Thursday, July 01, 2021

July 2021 Judiciary News

Breyer untired!

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

Biden nominees:  President Biden got his first judicial confirmations in June.  The first of five district judges confirmed was Julien Neals (D-NJ).  The first of two appeals court judges confirmed was Ketanji Brown Jackson (DC Circuit), a possible Supreme Court candidate.

Public Defenders:  With President Biden nominating more public defenders to the judiciary, GOP senators are raising concerns over whether they have the necessary experience or are too sypathetic to criminals.

Nominations:
4th Circuit:  Toby Heytens--clerk for Ginsberg, Virginia Solicitor General 
9th Circuit:  Jennifer Sung--clerk for Betty Binns Fletcher (9th Circuit), labor lawyer
ED-MI:  Shalina Kumar--Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court
WD-MI:   Jane Beckering--MI court of appeals judge
ED-VA:  Patricia Tolliver Giles--clerk for Gerald Lee (ED-VA), AUSA
ED-VA:  Michael Nachmanoff--clerk for Leonie Brinkema (ED-VA), Magistrate Judge
Claims:  Armando Bonilla--clerk for Garrett Brown (D-NJ), former prosecutor
Claims:  Carolyn Lerner--clerk for Julian Abele Cook (ED-MI), Chief Mediator, DC Circuit

The Federal Judiciary:

Supreme Court:  The court issued rulings in several high-profile cases.  It upheld Obamacare on a 7-2 vote denying the plaintiffs had standing.  It upheld the religious liberty of a Catholic adoption agency in Philadelphia, though on very narrow grounds.  It protected the right of farms to not be invaded by union activists.  It upheld Arizona's election laws on a 6-3 vote.

Supreme Court:  The court has reversed the 9th Circuit many times this term, sometimes unanimously.

Supreme Court:  The court has employees who clip articles and tweets about the court.  Ed Whelan wonders why.

Trump judges:  Trump-appointed judges have blocked many of President Biden's attempts to impose his policies by executive order.

Court reform:  President Biden’s Supreme Court commission held its first meeting, which was either mostly about court packing, or mostly avoided the issue, depending which news article you believe.  Many ideas from limiting judicial review to term limits were discussed.  The commission is only tasked with studying issues, not making recommendations.

Term limits:  Ramesh Ponnuru argues that Supreme Court term limits would not help progressives.

2nd Circuit:  Senior Judge Robert Katzmann died of cancer on June 9 at age 68.  He was appointed by Clinton in 1999 and took senior status in 2021.  He was a feeder judge who sent many clerks to the Supreme Court.

SD-CA:  Judge Roger Benitez has attracted the scorn of anti-gun activists and CNN (but I repeat myself) for his rulings in favor of gun rights.  He has seemingly managed to hear every challenge to California's strict gun laws.  Benitez is a senior judge and Cuban refugee appointed by W in 2004.

D-SD:  Senior Judge Charles Kornmann threw a fit when several US marshalls refused to disclose whether they had received the COVID vaccine.  He claimed they kidnapped three defendants after he ordered the marshalls to leave the courtroom.  He is attempting to charge them with obstruction of justice, saying of the marshalls that "As it stands now, they could well be the most dangerous people in the courtroom".

Vacancy Declarations:  There are now 109 current and future judicial vacancies.  All appeals courts except the 3rd and 8th have vacancies.  New vacancies over the past month are listed below.
D-WY: Nancy Freudenthal (Obama) 6/1/22 (senior)
ED-VA: John Gibney (Obama) 11/1 (senior)
D-PR: Francisco Besosa (W) 1/1/22 (senior)
ND-OK: John Dowdell (Obama) 6/21 (senior/certified disability)

State Supreme Courts:

Districts:  Several states are considering changing state supreme court districts.  Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker signed a map that would make two seats friendlier to Ds.  Montana put an amendment on the ballot to create judicial districts.  In Louisiana, the bill to add two seats to the Louisiana Supreme Court and redraw the districts failed to get the necessary 2/3 vote in the state house.

Georgia:  The Judicial Nominating Commission sent Governor Kemp a list of six nominees to succeed Chief Justice Harold Melton.  At least three of the six are black.  Melton is currently the only black judge on the court.

Idaho:  Governor Brad Little appointed Idaho deputy attorney general Colleen Zahn to the vacant seat on the Idaho Supreme Court.

Montana:  The Montana Supreme Court upheld a law eliminating the judicial nominating commission by a 6-1 vote.  The battle over the law led to hard feelings by justices upset that the legislature was insufficiently deferential to their authority.

New Mexico:  New Mexico Supreme Court justice Barbara Vigil will retire June 30.  Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham will get her fourth appointment to the five-member court.

New York:  The state senate confirmed Governor Andrew Cuomo's nominations to fill vacancies on the New York Court of Appeals.  They are Nassau County DA Madeline Singas (D) and Justice Anthony Cannataro, who manages the NYC Civil Courts.

Ohio:  Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner (D) is running for chief justice.  She was elected in 2020, and was previously Ohio SOS.  R Justices Pat DeWine and Sharon Kennedy are also considering running.

Ohio:  The Ohio house passsed a bill to list the party of Ohio Supreme Court and appeals courts candidates on the general election ballot.  Governor DeWine plans to sign the bill.

Oklahoma:  The Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission announced three finalists for the Oklahoma Supreme Court seat vacated by Tom Colbert.  They are Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Judges Dana Kuehn and Stacie Hixon and Tulsa County District Judge Rebecca Nightingale.  Governor Kevin Stitt will get his third appointment to the court.

Numbers and Trivia:

Minorities:  Ed Whelan points out that minorities are overrepresented in the judiciary relative to the number who have law degrees, and in some cases even relative to the overall population.

Feeder judges:  A feeder judge is a judge whose clerks frequently go on to clerk for the Supreme Court.  The most common D feeder judges over the past decade (Garland and Katzmann) have recently left the judiciary.  Two others (Tatel and Fletcher) have are taking senior status this year.  It isn't clear who will succeed them, though Sri Srinivasan (DC Circuit) is likely to be one.

Retirements (Carter):  When did appeals court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter retire?  By retire, I mean leave active status, that is resign, retire, take senior status, or die in office.  All 56 Carter appointees have left active status.  Here are the numbers.

4 (7%) resigned early
16 (29%) retired when eligible (within 1st year)
31 (55%) retired later
5 (9%) died in office

24 (43%) retired under R president
32 (57%) retired under D president
5 (9%) retired in first year of D president

Carter only had 12 appointees in his first two years, but he had 44 in his last two years after a court expansion bill was passed.  The appointees in the last two years seem more liberal than those in the first two years.

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