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The Judiciary at Noon, #39: September 6 to 12, 2024

Keep up-to-date on the US federal judiciary, September 6 to September 12, 2024.

Anthony Myrlados
4–5 minutes

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

Confirmations

  • Sep. 10, 2024: Adam Ben Abelson was confirmed to the District of Maryland by a vote of 53-43.
  • Sep. 10, 2024: Jeannette Anne Vargas was confirmed to the Southern District of New York by a vote of 51-43.
  • Sep. 11, 2024: Mary Kay Lanthier was confirmed to the District of Vermont by a vote of 55-42.
  • Sep. 12, 2024: Laura Margarete Provinzino was confirmed to the District of Minnesota by a vote of 54-41.

All vacancies in the Districts of Maryland, Minnesota, and Vermont have now been filled. The Southern District of New York has one vacancy left.

Vacancies

No vacancies occurred for the week of September 6 to 12, 2024. 66 vacancies remain on the federal judiciary, a decline from 70 a week ago.

Retirements, Deaths, and Resignations

No federal judges died, retired, or resigned in the week spanning September 6 to 12, 2024.

Other

Judges Seated

  • Sep. 12, 2024: Adam B. Abelson received his commission and assumed the duties and responsibilities of a District Judge of the District of Maryland.
  • Sep. 12, 2024: Mary Kay Lanthier received her commission and assumed the duties and responsibilities of a District Judge of the District of Vermont.

Chief Judges

  • Sep. 5, 2024: Judge Thomas Edward Johnson, a Bush appointee, stepped down as Chief Judge of the Southern District of West Virginia. He is succeeded as Chief Judge by Judge Frank William Volk, a Trump appointee.
  • Sep. 7, 2024: Judge Algenon Lamont Marbley, a Clinton appointee, stepped down as Chief Judge of the Southern District of Ohio. He is succeeded as Chief Judge by Judge Sarah Elizabeth Daggett Morrison, a Trump appointee.

Committee Hearings

  • The Senate Judiciary Committee cancelled its September 12th Executive Business Meeting to consider advancing 5 judicial nominees to the Senate.

Federal Circuit

  • Sep. 6, 2024: Judge Pauline Newman, an active judge of the U.S. Federal Circuit, was unanimously suspended by her colleagues on the Federal Circuit from hearing cases for one year. At 97 years old, Judge Newman is the oldest active judge serving anywhere on the federal judiciary. Newman had previously been suspended a year ago following internal concerns that she was no longer cognitively fit for the job and for refusing to cooperate with investigations into her cognitive state. You can read more on Newman’s newest suspension here: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/federal-circuit-extends-judge-newmans-suspension-another-year

Analysis

With most of the Senate breaks behind us, the Senate has returned to full activity, and the Democrats have started off strong in regards to judicial nominations by confirming four judges in as many days.

The confirmations this week shift the partisan balance of the courts. When Laura Provinzino is sworn in, the majority of the District of Minnesota’s active judges will be appointed by Democrats (4 out of 7).

The Southern District of New York is already heavily Democratic, but with Jeanette Vargas’ appointment over 70% of all judges serving on the court, whether in an active or senior capacity, are now appointed by Democrats.

With the confirmation of Adam Abelson, President Biden has now appointed 60% of all judges serving in an active capacity in the District of Maryland.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has scheduled a vote on an appeals nominee as well as a district judge, meaning we will get two more judges next week.

What I found interesting was the level of bipartisan ship for this week judicial nominees. All 4 nominees confirmed this week received at least 2 Republican votes, with some nominees receiving 3 and even 4 Republican votes.

That might not sound like a lot, but in the hyperpolarized landscape of judicial politics in the United States, that is a significant level of bipartisanship, especially in an election year.

What may be causing this? I theorize that Republicans are legitimately worried about a negative outcome (for them) in the upcoming election. First, they fear there is a legitimate chance that Kamala Harris wins the Presidency but Democrats lose the Senate, leading to a gridlock.

Second, they are worried that Trump may win, but the Senate will remain in Democrat hands, leading to frustrated, drawn-out negotiations as Democrat Senators will choose to stall on nominations to their respective states.

And the worse case scenario for Republicans: Kamala Harris wins, AND Democrats keep the Senate. In such a case, Republicans can kiss their hopes of further shaping the federal judiciary in a conservative direction goodbye.

I think Republicans are trying to play ball, cooperating with Democrats in the event that Republicans control at least one branch of government after the November 5th election, in hopes that Democrats will pay them back and cooperate in turn with a Democratic presidency, Senate, or both.

The momentum is on Democrats’ side.

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.

7 responses to “The Judiciary at Noon, #39: September 6 to 12, 2024”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Things are gonna moving again.

    There is a new chief judge at the Southern District of West Virginia since September 6, too, now the youngest judge is the new chief at the Southern District of Ohio, while all those, who followed her, are older, Judge McFarland should be young enough to follow her if she won’t step down early, but the next appointments should be younger.

    The confirmations this week were mixed, Lanthier with a none-prosecutor and none-big-lawfirm, and a judicial emergency, was the one I much appreachiate, the three other ones have filled their courts, but don’t make me cheer.

    I think that’s the reason they got a few GOP votes, but the majority always votes against all nominees, no matter of background, skills or other things.

    Another fact, that they won’t like to play ball is the fact, that Dick Durbin failed again to get the long waiting US Attorneys confirmed, since Vance started to block them more than a year ago, that was his eighth attempt I assume, meanwhile four a waiting, two from Red Iowa, one from his own homestate, and one from Massachussetts, that lots of these posts have remained unfilled for Bidens complete term without even a nominee is another point how obstructionist the major part of the Republican Causus is, and as no improvment is in sight, tougher measures are required at an appropriate election result.

    Liked by 1 person

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  2. donaldsilberger Avatar
    donaldsilberger

    I am especially grateful for your political analysis at the end of this report.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Ryan J Avatar
    Ryan J

    I’ve read your blog from time to time but I’ll try to read regularly. This comment addresses topics from not only this post but also several previous ones.

    While I will instantly see news of a vacancy on the Vetting Room, changes in chief judges or senior judges are often overlooked. Although I’m sure you do your best, you did miss a couple of updates (which honestly there isn’t really a better way than looking at all the courts’ webpages or wikipedia pages):

    -inactive senior judge Daniel Manion (7th Cir.) died on Aug. 31

    -senior judge Robert Wollman (8th Cir.) went inactive as of September 12

    I’m glad that 4 nominees were confirmed, though none were particularly exciting (except maybe Lanthier, since she fills one of only two seats on her court).

    I hope that Biden can get the number of vacancies down to 43 so that he leaves less vacancies than he started with. I also did not realize how many new judicial emergencies have been added as of recent.

    Though I could understand Schumer being cautious about Arianna Freeman-type screw ups early on, it’s late enough in an election year that I don’t mind a similar screw up if it means that 5 party line nominees will be confirmed. Because of how late it is in the year, I do not want to see any/more judicial vacancies unless/until Kamala Harris wins the election (unless the vacating judge is super conservative, then I’m all for it).

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Anthony Myrlados Avatar
      Anthony Myrlados

      Thank you for pointing this out to me Ryan. I don’t report judges going inactive, but when it comes to deaths or resignations, it sometimes takes a while for the event to be reported after it occurred. So when you read the blog, there may already be news I’m not aware of as I do the research the Thursday before publication. If there is something new, I go back and edit it, as in this case. If you visit the entry for August 31st, 2024, you will now see the entry for Judge Manion as you have alerted me to this change. Now as for the meat of your commment: I think you speak for many, even most people in The Vetting Room and myself when you say you are excited to see 4 nominees confirmed in one week. If my memory serves me correctly, Biden may have begun his term with about 21 vacancies on Inauguration Day, so I do not think there is any scenario where we go back to that level, though I may be wrong. As I have reported, there is at least one vacancy that will occur that has not formally been reported, that being Judge Marietta Copeland Biggs of M.D. NC. There is a Bloomberg Law article where the Chief Judge says both Biggs and herself will retire by year’s end. I think the commentary regarding Chuck Schumer reflects what a lot of us are thinking. Yes, many of us, myself included, would like to see Majority Leader Schumer be more aggressive on judicial nominations. I believe he should schedule Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I would like to see Schumer use weeks like these when Vance is out of the Senate and so are a few other Republicans to confirm your Kasubhais, Campbells, Russells, Pennells, Dixon, etc. I am aware that some of these are controversial to vote on before an upcoming election. Personally, I doubt it’s going to have any impact. As others have pointed out on The Vetting Room, using the first week of September to confirm people that have Republican support seems a bit counterproductive. Personally, I think Chuck Schumer should prioritize confirming Amir Ali and Sparkle Sooknanan because of their positions on the D.C. Court, and then judges in swing states. Ryan Park, Sharan Desai, Byron Conway, Katherine Henry, and Gail Weilheimer. I fully anticipate hack challenges from conservative legal groups seeking to toss out ballots, delay vote counts, and so forth. This is a matter of democracy.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Ryan J Avatar
        Ryan J

        I don’t disagree about the importance of confirming 4 judges, even those who aren’t party line, though I indeed do want more party line confirmations during weeks of full Dem attendance (as many in the Vetting Room do).

        I fully understand the importance of swing state lower courts, though 1) even very conservative Trump judges have thrown out these bogus lawsuits and 2) any election lawsuit where liberals and conservatives would side differently will likely make its way to SCOTUS, who would likely side with the conservatives.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Frank William Volk, Trump appointtee, became chief judge at the Southern District of West Virginia at Sep. 6, 2024, after the term of Thomas Edward Johnson, G. W. Bush nominee, expired after seven years. He is the last in line in the moment. But we should see new appointements there in the next seven years.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Anthony Myrlados Avatar
      Anthony Myrlados

      Thank you for pointing this out. I was aware of Volk’s ascension, so I must have forgot to include it. Considering we have 3 out of 5 judges eligible for senior status, we will no doubt start seeing vacancies occur in the next few years. If Harris wins the presidency, I assume West Virginia will turn into another judicial quagmire, much like Texas or Missouri as Republican Jim Justice will almost certainly win this year and I don’t see Capito or Justice cooperating with a Democrat. Jim Justice I can see signing off on a conservative Judge (a la Florence Pan) as he was once a Democrat but together with Shelley Moore Capito? No.

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