Federal Judicial Vacancy Count released for January 1 – Ballotpedia News

Welcome to the January 10th issue of Robe & Gavel, our first issue for 2022. Robe & Gavel is Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) and other US court events

I hope your robe is lined with fleece and your hammer comes with a warm cup of joy. Let’s hit it, yeah?

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Notable court announcements

Here is a quick recap of the recent notable announcements by the Court since the December 6th issue of Robe & Gavel:

Court plans oral arguments on 911 calls related to COVID vaccines

  • 22-30 December 2021: SCOTUS has scheduled special hearings on cases for January 7th, 2022 to see if the government can enforce the Biden government’s vaccine guidelines during ongoing legal proceedings in court.

One line of appeal, in the National Federation of Independent Businesses vs. Department of Labor and Ohio vs. Department of Labor cases, concerns the mandate for companies with more than 100 employees, commonly referred to as the Vax-or-Test mandate.

The other line of appeal, in the Biden v Missouri and Becerra v Louisiana cases, concerns the Biden government’s request for permission to enforce a rule requiring health workers participating in state Medicare and Medicaid programs to be fully vaccinated. Lower court rulings blocked the mandate in about half of the states.

grants

SCOTUS has added six new cases to its merit list since our December 6th issue.

Click the links below to learn more about these cases:

To date, the court has agreed to hear 56 cases for the 2021-2022 term. SCOTUS dismissed four cases after they were accepted and removed one case from the dispute calendar after both parties reached an agreement. Eight cases still need to be scheduled for arguments.

Arguments

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on five cases this week. Click here to find out more about the current term of office of SCOTUS.

Click the links below to learn more about these cases:

10. January

11th January

January 12th

During his tenure in October 2020, SCOTUS heard arguments in 62 cases. Click here to find out more about SCOTUS ‘previous tenure.

Opinions

SCOTUS has issued two judgments since our December 6th issue. During this term of office, the court has passed judgments in five cases, two of which were decided without argument.

Click the links below to learn more about the court’s opinions:

On December 10, 2021, the court passed judgments in Whole Woman’s Health v Jackson and United States v Texas. Both cases concerned Texas State SB 8, which restricts abortion procedures after six weeks of gestation and gives individuals the power to bring civil lawsuits against individuals who have helped a patient get an abortion.

In Whole Woman’s Health, the court partially upheld and partially overturned the U.S. District Court’s order to deny dismissal motions, and remitted the case for further trial. SCOTUS believed that lawsuits filed before the law was enforced could be brought against certain defendants, but not others.

In an 8-1 ruling penned by Judge Neil Gorsuch, the court ruled that abortion providers can sue state licensing officers in federal court to prevent enforcement of state laws under the Ex parte Young exception to the sovereign immunity doctrine (1908). Judge Clarence Thomas disagreed.

The court also issued a 5-4 ruling that abortion providers should not sue state judges and employees to prevent them from bringing private SB 8-related lawsuits. Judges Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett were in the majority, and Chief Justice John Roberts and Judges Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan disagreed. The court found that it did not judge the constitutionality of SB 8 itself.

In a Curiam decision, the United States v. Texas dismissed its indictment as carefree, which meant the court ruled it shouldn’t have opened the case.

Between 2007 and 2020, SCOTUS published expert opinions in 1,062 cases, an average of between 70 and 90 decided cases per year.

The next SCOTUS dates

Here are the upcoming appointments for the court:

  • 10. January:
    • SCOTUS will listen to arguments in one case.
    • SCOTUS will approve orders.
  • January 11th: SCOTUS will hear arguments in two cases.
  • January 12th: SCOTUS will hear arguments in one case.
  • January 14th: SCOTUS becomes a conference. A conference is a private meeting of the judges.

The federal job census

The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and approvals in all US Article III federal courts for a period of one month. The December report includes nominations, confirmations and vacancies from December 2nd through January 1st.

Highlights

  • Job offers: Nine new jobs in the judiciary were identified in this report. Of the 870 active judge posts under Article III, 74 posts were vacant. Including the U.S. Federal Court and District Courts, 76 of the 890 active federal judicial posts were vacant.
  • Nominations: There were 11 new nominations.
  • Confirmations: There were 12 new confirmations.

Job posting for January 1, 2022

A breakdown of the vacancies at each level can be found in the table below. For a more detailed overview of job vacancies at the federal courts, click here.

*Although the U.S. territorial courts are known as district courts, they are not Article III courts. They are established by Article IV of the US Constitution. Click here for more info.

new job offers

Nine judges have left their active status since the December 1 report, creating life-long judicial posts under Article III. The President appoints persons to fill judicial posts in accordance with Article III. Nominations require confirmation by the US Senate.

The following table shows the number of job vacancies in the United States Court of Appeal from the inauguration of President Joe Biden, D to the date shown in the table.

Open positions in US District Courts

The following map shows the number of open positions in the U.S. District Courts as of January 1, 2022.

New nominations

President Joe Biden (D) announced 11 new nominations since the December 1 report.

  • Nancy Gbana Abudu, in the 11th District Court of Appeals
  • J. Michelle Childs, on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • Jessica Clarke, at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • Sherilyn P. Garnett, in the US District Court for the Central District of California
  • Hector Gonzalez, at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • Kenly Kiya Kato, at the US District Court for the Central District of California
  • Nina Morrison, at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • William Pocan, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
  • Jennifer Rochon, at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • Fred W. Slaughter, in the US District Court for the Central District of California
  • Sunshine S. Sykes, US District Court for the Central District of California

Biden has announced 73 nominations for judicial authorities under Article III since taking office on January 20, 2021. For more information on the President’s Justice Candidates, click here.

New confirmations

There have been 12 new confirmations since the last report.

  • Lucy H. Koh, on the US 9th District Court of Appeals
  • Jennifer Sung, in the 9th District Court of Appeals
  • Jane Beckering, in the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan
  • Mary Dimke, at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
  • Samantha Elliott, at the US District Court for the District of New Hampshire
  • Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, at the US District Court for the Central District of California
  • Shalina Kumar, at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
  • Linda Lopez, at the US District Court for the Southern District of California
  • Katherine Menendez, US District Court for the District of Minnesota
  • Jinsook Ohta, US District Court for the Southern District of California
  • Jennifer L. Thurston, US District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • David Herrera Urias, at the US District Court for the District of New Mexico

As of January 2021, the Senate has confirmed 40 of President Biden’s candidate judges – 29 district judges and 11 appellate judges.

Comparison of Article III Appointments over Time by the President (1981-present)

  • Until January 1st of the second year, the average number of judges per president is 26.
  • President Ronald Reagan (R) made the most appointments in his first year at 41, followed by President Joe Biden (D) at 40. President Barack Obama (D) made the fewest at 13.
  • President Donald Trump (R) made the most appointments over four years with 234. President Reagan did the fewest over four years at 166.

Do you need judicial appointment, confirmation, and job posting on a daily basis? Click here for ongoing updates on the status of all federal justice nominees.

Or, keep an eye on this list for the latest information on federal judge nominations.

looking ahead

We’ll be back next year on January 18th, 2022 with a new edition of Robe & Gavel. Until then, give up!

Contributions

Kate Carsella has compiled and edited this newsletter with contributions from Brittony Maag and Jace Lington.

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