdiction.

While District Courts typically cover a state or a part of a state, Circuit Courts cover multiple states (except the District of Columbia Circuit). There are currently thirteen circuit courts, and the states they cover are listed:

• 1st Circuit Court: Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico.
• 2nd Circuit: New York, Vermont, Connecticut.
• 3rd Circuit: Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey.
• 4th Circuit: Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland.
• 5th Circuit: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi.
• 6th Circuit: Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan.
• 7th Circuit: Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin.
• 8th Circuit: Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.
• 9th Circuit: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Hawaii, Alaska.
• 10th Circuit: Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma.
• 11th Circuit: Alabama, Georgia, Florida.
• District of Columbia Circuit: District of Columbia.
• Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: Jurisdiction over any cases related to matters such as patents, copyrights, and so forth from any District Court or certain lower courts.

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.