The Western Right: March 2025

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

Senate Judiciary Committee: Senator Ashley (R-FL) Moody was added to the committee after being appointed to replace Marco Rubio. She replaces Mike Crapo (R-ID), who was only on the committee for about 2 weeks.

Circuit Court: David Lat speculates who President Trump might nominate to four vacant circuit court seats on the 1st, 3rd, and 6th Circuits.

Nominations:
TBA

The Federal Judiciary:

Roberts: The Chief Justice wrote a year-end report, addressing threats to the judiciary, including violence and intimidation.

Sotomayor: Justice Sotomayor claimed that the current Supreme Court is too quick to overturn precedent. However, the court is much less likely to overturn precedents under Chief Justice Roberts than under previous chiefs.

Clerks: David Lat has an update on hiring of Supreme Court clerks, including feeder judges.

Defiance: Ed Whelan discusses when, if ever, it would be justified for the a President to refuse to follow a court order.

Federal Circuit: The legal battle continues over the the Federal Circuit's "temporary" suspension of Judge Pauline Newman due to alleged disability. Critics claim she is unable to fulfill her duties, but supporters say she is being mistreated due to her frequent dissents.

1st Circuit: Judge Bruce Selya died on February 25 at age 90. He was appointed by Reagan to D-RI in 1982 and to the 1st Circuit in 1986. He took senior status in 2006, which lasted until his death.

Impeachment: Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) introduced articles of impeachment against judge Paul Engelmayer (SD-NY) due to his order blocking Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from accessing Treasury Department information. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) later filed articles of impeachment against Engelmayer also.

Vacancy Declarations: There are now 53 current and future judicial vacancies. New vacancies over the past two months are listed below.

D-CT: Jeffrey A. Meyer (Obama) 1/12/25 (death)
ED-KY: Danny Reeves (W) 2/1/25 (senior)
D-NM: James Browning (W) 2/1/26 (senior)
ED-OK: Ronald White (W) 1/27/26 (senior)
ND-OK: Gregory Frizzell (W) 3/1/26 (senior)
ND-GA: Timothy Batten (W) 5/23/25 (retired)
D-KS: Eric Melgren (W) 9/1/25 (senior)
ED-MI: Sean Cox (W) 7/28/25 (retired)

State Supreme Courts:

Arizona: Katie Hobbs (D) appointed Judge Maria Elena Cruz (D) to the Arizona Supreme Court seat vacated by Robert Brutinel (R). She was elected to the Yuma County Superior Court in 2008 and appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals by Doug Ducey (R) in 2017.

Arkansas: Newly-elected Chief Justice Karen Baker (D) attempted to fire several court employees, apparently due to their responses to FOIA requests involving her. However, five other justices ruled that she cannot do so. Baker defended her actions, and the other justices disputed her actions.

Connecticut: Governor Ned Lamont (D) has nominated William Bright Jr. to the Connecticut Supreme Court seat vacated by Raheem Mullins, who was appointed Chief Justice. Bright was appointed to the Superior Court by Jodi Rell (R) in 2008 and to the Appellate Court by Dannel Malloy (D) in 2017.

Georgia: Chief Justice Michael Boggs will resign on March 31. He was appointed in 2017 by Nathan Deal (R) and has been chief since 2022. He identifies as a conservative D, and was nominated to a federal district judgeship by Obama in 2013, but not confirmed. Governor Brian Kemp (R) will appoint his replacement.

Louisiana: Judge Cade Cole (R) will fill the 3rd district of the Louisiana Supreme Court after he was the only candidate to file for election. Cole is a part-time state and local tax judge appointed in 2013 by Bobby Jindal (R). The seat was vacated by Justice James Genovese to become president of Northwestern State University.

Maine: Justice Joseph Jabar left the Maine Supreme Court on January 31, 2024. He was not reappointed by Governor Janet Mills (D), who reportedly wanted a more liberal replacement. The seat has now been vacant for over a year. On February 28, Mills nominated Superior Court Judge Julia Lipez, who was nominated but not confirmed to a seat on the (federal) 1st Circuit. Lipez clerked for Diana Motz (4th Circuit) and was appointed to the Maine Superior Court by Mills in 2022.

Michigan: Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement (R) will retire no later than April 30 to become president of the nonprofit National Center for State Courts. She was appointed in 2017 by Rick Snyder (R), but quickly established a moderate to liberal voting record. She is 47 and her term would have expired in 2026. Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) will appoint Clement's replacement, which will make the court 6 D, 1 R.

Texas: Governor Greg Abbott appointed Jimmy Blacklock (R) as chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, replacing Nathan Hecht, who was age-limited. He was appointed to the court by Abbott in 2018 after clerking for Jerry Smith (5th Circuit) and being general counsel to Abbott. Abbott also appointed James Sullivan to replace Blacklock on the court. Sullivan clerked for Thomas Griffith (DC Circuit) and was general counsel to Abbott.

Utah: The state senate passed a bill to allow the governor to select the chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court. This comes in the wake of several liberal rulings by the court.

Wisconsin: There will be an election to fill the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Ann Walsh Bradley (D). The candidates are former AG Brad Schimel (R) and Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford (D). Since there are only two candidates, the primary was cancelled; the general election is April 1. A 4-3 liberal block has controlled the court since 2023. Both candidates have raised big money, with Elon Musk supporting Schimel. The campaign has focused on abortion and crime.

Numbers and Trivia:

Here are the numbers of senior status declarations/retirements for federal judges (circuit judges) for the past year.

7 (3) January 2024

2 (0) February/March

5 (1) April/May

5 (0) June/July

3 (0) August/September

2 (0) October/November

1 (0) December 2024

25 (4) Total (2024)

44 (3) Total (2023)

59 (8) Total (2022)