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

• Jul. 29, 2024: Adam B. Landy was confirmed to the Untied States Tax Court by a vote of 73 to 13.
• Jul. 30, 2024: Stacey Diane Neumann was confirmed to the District of Maine by a vote of 50 to 43.
• Jul. 31, 2024: Meredith Anne Vacca was confirmed to the Western District of New York by a vote of 50 to 41.
• Jul. 31, 2024: Joseph Francis Saporito Jr. was confirmed to the Middle District of Pennsylvania by a vote of 53 to 39.

All vacancies in the District of Maine and Western District of New York have now been filled. With the confirmations of Neumann and Vacca, both the District of Maine and Western District of New York have flipped blue.

The District of Maine now has four judges appointed by Democrats and three appointed by Republicans. The Western District of New York now has five Democratic judges and four Republican judges.

Vacancies

• Jul. 31, 2024: Active Judge Ronnie Lee White retired from the Eastern District of Missouri, opening up a vacancy on the court.
• Aug. 1, 2024: Chief Judge Rebecca Ruth Pallmeyer of the Northern District of Illinois assumed senior status, a position to be filled by confirmed judge Georgia Nick Alexakis.

70 vacancies remain on the federal judiciary, a decrease from 73 a week ago.

Retirements, Deaths, and Resignations

• Jul. 30, 2024: Senior Judge Alan Cooke Kay of the District of Hawaii, a Reagan appointee, died at the age of 92.

Other

Nominations

• Jul. 31, 2024: President Biden announced three new nominees to federal district courts, one each to the Northern District of New York, Northern District of Georgia, and Middle District of Pennsylvania. The President also announced two nominees to the District of Columbia Superior Court.

Judges Seated

• Jul. 31, 2024: Meredith Anne Vacca officially assumed her duties as a judge of the Western District of New York following her confirmation.

Chief Judges

• Aug. 1, 2024: Chief Judge Rebecca Ruth Pallmeyer, a Clinton appointee, stepped down as Chief Judge of the Northern District of Illinois. She will be succeeded as Chief Judge by Virginia Mary Kendall, a Bush appointee.

Committee Hearings

• Jul. 31, 2024: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee held a Business Meeting and advanced five nominees to the District of Columbia Superior Court and two nominees to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to a full vote in the Senate. A list of each nominee and their vote count can be found here.
• Jul. 31, 2024: The Senate Judiciary Committee held a Nominations hearing to consider five nominees to the federal judiciary: one appeals court nominee and four district court nominees.
• Aug. 1, 2024: The Senate Judiciary Committee held an Executive Business hearing and advanced seven nominees to a full vote in the Senate. A list of each nominee that was voted on and their vote count can be found here. Sarah Netburn, whose nomination to the Southern District of New York failed to advance out of committee two weeks ago, was not voted on.

Laws on the Judiciary

• Aug. 1, 2024: The Senate unanimously passed the JUDGES Act, an Act that would add 66 new district judgeships across the country by early 2033. The Act now heads to the United States House of Representatives.

Analysis

Democrats round off the month of July with a punch: four judges confirmed in three days. Democrats confirmed six judges total in the month of July, a number that isn’t bad at all considering the fact that the Senate was on break for 13 days of the month. The number of vacancies is finally starting to go down after a month of increasing. Don’t expect more action in the upcoming month, however, as the Senate will be on break until early September.

With Biden out of the presidential race, he’s able to focus solely on the work of the presidency, and it shows. Biden currently has 33 nominees awaiting Senate action, and if all vacancies are filled in states with two Democrat Senators, that number could rise to 42 nominees. With 205 judges confirmed, Biden is on track to exceed Trump’s number of judges appointed, 234.

I also wanted to point out that Biden has two more hidden appointments. The judge of the District Court of Guam and one judge on the District Court for the Virgin Islands is eligible for reappointment or replacement.

I want to focus our attention on the JUDGES Act. When I first reported on this bill, I said that its passage or not would indicate how comfortable Democrats feel that they’ll win in 2024, since the Act adds 33 new district judgeships from 2025 to 2028.

I imagine that Democrats wouldn’t want to hand 33 judgeships to Trump, so the unanimous passage of the Act, and the subsequent applause of the passage of the act by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, signals that Democrats feel they have a good chance at winning the 2024 election.

The Act had been out of committee since June 13, 2024. Since then, we witnessed Biden’s catastrophic debate and subsequent dropout, and the surge of Kamala Harris. Perhaps at this moment Democrats are feeling more confident. How the Republican-controlled House of Representatives responds to the Act will tell us how they feel about their chances of victory in 2024.

Finally, I want to leave off on the importance of the judiciary. Why does any of this matter? I will give one looked-over case study on how the decisions of judges impact your daily life.

On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission banned noncompete agreements. These agreements are legal contracts that say that you can’t work for a rival company within the same industry for a period of years, even if you leave the company you signed the noncompete with before the period of time you are banned is up.

Noncompete agreements leave workers stuck in jobs they don’t want to be in, prevent them for competing for better conditions by searching for work in a similar industry, and rig the labor market in favor of employers.

Of course, business interests across the country filed lawsuits in federal court almost instantly after the announced ban, as the ban challenged their ability to control labor. Let us compare the outcome of two lawsuits.

On July 3rd, Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, ordered a temporary halt on the FTC’s order. But on July 23rd, Judge Kelly Hodge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania did the opposite: she denied a company’s request to block the FTC ruling.

And who appointed Judge Hodge? Joe Biden.

Almost one out of five workers are covered by noncompete agreements. Whether you’re in San Francisco, California or Truth or Consequences, New Mexico; Roanoke, Virginia or Teton, Idaho, there are workers whose job prospects are stifled by these agreements.

One judge ruled to free such workers. Another judge kept them stifled.

The first was appointed by Biden, a Democrat. The second was appointed by Trump, a Republican.

Make of that what you will. Keep this case study handy, remember to vote in November, and keep the faith, folks.

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.