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

• Dec. 9, 2024: Tiffany Rene Johnson was confirmed to be a judge of the Northern District of Georgia by a vote of 48 to 44.
• Dec. 10, 2024: Keli Marie Neary was confirmed to be a judge of the Middle District of Pennsylvania by a vote of 49 to 48.
• Dec. 10, 2024: Judge Cynthia Valenzuela Dixon was confirmed to be a judge of the Central District of California by a vote of 49 to 47.
• Dec. 11, 2024: Judge Noël Wise was confirmed to be a judge of the Northern District of California by a vote of 50 to 47.

All vacancies in the Northern District of Georgia, Middle District of Pennsylvania, and Northern District of California have now been filled.

Vacancies

• Dec. 9, 2024: Judge David Norman Hurd of the Northern District of New York assumed senior status, opening up a vacancy on the court that will be filled by his appointed successor, Judge Anthony Joseph Brindisi.
• Dec. 10, 2024: Judge Lawrence Scott Coogler of the Northern District of Alabama announced that he would be taking senior status on January 2, 2025.
• Dec. 11, 2024: Judge Edward John Davila of the Northern District of California assumed senior status, opening up a vacancy on the court that will be filled by his appointed successor, Judge Noël Wise.

47 vacancies remain on the federal judiciary, a decline from 50 a week ago.

Retirements, Deaths, and Resignations

No judges retired, died, or resigned for the week spanning December 6 to 12, 2024.

Other

Judges Seated

• Dec. 6, 2024: Anne Hwang received her commission to serve as a judge of the Central District of California.
• Dec. 6, 2024: Brian Edward Murphy received his commission to serve as a judge of the District of Massachusetts.
• Dec. 9, 2024: Rebecca Louise Pennell received her commission to serve as a judge of the Eastern District of Washington.
• Dec. 9, 2024: Anthony Joseph Brindisi received his commission to serve as a judge of the Northern District of New York.
• Dec. 9, 2024: Elizabeth Cheryl Coombe received her commission to serve as a judge of the Northern District of New York.

Senate Committees

Dec. 12, 2024: The Senate Judiciary Committee held an Executive Business Meeting where they voted to send two district court nominees to the full Senate, one to the Central District of California and another to the Southern District of California. Both nominees were voted out by a vote of 11 to 10.

Nominees

Dec. 12, 2024: Ryan Young Park withdrew himself from consideration to be a Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Analysis

Wow. I’ve done it! This is officially the one year anniversary of The Judiciary at Noon, the only comprehensive recording and analysis of changes in the United States federal judiciary in existence.

I am so proud of this project and the countless hours that I have put into it. My experience and knowledge in this specialized area of judicial politics continues to grow, and the blog is getting better by the day.

I want to give a big “Thank you!” to all my followers, commenters, viewers, and supporters. You make this blog possible and encourage me to continue writing. It brings me joy to know that there are people out there who benefit from and appreciate this wonderful archive of knowledge.

With that said, some analysis of this week.

Biden has now appointed 233 judges, just one judge short of Trump’s 234 judges appointed in his first term. The two judges voted out of committee this week, Benjamin Cheeks and Serena Murillo, will be the last judges nominated by President Biden to be confirmed, assuming they are confirmed next week.

This is it. Next week will be the last week that the Senate will be in session before the Senate recesses for Christmas. When they next convene, new Senators will be sworn in, meaning that the Democratic majority of the last four years will come to an end on January 3rd, 2025.

This was the last week for the Senate Judiciary Committee to consider Joe Biden’s “midnight appointments” of Tali Farhadian Weinstein and Frances Tydingco-Gatewood to be judges. The nominations were made late, on November 8. Due to committee rules, it appears neither nomination had time to be considered, and so are now dead in the water.

Surprising to see Ryan Park withdraw himself from consideration. Considering that Majority Leader Schumer promised not to vote on his nomination, it shouldn’t be a surprise, but Park’s nomination would have lapsed automatically on January 3rd of next year, anyway. I believe Park is sending a deliberate message here.

I think Park may be protesting the Senate deal that Schumer struck, whereby his nomination and the nomination of three other circuit judges was abandoned. Or perhaps he is encouraging Judge James Andrew Wynn Jr., who Park was nominated to replace as a Circuit Judge, to rescind his vacancy.

I will now turn to the partisan composition of courts. Johnson’s nomination to the Northern District of Georgia means that the court will maintain its slight Democratic majority, at least for the foreseeable future. But with a number of older judges on the court, a number of whom are already eligible for senior status or rapidly approaching senior eligibility, I’m not holding my breath that the court retains a Democratic majority under Trump’s second term.

There is also the matter of the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The Western District of Pennsylvania underwent a freakish transformation, with Trump appointing a whopping eight out of ten judges to the court in four years. The Middle District of Pennsylvania has had something of a similar transformation under Biden.

In four years, Biden has appointed four of the six active judges that serve on the court. When Keli Neary takes office as a judge, just one out of ten active or senior judges that are currently serving will be appointed by a Republican, making the Middle District of Pennsylvania a liberal bastion in an otherwise purple state.

SIGN-OFF

That’s it for this week’s The Judiciary at Noon. This has been Anthony Myrlados.