August 2020 Judiciary News

The Supreme Court dealt with several controversial issues at the end of its term.

The Supreme Court:

Abortion:  Chief Justice Roberts sided with the left to strike down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics.  The law was similar to a Texas law Roberts had voted to uphold in 2016.

Blaine Amendments:  The Supreme Court struck down Montana's 'Blaine Amendment', which banned government aid to religious (but not secular) private schools.  Blaine amendments, named after Speaker of the House (1869-75) James Blaine (from the state of Maine), exist in 37 states.  They are widely acknowledged to be motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment at a time when public schools were de-facto Protestant schools.  The Supreme Court did not forbid states from banning all aid to private schools, as is the case in Michigan.

Death Penalty:  Federal executions were finally resumed on July 16.  Various attempts to stop them by activists and lower court judges were thwarted by a 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court.

Religious Liberty:  The Supreme Court issued three rulings protecting religious liberty this term.  This continues a string of positive rulings over the past decade.

Roberts:  Joan Biskupic claims inside sources on John Roberts' maneuvering on the court.  Notably, the court has not taken any Second Amendment cases because Roberts has signaled that he could not be counted on to protect gun rights.  Ed Whelan believes that at least one Supreme Court justice leaked to Biskupic for the article.

Supreme Court:  Ed Whelan ponders why conservative judges are more likely to defect to join liberal decisions than the reverse.

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

Trump list:  President Trump's announcement that he would release an updated list of Supreme Court candidates has led to behind-the-scenes wrangling about who should be on the new list.  Some people want to omit younger Trump appointees with limited records.  Some older judges are likely to be removed from the list.

Feinstein:  Progressives are upset with Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, for not doing enough to oppose President Trump's judicial nominees.  It isn't clear who they think should have the job.

New Nominations:
TBD

Senate Judiciary Committee hearings:
TBD

Confirmations:
TBD

The Federal Judiciary:

Federalist Society:  The Committee on Codes of Conduct of the Judicial Conference of the United States has abandoned its attempt to ban judges from membership in the Federalist Society.

11th Circuit:  Clinton-appointed judge Robert Hinkle (ND-FL) recently ruled against a Florida law requiring criminals to pay fines before being restored voting rights.  The 11th Circuit agreed to hear the case en banc, bypassing a three-judge panel.  Senate Judiciary Committee Ds sent a letter to three Trump-appointed judges demanding that they recuse themselves from the case, which would give liberals the majority.  Judge Andrew Brasher (AL) had already done so shortly before the letter was sent.  Judges Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa had previously heard, but not ruled on, a different case on the same issue as justices on the Florida Supreme Court.  They denied the request to recuse themselves.

SD-FL:  Judge Federico Moreno took senior status on July 17.  He is the only Hispanic on President Trump's Supreme Court appointment list.  He was nominated to the 11th Circuit in 1992, but Joe Biden denied him a hearing.

ED-WI:  Clinton-appointed Judge Lynn Adelman was admonished by the 7th Circuit Judicial Council, which handles ethics complaints in that circuit.  He wrote a law review article entitled "The Roberts Court's Assault on Democracy", an angry screed against President Trump, Chief Justice John Roberts, and the R-appointed majority on the Supreme Court.  Before appointment to the bench, Adelman was a D state senator and three-time congressional candidate.

State Supreme Courts:

Alaska: Governor Mike Dunleavy name Dario Borghesan to the Alaska Supreme Court, replacing retired conservative Craig Stowers.  Borghesan was chief assistant attorney general under AG Kevin Clarkson.  He seemed to be the only candidate with conservative bonafides.  The other candidates were Superior Court Judges Dani Crosby, Jennifer Stuart Henderson and Yvonne Lamoureux, all appointed to the Superior Court by left-leaning independent Gov. Bill Walker.  Three of the five judges on the left-leaning court must retire no later than 2025.

Connecticut:  Governor Ned Lamont nominated Christine Keller to the Connecticut Supreme Court to succeed Justice Richard Palmer.  Keller is less than 3 years below the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Florida:  A lawsuit is challenging the appointment of black conservative Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court.  Francis will not achieve the minimum 10 years of membership in the Florida bar until September 24.  Governor DeSantis announced that he would appoint her then.  He was supposed to make the appointment by March 23, but delayed the announcement due to the pandemic.  The suit was filed by state rep Geraldine Thompson, a black D who wanted one of the more liberal black applicants screened out by the Judicial Nominating Commission to be appointed.

New Hampshire:  The Hampshire Supreme Court has 2 D and 2 R appointees, with one vacancy.  That seat has been vacant for almost one year.  Former Justice Robert Lynn retired on August 23, 2019, as he was age-limited.  Governor Chris Sununu nominated Attorney General Gordon MacDonald, but the state Executive Council, with a 3-2 D majority, blocked the nomination.  Councilor Andru Volinsky is one of the D candidates against Governor Sununu this year.

Pennsylvania:  The Pennsylvania state senate approved a bill to elect Supreme Court judges by district rather than statewide.  The court currently has a 5-2 D majority, and most justices are from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.

Texas:  Republican Justice Paul W. Green will retire in August.  He is 68 and was first elected in 2004.  His replacement will be appointed by Governor Greg Abbott.  This will be Abbott's fourth appointment to the all-Republican court.

Numbers and Trivia:

Trump Appointees:  Pew Research compares the number of Trump appointees to previous presidents at the same point in their terms.

Federalist Society:  John Doe (@fedjudges) has analyzed the signatories of the letter from mostly conservative judges opposing the proposal by the Judicial Conference of the United States Committee on Codes of Conduct to ban judges from membership in the Federalist Society.  I did some analysis of my own in June.

Two districts, D-ND and MD-AL, have only Trump appointees.  The first district court to have a Trump-appointed chief judge is D-ID, where the other judge is a Clinton appointee whose term as chief expired after 20 years.

History:

Lame Duck Appointments:  There have been many election-year Supreme Court appointments in the past, but none recently.  Not surprisingly, they are much more likely to be confirmed when the Presidency and Senate are controlled by the same party.

Resources:
Bench Memos (National Review)
The Vetting Room
FedJudges (Twitter)
Senate Cloakroom (Twitter)
Senate Judiciary Committee
ABA Judicial Ratings
Wikipedia-Trump Judges
Wikipedia-US Appeals Courts
Senior Status Spreadsheet
Future Judicial Vacancies
BostonPatriot diaries: History Trump DC-5 6-11 9th
Ballotpedia-State Supreme Court Vacancies
The Supreme Courts
2020: March April May June July

July 2020 Michigan State House Fundraising

July 24 was the deadline for campaign finance reports for Michigan legislature.  Here are summaries of the total amount raised in competitive Michigan state house districts.  Totals include in-kind contributions.  Candidates who filed reporting waivers are generally omitted.  These numbers come from MIRS and the SOS campaign finance reports.  XX means the report has yet to be filed.

2. (D) Tate 108K, Harrell XX
3. (D) Thanedar 438K (all self), Mckinney 37K, Cochran 23K
4. (D) Aiyash 72K, Oberholtzer 58K, Holmes 37K, Ahmed 12K
6. (D) Carter 40K, Palmer 23K
7. (D) Scott 28K, Yancy 10K
8. (D) Etheridge 37K, Young 30K, Davis 24K
9. (D) Whitsett 22K, Ogburn 38K
10. (D) Cavanagh 13K, Hill 5K
13. (D) Liberati 34K, Estheimer 10K, Colovos XX
19. (R) Crider 54K (32K self), Ptashnik 45K (D) Pohutski 148K
20. (R) Lacny 30K (all self), Roush 3K (D) Koleszar 131K
21. (R) Nangle 6K, Hess 3K (D) Puri 128K, Petzold 55K
22. (D) Steenland 20K, Nelson 9K, Anderson 1.5K
25. (R) Smith 10K, Wiley 6K, Early waiver (D) Shannon 65K
27. (D) Weiss 50K, Kresch 33K, Stoel 22K, Williams 8K
35. (D) Bolden 61K, Martini 27K
37. (D) Bruce 111K, Steckloff 62K
38. (R) Chereukuri 102K (100K self), Turner 31K (D) Breen 43K McAllister 33K
39. (R) Berman 67K (D) Pulver 117K
40. (R) Cleary 6K (D) Manoogian 160K
41. (R) Agnello 22K Sosnoski 7K (D) Kuppa 188K
43. (R) Schroeder 56K (D) Breadon 25K
44. (R) Maddock 83K (D) Forrest 44K
45. (R) Tisdel 42K (D) Johnson 58K, Anness 39K
46. (R) Reilly 51K (D) LaMacchia 98K
47. (R) Reckling 55K, Bezotte 46K (21K self), Dyba 5K
48. (R) Martin 11K, Cross 1.3K (D) Kennedy 85K
55. (D) Brabec 142K
56. (R) Clements 28K, Blaine 4K
58. (R) Fink 49K, Welden 23K (17K self), Wiseley 19K, Stockford 11K
59. (R) Coleman 52K (38K self), Carra 24K, Walton 15K, Balog 9K, Hinkle 8K (all self)
60. (D) Rogers 107K, Moore 43K
61. (R) Haltom 286K (100K self), Graham 6K (5K self) (D) Morse 165K
62. (R) Morgan 13K (9K self), Gregoire 4K (D) Haadsma 199K
66. (R) Griffin 85K (D) Wheeler 24K
70. (R) Outman 46K, Ross 17K (14K self), Comden 4K
71. (R) Johnsen 88K (42K self), Barnes 12K (D) Witwer 195K
72. (R) Johnson 18K (D) Wilson 15K, Cheng 7K
73. (R) Inhulsen 116K, Posthumus 53K, Regan 23K (12K self) (D) Saxton 89K
76. (R) Zandstra 55K (D) Hood 45K
79. (R) Wendzel 83K, Blackwell 3K (D) Pitchford 38K
83. (R) Alexander 60K, O'Mara 49K (all self), Beeler 30K, Keller 29K
90. (R) Slagh 90K, Northrup 5K
91. (R) VanWoerkem 112K (D) Hosticka 37K
95. (D) Bryant 16K, Hammond 13K, Graham 7K, Adams 4K
98. (R) Glenn 258K (D) Schulz 173K
99. (R) Hauck 58K (D) Zang 6K
100. (R) VanSingel 78K Sebolt 9K
101. (R) O'Malley 80K Cater waiver
104. (R) Roth 38K (22K self), Cerone 19K (D) O'Neil 210K
105. (R) Culter 56K, Borton 50K
107. (R) Damoose 70K (30K self), Fisher 28K (21K self), Lamb 25K (24K self), Twardy 8K, Lieurance 5K
110. (R) Markkanen 31K (D) Metsa 20K, Dale 6K

CTV Endorsements

Citizens for Traditional Values, a social conservative organization in Michigan, has issued endorsements for the 2020 primary.  They endorsed most, but not all GOP incumbents.  They endorsed two candidates in some primaries.

16 Emily Bauman
19 Martha Ptashnik, Penny Crider
20 John Lacny
23 John Poe
24 Steve Marino
25 Adam Wiley, Jazmine Early
38 Chase Turner
42 Ann Bollin
43 Andrea Schroeder
44 Matt Maddock
45 Mark Tisdel
47 Meghan Reckling, Robert Bezotte
48 David Martin
50 Christina Firchett-Hickson
54 Martin Church
56 TC Clements
57 Bronna Kahle
58 Andrew Fink
59 Allen Balog
60 Gary Mitchell
62 Dave Morgan
63 Matt Hall
64 Julie Alexander
67 Nate Ross
68 Robert Atkinson
70 Martin Ross
71 Gina Johnsen, Christine Barnes
72 Steven Johnson
73 Robert Regan
74 Mark Huizenga
81 Gary Eisen
83 Greg Alexander
84 Phil Green
87 Julie Calley
90 Bradley Slagh
94 Rodney Wakeman
97 Jason Wentworth
98 Annette Glenn
100 Scott VanSingel
104 John Roth, Heather Cerone
106 Sue Allor
107 John Damoose
108 Beau LaFave
110 Gregory Markkanen

NRA Endorsements

The National Rifle Association has just issued its endorsements for the 2020 primary.  They give grades to candidates who have voting records or fill out their survey.  They endorse most acceptable incumbents and endorse in some open seats. (Aq means a candidate got an A from the questionnaire only, and doesn't have a voting record.)

Congress:
3. Afendoulis B Farrington ? Meijer AQ Norton AQ
8. No grades listed
10. Hernandez A+ McClain Aq Slocum A
11. No grades listed

State House:
13. (D) Colovos Aq Liberati B
19. Crider and Ptashnik both got Aq
20. Lacny C
21. Hess B
25. Early Aq Smith D Wiley Aq
38. Turner and Cherukuri both got Aq
41. Both got Aq
47. Bezotte and Reckling both got Aq
48. Both got Aq
56. Clements Aq (endorsed)
58. Fink, Stockford, Wiseley got Aq
59. All rated got Aq
61. Graham Aq (endorsed)
62. Gregoire and Morgan got Aq
70. Comden C Outman, Puckerin, and Ross got Aq
71. Both got Aq
73. All three got Aq
81. Eisen A+ (endorsed)
83. All rated got Aq
90. Slagh A (endorsed)
104. Both got Aq
105. Borton, Cutler got Aq Schmidt D
107. All rated got Aq

July 2020 Judiciary News

As the nation descends into anarchy, there is plenty of news in the American judicial system.

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

Trump:  President Trump will update his Supreme Court list by September 1.  John Doe had argued that he would.

Biden:  Will Biden release a Supreme Court list?  Prominent Ds are advising him not to.

DC Circuit:  The Senate confirmed Justin Walker 51-42 to the DC Circuit.  This is Trump's third appointment to "the second most influential appeals court in the nation".  Walker is a protege of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.  Walker's seat on WD-KY will soon be open for another nominee.

5th Circuit:  The Senate confirmed Cory Wilson 52-48 to the last open appeals court seat.  He finally fills a MS seat that has been open since 2017.  The 5th circuit should finally have a solid conservative majority, with 10 conservatives, 2 moderates, and 5 liberals.

New Jersey:  There are still no nominations for district court in New Jersey.  Carl Tobias tries blame President Trump, but given that most blue states have had nominees confirmed, it is clear that D senators are to blame.

Thurmond rule:  Will Senate Rs ignore the 'Thurmond rule'?  This is actually tradition, not a rule, that says the senate won't confirm judges nominated near the end of a president's term.  This 'rule' has often been violated, and is much more likely to be applied when the Senate and Presidency are in opposite hands.

New Nominations:
TBD

Senate Judiciary Committee hearings:
July 2 (business):  Some district court nominees may be held over.

Confirmations:
TBD

The Federal Judiciary:

Supreme Court:  The Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County "by a vote of 6 to 3 that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status constitutes discrimination “because of … sex” in violation of Title VII."  Justices Gorsuch and Roberts joined the court's four liberals.  Ed Whelan discusses the dissents by Justices Alito and Kavanaugh.

Trump judges:  This article debunks the myth that Trump's judicial appointees are less qualified than those of previous presidents.

Whitehouse:  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has long railed against the Federalist Society, claiming it is just a conduit for wealthy special interests to stack the courts.  However, there are many well-funded leftist groups that try to influence the courts.  Also, Whitehouse got a major D donor, John McConnell, a federal judgeship (D-RI).

DC-CA:  Chief Judge Cormac Carney has stepped down after less than a month as chief judge.  He described a court official, a black woman, as "street smart".  Some, including him, considered the comment racially insensitive.  While he was appointed to federal court by W, he was appointed to a state court by Governor Gray Davis (D).  He also declared California's death penalty unconstitutional in 2014, a decision unanimously overturned by the 9th Circuit (!), so he doesn't appear to be any sort of conservative.

MD-FL:  Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington (appointed by W) will take senior status on July 12, her 65th birthday.

State Supreme Courts:

Georgia:  In the June 9 primaries, Justice Sarah Warren (R) was easily renominated, with 79%.  Charlie Bethel was held to 53% by former state Rep. Beth Beskin (R) (14-18). Beskin has twice tried to run for open seats on the court, only to have the elections cancelled when the incumbents resigned early and they were filled by appointment.

Kansas:  Kansas Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier will retire.  D Governor Laura Kelly will get her third appointment to the famously liberal court, as liberal judges see a chance to get favorable replacements.

Michigan:  Republicans currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court, but moderate Republicans Elizabeth Clement and David Viviano hold the balance of power.  There are two full-term seats up for election on the Michigan Supreme Court. They are those of D Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack and conservative Stephen Markman, who is age-limited.  McCormack is likely safe, while the open seat will be hotly contested.  Court of Appeals judge Brock Swartzle and assistant St. Clair County prosecutor Mary Kelly are running for R nominations.  Candidates who are women, Irish, and especially Irish women have an advantage in Michigan judicial races, as former justices Marilyn Kelly and Mary Beth Kelly can attest.

New Jersey:  Governor Phil Murphy has appointed Fabiana Pierre-Louis to the New Jersey Supreme Court.  She is the first African American woman on the New Jersey Supreme Court.  The court will have 3 appointees from D governors and 4 appointees from R governors, though it is unclear whether any of the R appointees are conservatives.

West Virginia:  The (officially nonpartisan) election of three seats was held on June 9.  The court will maintain a 3R-2D balance.
Place 1: Incumbent Tim Armstead (R), a former state House Speaker, was reelected.
Place 2: Trial lawyer Bill Wooton (D) narrowly beat a more conservative candidate.
Place 3:  Appointed incumbent John Hutchison, a supposedly conservative D appointed by Governor Justice, was reelected.

Numbers and Trivia:

President Trump has had 200 judicial confirmations for Article III courts.  That includes four judges (Quattlebaum, Phipps, Brasher, and Walker) confirmed to both district and appeals courts.  Trump has 53 appeals court appointments, compared to 55 for Obama's two terms.  Trump has 143 district court appointments.  Obama had 141 district judges in his first term, and 268 total.

7th Circuit:  As of July 4, Diane Sykes will be the Chief Judge of the 7th Circuit, taking over from Diane Wood.  Sykes was appointed by W, and is on President Trump's Supreme Court list.  The Presidents who appointed chief judges of the 13 appeals courts are Clinton (2, 4, 6, 9), W (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, Fed), and Obama (DC).

Black Judges:  Wikipedia has a list of black federal judges.  (The list is not complete, as it omits Ada Brown of ND-TX.)  Notably, Trump has nominated 10 black district judges, similar to the 11 appointed by George W Bush in his first term.  However, Bush appointed six black judges to the appeals courts, while Trump has not yet nominated any.  Bush's appointees included two conservatives (Smith, Brown), two moderates (Duncan, Holmes), and two liberals (Gregory, Parker).

History:

Roberts:  In light of Justice Roberts' recent string of disappointing rulings, it is enlightening to return to Ann Coulter's columns (one, two, three) criticizing Roberts' appointment in 2005.

Resources:
Bench Memos (National Review)
The Vetting Room
FedJudges (Twitter)
Senate Cloakroom (Twitter)
Senate Judiciary Committee
ABA Judicial Ratings
Wikipedia-Trump Judges
Wikipedia-US Appeals Courts
Senior Status Spreadsheet
Future Judicial Vacancies
BostonPatriot diaries: History Trump DC-5 6-11 9th
Ballotpedia-State Supreme Court Vacancies
The Supreme Courts
2020: March April May June

Michigan Right to Life Endorsements

Michigan Right to Life has just issued its endorsements for the 2020 primary.  RTL swings a significant number of Michigan primary voters, so its endorsements will decide some races.

RTL will recommend all candidates if they are all pro-life, but if there is a serious non-pro-life candidate, they will pick one pro-life candidate to endorse.  Their noteworthy endorsements are listed below.

President:  Trump
US Senate: John James

Congress:
All Republican incumbents are endorsed except for Fred Upton.  Notably, Upton was endorsed in 2012, 2014, and 2016 despite a past pro-abortion record.
3. Afendoulis, Meijer, and Norton all endorsed
5. Tim Kelly solely endorsed
6. No endorsement
8. All four Republican candidates are endorsed.
9. Both Republican candidates are endorsed.
10. All three Republican candidates are endorsed.

State House:  All Republican incumbents are endorsed except two.
13. (D) Bill Colovos
19. Crider and Ptashnik both endorsed.
20. John Lacny
21. Laurel Ness
25. All three Republican candidates are endorsed.
38. Chase Turner solely endorsed.  Who is not pro-life here?
39. No endorsement for incumbent Ryan Berman
41. Evan Agnello
45. No endorsement for Mark Tisdel
47. Bezotte and Reckling both endorsed.
48. David Martin solely endorsed.
56. TC Clements
58. Andrew Fink solely endorsed.  Who is not pro-life here?
59. Allen Balong solely endorsed.  Some other candidates, including State Carra, are pro-life.
61. Bronwyn Haltom
62. Dave Morgan
70. Martin Ross solely endorsed.  Who is not pro-life here?
71. Barnes and Johnsen both endorsed.
73. All three Republican candidates are endorsed.
78. No endorsement for incumbent Brad Paquette
83. Gregory Alexander solely endorsed.  Who is not pro-life here?
95. (D) James Graham
96. Bauer and Beson both endorsed.
104. Cerone and Roth both endorsed.
105. Cutler and Borton both endorsed.
107. John Damoose solely endorsed.  Who is not pro-life here?

June 2020 Judiciary News

As the nation begins to reopen, there is plenty of news in the American judicial system.

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

DC Circuit:  The leftist group Demand Justice has tried to claim a conspiracy between Senator McConnell and retiring judge Thomas Griffith. McConnell has reportedly been encouraging conservative judges who are eligible to take senior status. District judge Justin Walker, a McConnell protege, has been nominated to Griffith’s seat. But there is no evidence that Griffith got anything. Further, Griffith has been planning to retire for a year due to his need to care for his sick wife.

DC Circuit:  Demand Justice filed a complaint with new DC Circuit chief judge Sri Srinivasan, who accepted it despite Demand Justice’s failure to set forth its complaint under penalty of perjury. He asked Chief Justice John Roberts to transfer the complaint to another circuit for evaluation. Roberts denied the request, and it was then dismissed by judge Henderson.  Srinivasan's behavior may be influenced by a desire for a Supreme Court appointment.

DC Circuit:  Justin Walker got a rare WQm/Qmin/NQmin rating from the ABA.  The ABA gave Walker an NQ for lack of trial experience when rating him for the district court.  Now that he is a district court judge that is less of an issue.  Also, his background as a law professor is a better fit for the appeals court.  This deprives the left of a talking point opposing his nomination.

5th Circuit:  The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Cory Wilson's nomination for the 5th Circuit (MS).  He received a WQ from the ABA, an upgrade from the Q he received for his district court nomination.  D Senators attacked him for his opposition to Obamacare and support for voter ID laws. He held up well and should pass the committee by a party line vote.

Guardian:  The Guardian, a far-left British paper, is running a series of articles attacking Trump's judicial nominees.

New Nominations:
D-NM:  Fred Federici--Assistant US Attorney
D-NM:  Brenda Saiz--private practice

Senate Judiciary Committee hearings:
June 4 (business):  Justin Walker is likely to be voted out of committee.

Confirmations:
The Senate is expected to confirm John Leonard Badalamenti (MD-FL) and Drew Tipton (SD-TX) the week of June 1.

The Federal Judiciary:

Judicial retirements:  The GOP may, or may not, be pressuring conservative judges eligible for senior status to retire.  Aside from media reports making this claim, the only evidence seems to be a spreadsheet created by the Article III project, a group fighting for confirmation of conservative judges.  Most judges did not comment; one who did said

"I hope to die on the bench," said one federal judge on the list who requested anonymity to say there'd been no outreach from McConnell or anyone else about their job plans.

Federalist Society:  The Judicial Conference of the United States Committee on Codes of Conduct wants to bar judges from being members of the Federalist Society, while claiming that the ABA is fine.  In March, 210 federal judges wrote a letter protesting the Draft Advisory Opinion.  They point out that the ABA engages in advocacy and lobbying, while the Federalist Society does not.  They also ask whether members of the ABA recused themselves when drafting the opinion.

Federalist Society:  The primary authors of the letter were Greg Katsas (DC Circuit), Andy Oldham (5th), William Pryor (11th), and Amul Thapar (6th).  The 210 judges are primarily Republican appointees, but include some appointees of democrats as well.  The appeals court judges in this category are José Cabranes (2nd), Julie Carnes (11th), Frank Hull (11th), Cheryl Krause (3rd), Stanley Marcus (11th), and Richard Tallman (9th).  All but Krause are generally considered right of center.  The only Trump appeals court judges to not sign the letter are Ralph Erickson (8th), Jonathan Kobes (8th), Eric Miller (9th), Marvin Quattlebaum (4th), and Amy St. Eve (7th).

Federalist Society:  The letter was leaked shortly before Justin Walker's committee hearing, and a New York Times article framed the issue around his nomination in a very biased way.  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who is known for promoting conspiracy theories about the Federalist Society, asked Walker about the letter at his nomination hearing.

9th Circuit:  Environmentalists are upset with the Trump appointees to the 9th circuit.  (For bonus points, see how many errors you can spot in this article.)

State Supreme Courts:

Alaska:  The Alaska Judicial Council selected four finalists for the Supreme Court vacancy caused by the retirement of Craig Stowers, effective June 1.  They are "Superior Court Judges Dani Crosby, Jennifer Stuart Henderson and Yvonne Lamoureux, as well as chief assistant attorney general Dario Borghesan".  Borghesan seems to be the only candidate with conservative bonafides, as he worked for AGs Dan Sullivan and Kevin Clarkson.  The other three were all appointed to the Superior Court  by left-leaning independent Gov. Bill Walker.  Alaska, along with Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, is a red state with a liberal Supreme Court due to its "merit-based" judicial selection.

Florida:  Governor Ron DeSantis finally made two appointments to the Florida Supreme Court, after passing his second, self-imposed deadline of May 1.  One is John Couriel, a Miami lawyer went to Harvard, clerked for a district judge, and served as an AUSA. He is Hispanic (Cuban). He was a finalist last time, but was not chosen.

The other appointee is Renatha Francis, who went to Florida Coastal University Law School, and served as a trial judge in Miami and Palm Beach. She is a black woman (born in Jamaica). Many black leaders had demanded a black appointee. She has to wait until September to meet the eligibility requirements.  The appointments were cheered by conservatives and jeered by liberals.

Georgia:  The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled 6-2 that Governor Brian Kemp can appoint the successor to Justice Keith Blackwell, who will leave the Georgia Supreme Court in November. He was scheduled to face a retention election in November, but state law allows the Governor to appoint a replacement who will not face retention until later. Former U.S. Rep. John Barrow (D) and former state Rep. Beth Beskin (R) wanted to run for the seat. They filed suit claiming that cancelling the election is illegal since Blackwell is still on the court. After a local court denied the request, they appealed to the Supreme Court.  They demanded that all eight Supreme Court justices recuse themselves; five did.  Barrow and Raskin were previously candidates for the seat of retiring judge Robert Benham, but that election was also cancelled when Benham resigned early.  Barrow is now pursuing a similar case in federal court.

Georgia:  Former state Rep. Beth Beskin (R) (14-18) is challenging incumbent Georgia Supreme Court Justice Charlie Bethel in the June 9 primary.  Beskin has twice tried to run for open seats on the court, only to have the elections cancelled when the incumbents resigned early and they were filled by appointment.  Bethel was a state senator (10-16) before appointment to the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Minnesota: Governor Tim Walz appointed Nobles County District Judge Gordon Moore to the Minnesota Supreme Court.  He replaces retiring Justice David Lillehaug.  Moore previously worked for Attorney General Skip Humphrey (D) and was appointed to his current position by Mark Dayton (D).  Notably, Moore lives in rural southwest Minnesota.  The Minnesota Supreme Court has five D appointees and two R appointees.

West Virginia:  The (officially nonpartisan) election of three seats will occur on June 9.  Incumbent Tim Armstead (R), a former state House Speaker, faces two challengers.  Incumbent Margaret Workman (D), who managed to get the state judges to issue an injunction against her impeachment trial (!) is retiring.  There are four candidates for her seat.  Appointed incumbent John Hutchison (D) is seeking election against two challengers.  Good luck figuring out who is conservative from media profiles of the races (1 2 3).

Lockdowns:  Many states have been grappling with the issue of lockdowns imposed by executive order.  Some courts have upheld the orders, while others have been struck down.  In one example of the latter, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Governor Tony Evers' stay-at-home order.  The ruling was 4-3, with conservative Brian Hagedorn joining the two liberals in the minority.

Numbers and Trivia:

Trump:  The Brookings Institution compares Trump to previous presidents with regard to the number and percentage of judicial appointments.

D-ND:  The last time a North Dakota district judge was appointed by a D president was in 1941.

ED-NY:  Diane Gujarati was nominated to the Eastern District of New York on May 15, 2018 (over two years ago) and has not yet received a vote.  She was previously nominated on September 13, 2016 by President Obama to the same position.

As of June 3, William Pryor will be the Chief Judge of the 11th Circuit, taking over from Edward Carnes.  The Presidents who appointed chief judges of the 13 appeals courts are Clinton (2, 4, 6, 7, 9), W (1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, Fed), and Obama (DC).

Trump has appointed nine black judges to district courts. Here is the list, along with my best understanding of their views.
SD-AL: Terry Moorer – nonpartisan
ED-VA: Rossie Alston – conservative
SD-FL: Rodney Smith – nonpartisan
WD-TX: Jason Pulliam – conservative
ED-PA: John Younge – liberal
ND-TX: Ada Brown – nonpartisan
ED-MI: Stephanie Davis – liberal
ED-NC: Richard Myers – conservative
WD-OK: Bernard Jones – nonpartisan

There is one more who has been nominated.
ED-VA: Roderick C. Young – nonpartisan

Resources:
Bench Memos (National Review)
The Vetting Room
FedJudges (Twitter)
Senate Cloakroom (Twitter)
Senate Judiciary Committee
ABA Judicial Ratings
Wikipedia-Trump Judges
Wikipedia-US Appeals Courts
Senior Status Spreadsheet
Future Judicial Vacancies
BostonPatriot diaries: History Trump DC-5 6-11 9th
Ballotpedia-State Supreme Court Vacancies
The Supreme Courts
2020: March April May

Influence peddling, Hypocrisy, and Lies

Governor Whitmer's husband recently tried to cut the line to get his boat out of storage by using his wife's position.  The line existed due to the Governor's lockdown orders.  This was exposed by a Facebook post by the owner of the storage company.

Whitmer’s spokespeople initially tried to avoid commenting on this story, saying

“Our practice is not to discuss the governor’s or her family’s personal calendar/schedules. And we’re not going to make it a practice of addressing every rumor that is spread online,” Brown said. 

“There’s been a lot of wild misinformation spreading online attacking the governor and her family, and the threats of violence against her personally are downright dangerous,” she added.

Of course, it isn’t a rumor when the person making the allegation knows whether it is true or not. The governor’s staff also claimed it was false.

“But the lawmaker said he eventually deleted it after the governor’s office reached out to the staff of Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, asking for the post to be removed and contending the comments were false.”

Now, the Governor has admitted the story is true, but claimed it is a joke.

“My husband made a failed attempt at humor last week when checking in with a small business that helps with our boat and dock up north,” Whitmer said at a press conference Tuesday. “Knowing it wouldn’t make a difference, he jokingly asked if being married to me might move him up in the queue. Obviously with the motorized boating prohibition in our early days of COVID-19, he thought it might get a laugh. It didn’t.”

But which part was a joke? He was the governor’s husband, and was asking for special treatment.

2020 Michigan State House Races

Last updated August 2, 2020.

Cross-posted at The Western Right, Right Michigan, and RRH Elections.

All 110 seats in the Michigan House of Representatives will be up for election in November. Republicans won a 63-47 majorities in 2014 and 2016, and a reduced 58-42 margin in 2018. There are 25 open seats, 12 held by Republicans and 13 held by democrats. There are 22 open due to term-limits, 1 just due to seeking another office, 1 due to death, and 1 pure retirement.

Democrats are hoping to take control of the state house. They may benefit from anti-Trump enthusiasm.

In 2014 and 2016, there were many contests between moderate and conservative factions in the house GOP, won by the conservatives narrowly in 2014 and more decisively in 2016.  These battles died down in 2018, and conservative Jason Wentworth is the presumptive next house GOP leader.  There are still likely to be some ideological battles.

Republican Michigander has a profile of the Michigan state house focusing more on district demographics.





The following lists district number, current incumbent, geographic description, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 state house results, 2012 Romney %, 2016 Trump % (if known), and political rating.  Candidates who filed a reporting waiver, indicating that they will not raise more than $1000 (and hence are not serious) are typically omitted.  The complete candidate list and recent fundraising numbers are available here:


2020 Michigan Primary Candidate List
July 2020 Michigan State House Fundraising

May 2020 Judiciary News

Even with the nation on lockdown, there is still news in the American judicial system.

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

Overall:  There's plenty of schadenfreude to be found in the summary of Trump's appointments by retired judge Shira Scheindlin (SD-NY) for the Guardian.

McConnell:  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is apparently encouraging conservative judges who are eligible to take senior status.  Left-wing activist group Demand Justice is demanding an investigation into the retirement of DC Circuit Justice Thomas Griffith.

DC Circuit:  President Trump nominated Judge Justin Walker (WD-KY) to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, commonly considered the second most powerful court in the nation.  Walker is a protege of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.  If you like your schadenfreude extra strong, check out Slate's take on the nomination.

D-AZ:  Arizona Judge Scott Rash, nominated to the federal district court, has been attacked by several women for allegedly making inappropriate comments and being biased against women.  Curiously, this attack came after Rash received a WQ from the ABA and was approved by the Judiciary Committee on a 16-6 vote.  It is unclear if Arizona's senators (both women) have rethought their support for his nomination.

ED-VA:  Virginia's D senators have recommended two possible nominees for a vacant district court seat.  They are U.S. Magistrate Judges Roderick Young and Douglas Miller.  President Trump has not yet made a selection.

SD-FL:  President Trump apparently plans to nominate former prosecutor David Leibowitz for a district court seat.  He now works for the car dealership owned by his uncle, a major R donor.

New Nominations: (UPDATED)
SD-FL:  Aileen Cannon–AUSA, clerked for Steven Colloton (8th circuit)
ED-CA:  Dirk Paloutzian–private practice
ED-VA: Roderick Young–magistrate judge, former AUSA
Armed Services appeals court: Liam Hardy–deputy AG, clerk for Ryan, Sentelle, Thomas
D-KS: Toby Crouse–Kansas solicitor general, clerk for Mary Beck Briscoe (10th Circuit)

Senate Judiciary Committee hearings:
May 6 (nominations):  Justin Walker (DC Circuit) will be considered.
May 14 (business): Six district court nominees may be voted on.

Judicial emergencies:  Judicial emergencies continue to delay justice in California and Washington.  California has a long-delayed slate of nominees to fill most of its vacancies, while Washington has no nominees due to D senators Murray and Cantwell.

Recess appointments:  President Trump raised the possibility of adjourning Congress to fill executive and judicial vacancies by recess appointment.  This does not appear to be legal without the consent of Congress.  There does not appear to be much value in filling judgeships this way now, with only nine months left in Trump's term.  However, if Rs hold the Senate in 2020 (whether or not Trump is reelected), Trump could potentially fill longstanding district court vacancies in states like Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington where D senators have refused to sign blue slips for any nominee.

The Federal Judiciary:

Schumer:  Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer unleashed a vitriolic attack on justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, saying

"You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price! You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

He later backpedalled somewhat as his comments were seen as an attempt to intimidate the justices.

ED-WI:  Clinton-appointed Judge Lynn Adelman launched a vitriolic attack on President Trump, Chief Justice John Roberts, and the R-appointed majority on the Supreme Court.  Adelman's rant repeats left-wing talking points on a variety of issues.  Before appointment to the bench, Adelman was a D state senator and three-time congressional candidate.

5th Circuit:  A panel with Judges Jennifer Elrod and Kyle Duncan in the majority has allowed Texas' suspension of abortions to stay in effect.  They are Bush and Trump appointees, respectively.  Notably, they overruled Bush-appointed district judge Lee Yeakel, who has a pro-abortion history.

WD-OK:  Trump-appointed judge Charles Goodwin overturned Oklahoma's suspension of abortions during the coronavirus crisis.  Lifesite is unhappy with him, citing several other Trump judges with non-conservative beliefs.  But while several of them were compromises with D senators, Oklahoma has two R senators.

CD-CA:  Judge James Selna quietly took senior status on March 3.  Notably, he did so without any delay, and managed to not generate a single news article about this status.

9th Circuit:  Senior Judge Raymond Fisher passed away in March.  Notably, Fisher was the first of 14 Clinton appointees to leave the 9th Circuit completely.  Nine are still active, and another four are senior.

State Supreme Courts:

Florida:  Governor Ron DeSantis blew past the March 23 deadline to fill two vacancies on the Florida Supreme Court, citing his emergency declaration on the coronavirus and his desire to read the writings of the candidates.  The legality of this may be questionable, but there doesn't appear to be a remedy other than to wait for an appointment.

The judicial nominating commission submitted nine finalists to Governor Ron DeSantis on January 23.  One of the appointees must be John Couriel, Norma Lindsey, or Eloit Pedrosa, who live in the 3rd Appellate District (Miami).

Georgia:  Georgia Governor Brain Kemp appointed Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Carla Wong McMillian to the Georgia Supreme Court.  She replaces Justice Robert Benham, who was the last democrat on the court.  She is a Federalist Society member and the first Asian on the court.  She had a 'social distancing' swearing in.

Georgia:  Justice Keith Blackwell will leave the Georgia Supreme Court in November. He was scheduled to face a retention election in November, but state law allows the Governor to appoint a replacement who will not face retention until later. Former U.S. Rep. John Barrow (D) and former state Rep. Beth Beskin (R) wanted to run for the seat. They have filed suit claiming that cancelling the election is illegal since Blackwell is still on the court. A local court denied the request. They appealed to the Supreme Court, and demanded that all eight Supreme Court justices recuse themselves. Five have done so.  Barrow and Raskin were previously candidates for the seat of retiring judge Robert Benham, but that election was also cancelled when Benham resigned early.

Iowa:  Governor Kim Reynolds appointed Matthew McDermott to the Iowa Supreme Court on April 3.  McDermott is a lawyer with extensive experience who was counsel to the Republican Party of Iowa and has worked for many Republican candidates.  Fifteen people had applied to the Iowa judicial nominating commission to fill the seat of liberal Justice David Wiggins, who retired in March.  Reynolds has now made four appointments to the court.  In a little over a year, three seats have flipped from left to right due to two deaths and Wiggins' retirement.  The last liberal on the court, David Appel, must leave the court no later then 2022.

Kansas:   Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly appointed lawyer Keynen “KJ” Wall to the Kansas Supreme Court.  He replaces liberal Chief Justice Lawton Nuss.  The notoriously liberal court recently upheld a limit on the size of religious gatherings.

Washington: Slate reports on Washington state's newest Supreme Court Justice:

While the federal bench grows more homogeneous by the day, Democratic governors are diversifying their state judiciaries to an unprecedented degree. On Monday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, elevated Grace Helen Whitener to the state Supreme Court. Whitener is a disabled black lesbian who immigrated from Trinidad. She joins Inslee’s two other appointees: Raquel Montoya-Lewis, a Jewish Native American who previously served on tribal courts, and Mary Yu, an Asian-American Latina lesbian who officiated the first same-sex marriages in the state.

Wisconsin:  Conservative Justice Daniel Kelly was defeated by liberal Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karofsky 45-55 in the April 7 runoff.  The runoff coincided with the presidential primary, so  Karofsky benefitted from increased D turnout.  The Wisconsin Supreme Court will now have 4 conservatives and 3 liberals.  Barring any unexpected vacancies, the next election will be in 2023, when liberals will have a chance to win the seat of conservative Justice Patience Roggensack, who would seem likely to retire then at age 82.

Numbers and Trivia:

Many of Trump's appeals court justices are former Supreme Court clerks.  A few of his district court appointees are as well.  They are
MD-FL--William Jung--Rehnquist
D. Utah--Howard Nielsen--Kennedy
D. DC--Carl Nichols--Thomas
ND-IL--Martha Pacold--Thomas
SD-TX--Charles Eskridge--White
ED-NY--Rachel P. Kovner--Scalia
WD-KY--Justin Walker--Kennedy
SD-NY--Lewis Liman--Stevens
Walker is a nominee for the DC Circuit.  Nielsen, Nichols, Pacold, Kovner are possible candidates for future circuit court vacancies.  Jung and Eskridge are likely too old, and Liman is a liberal nominated as part of a deal.

Roberts clerks:  Speaking of Supreme Court clerks, is it odd that Chief Justice John Roberts has so few famous law clerks?  Wikipedia has only Senator Josh Hawley and one law professor with their own pages.  For comparison, Samuel Alito, who joined the court about the same time, has 11 clerks with Wikipedia pages, including three appeals court judges, two solicitor generals, and Senator Mike Lee.

Georgia:  The Georgia Supreme Court is quite young. The ages of the nine justices are 53, 55, 44, 57, 41, 38, 44, 59, 46, with mean 49 and median 46. The oldest judge joined the court in 2018.

David Lat:  Lat, age 44, formerly of the Above the Law blog, has recovered from a serious case of coronavirus that left him on a ventilator for six days.

History:

Wisconsin:  This article is a good overview of the recent history of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which has had increasingly partisan and nasty races for more than a decade.  (The left-leaning tone of the article says a lot about where NeverTrumper Charlie Sykes is ideologically these days.)


Resources:
Bench Memos (National Review)
The Vetting Room
FedJudges (Twitter)
Senate Cloakroom (Twitter)
Senate Judiciary Committee
ABA Judicial Ratings
Wikipedia-Trump Judges
Wikipedia-US Appeals Courts
Senior Status Spreadsheet
BostonPatriot diaries: History Trump DC-5 6-11 9th
Ballotpedia-State Supreme Court Vacancies
The Supreme Courts

Gretchen Whitmer's Instinctive Lies

A crisis can reveal a person's true character.  One striking example of this is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  She has a bad habit of lying about her political opponents whenever they disagree with her.  There are many examples.

1. Republicans in the Michigan senate approved several hundred appointees of Governor Whitmer without issue.  In February, they rejected the appointment of Anna Mitterling in a political dispute related to hunting rights.  The governor's office immediately accused senate Republicans of sexism:

“Sen. Shirkey had promised to turn over a new leaf, but it’s now clear that they care more about their sexist, partisan games than the well-being of our state.”

Of course, there was no evidence of sexism, beyond the fact that Mitterling is female.  Senate Republicans rejected a male nominee soon after.

2. Early in the coronavirus crisis, Whitmer claimed that the Trump administration told vendors not to send emergency supplies to Michigan:

"What I've gotten back is that vendors with whom we had contracts are now being told not to send stuff here to Michigan. It's really concerning."

Whitmer never provided any evidence to support her claim.

3. When thousands of citizens drove to Lansing to protest the over-broad and irrational aspects of her lockdown policy, Whitmer implied that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was responsible for creating the protest:

“I think it’s really inappropriate for a sitting member of the United States President’s cabinet to be waging political attacks on any governor, but obviously on me here at home,”

(A group that the DeVos family has contributed to spent $250 promoting the protest after it had been organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, a grassroots group.)

4. Whitmer also claimed that protesters endangered lives by blocking ambulances from reaching a hospital:

“The blocking of cars and ambulances trying to get into Sparrow Hospital immediately endangered lives,”

Her claim was rebutted by Lansing police.

Whitmer has displayed little competence at governing in her time in office, but routinely lashes out at anyone she perceives as a political opponent.

March 2020 Judiciary News

There is a lot of news in the American judicial system.  Here is a roundup of recent devolopments.

Appointments, Hearings, Confirmations:

Overall:  This article from the Christian Science Monitor doesn't have much new, but is about the best summary of Trump judicial appointments.  It also has a nice graphic illustrating the changes in the appeals courts.

Overall:  Don't overdose on schadenfreude while reading this Vox article on Trump's appointees.

Brasher:  Andrew Brasher is Trump's 51st court of appeals judge.  He was confirmed 52-43 on February 11 to replace Judge Ed Carnes of the 11th Circuit, who will wait a few months to leave office.  Trump has appointed 6 of 12 judges on the 11th Circuit.

Territories:  Territorial judges in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were confirmed last week.  While many Trump nominees are controversial, these were not.

There have been a few more nominees for district courts in Illinois, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin.  These require deals with D senators.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has a nominations hearing on March 4.  No word yet who will testify.

Schwartz:  U.S. Court of Federal Claims nominee Stephen Schwartz is under fire for articles he wrote as an undergraduate calling large parts of the federal government unconstitutional.

The Federal Judiciary:

Federalist Society:  The Judicial Conference of the United States Committee on Codes of Conduct wants to bar judges from being members of the Federalist Society, while claiming that the ABA is fine.  This is despite the fact that the ABA engages in advocacy and lobbying, while the Federalist Society does not.

9th Circuit:  Liberals on the 9th Circuit are upset with many Trump appointees, and have criticized them in an LA Times article.  W appointees Milan Smith and Connie Callahan seem happy with them.  Trump appointee Dan Collins has been the most aggressive in calling for en banc reconsideration of panel decisions.  Ryan Nelson has also annoyed some on the left by calling for removing a leftist district judge from a case.  Bridget Bade, Mark Bennett, and Eric Miller are best-liked by the other side (this may be related to Miller not dissenting from any en banc denials).

Clerks:  David Lat has a roundup of Supreme Court clerk hiring.

Murguia:  District Judge Carlos Murguia of Kansas resigned after being publicly reprimanded for sexual harassment and having an affair with a felon.  Murguia was appointed by Bill Clinton.   His sister Mary is on the 9th Circuit, and his sister Janet runs the Hispanic race group La Raza.

State Supreme Courts:

Alaska:  Justice Craig Stowers will retire on June 1.  Eight people have applied to the Alaska Judicial Council, which will send two candidates to Governor Mike Dunleavy for his selection.  Dunleavy, a conservative, has clashed with the court when he vetoed some of its funding in response to an activist decision.

Florida:  There are two vacancies on the Florida Supreme Court, thanks to the appointments of Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck to the 11th Circuit.  The judicial nominating commission submitted nine finalists to Governor Ron Desantis on January 23.  One of the appointees must be John Couriel, Norma Lindsey, or Eloit Pedrosa, who live in the 3rd Appellate District (Miami).  DeSantis must make his selections by March 23.

Florida:  Some black democrats have been pushing for the appointment of a black member of the court, which has not had a black member since 2018.  The only black nominee is Palm Beach Circuit Judge Renatha Francis, who is not eligible to serve until September 24.

Georgia:  Justice Robert Benham will leave the court March 1.  He is the last remaining democrat on the court.  His retirement canceled a November election to fill his seat, for which several candidates had already announced.  The state judicial nominating commission has selected nine candidates for interviews.

Georgia:  Justice Keith Blackwell (age 44) will leave the court in November to return to private practice (and make more money).  He is on President Trump's list of possible Supreme Court picks.

Iowa:  Governor Kim Reynolds appointed Dana Oxley on January 28 to fill the seat of Mark Cady.  She clerked for a Reagan/Bush 41 appointee to the 8th circuit, so she is probably a good choice.

Iowa:  The Iowa Supreme Court has elected conservative Susan Christensen chief justice.  She was appointed to the court in 2018.  She replaces liberal Mark Cady, who died in November.  Liberal David Wiggins has been acting chief.

Iowa:  Fifteen people have applied to the Iowa judicial nominating commission to fill the seat of liberal Justice David Wiggins, who will retire in March.

Kansas:   The Kansas Supreme Court currently has one vacancy, due to the retirement of liberal Chief Justice Lawton Nuss in December.  It will be filled by democrat Gov. Laura Kelly.

Wisconsin:  Conservative Justice Daniel Kelly will face liberal Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karofsky in the April 7 runoff.  On February 18, Kelly won 50% to 37% for Karofsky and 13% for another liberal candidate.  The runoff coincides with the presidential primary, so it would be advantageous for Republicans if the democrat nominee were known by then.

Numbers and Trivia:

Numbers:  This article has lots of data on judicial appointments. Among other things, it shows that D appointed judges are less likely to retire under opposite party presidents than are R appointed judges.

President Obama appointed 141 district judges in his first term.  President Trump is up to 138, and will pass this total soon.

As of February 11, Sri Srinivasan is now the Chief Judge of the DC Circuit, taking over from Merrick Garland.  The Presidents who appointed chief judges of the 13 appeals courts are HW (11), Clinton (2, 4, 6, 7, 9), W (1, 3, 5, 8, 10, Fed), and Obama (DC).

History:

Reinhardt:  Ultra-liberal 9th Circuit judge Stephen Reinhardt (who died in 2018) was accused of sexual harassment by former law clerk Olivia Warren at a US House hearing on February 13.

Reinhardt:  "more than 70 former law clerks to the late Ninth Circuit judge Stephen Reinhardt signed a letter “expressing support for" ... Warren ... "Specifically, the former clerks affirm that they “believe [Warren’s] testimony,” they thank her for “her courage in speaking out,” and they attest that some of them (but not others of them) “experienced or witnessed conduct in chambers [i.e., by Reinhardt] that we would call sexist, workplace bullying or mistreatment.”"

9th Circuit:  It appears that the 9th Circuit clerk's office rigged the panel selection to allow Reinhardt to sit on a disproportionate number of ideologically charged cases.

Bazelon:  In the 1960s and 70s, the most influential judge outside the Supreme Court was David Bazelon of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.  This was due to his close relationship with Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, sending him both cases and clerks.  But Bazelon had a dark secret.  According to the book 'Supermob' by Gus Russo, he started his career as a Mafia lawyer.  In the Truman administration, he was in charge of selling off property stolen from interned Japanese and Germans during World War II, and he sold it to Mafia associates at discount rates.  Truman soon after appointed Bazelon to the DC Circuit.  This suggests that his later crusade to undermine criminal justice in America was not entirely magnanimous.

Resources:
Bench Memos (National Review)
The Vetting Room
The Supreme Courts
Wikipedia-Trump Judges
Wikipedia-US Appeals Courts
FedJudges (Twitter)
Senate Cloakroom (Twitter)
Senate Judiciary Committee

Shane Hernandez for Congress

Back in July, Michigan 10th district congressman Paul Mitchell announced that he would not seek reelection after just two terms.  More than two months later, the first serious Republican candidate has announced.  State representative Shane Hernandez of Port Huron is running.

Shane was a Tea Party leader in St. Clair county who helped conservatives win control of the county GOP there.  He also served on the 10th district committee.  In 2016, Shane ran for state house in the 83rd district, including all of Sanilac and part of St. Clair Counties.  He comfortably won a three-way primary.  He won the general election with 63% in 2016 and 64% in 2018, in a district that elected a democrat as recently as 2008.

Shane quickly established himself as one of the most conservative members of the Michigan legislature. The American Conservative Union rated his votes 93% conservative, tying for most conservative in 2018.  MIRS rated him 93% conservative, tying for most conservative in 2017.  RightMichigan rates him 88% conservative, tied for most conservative in 2017-2018.

Unlike some legislators who vote the right way, but are otherwise unproductive in office, Shane has worked well with his legislative colleagues.  He helped to elect conservative leadership in the state house.  In 2018, he was appointed chairman of the house appropriations committee, widely considered the most prestigious committee chairmanship.  Unlike some legislators who use this position to deliver pork to pet projects, he produced a fiscally responsible budget that resisted Governor Whitmer's plan for massive tax and spending increases.

Shane is pro-life, pro-gun, and an all-around conservative leader.  All conservatives should support his campaign for Congress.

2020 Michigan Election Preview

This post was last updated September 6, 2020.

Michigan's presidential electors, congressional seats, and the entire state house will be up for election November 2020.

President: Lean democrat
Michigan's presidential primary was on March 10.  President Trump easily defeated several primary challengers.  Joe Biden defeated Bernie Sanders in the Michigan D primary.  After President Trump's narrow victory in Michigan in 2016, the state is sure to be a battleground in 2020.

US Senate: Lean democrat
Democrat Senator Gary Peters is seeking reelection.  He won 55-41 in 2014 against Terri Lynn Land, who ran a weak campaign.  He has mediocre approval ratings, and is the least-known US senator.

Businessman John James, a black veteran, is running for the R nomination.  He was the R nominee against Debbie Stabenow in 2018, losing a relatively narrow 46.3-51.7 margin in a bad years for Republicans.  Perennial candidate Bob Carr was disqualified due to lack of signatures.

Michigan Supreme Court Safe democrat / Tossup
Republicans currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court, but moderate Republicans Elizabeth Clement and David Viviano holding the balance of power.  There are two full-term seats up for election on the Michigan Supreme Court. They are those of D Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack and conservative Stephen Markman, who is age-limited.  McCormack is likely safe, while the open seat will be hotly contested.  Court of Appeals judge Brock Swartzle  and assistant St. Clair County prosecutor Mary Kelly are the R nominees.  Grand Rapids attorney Elizabeth Welch is the other D nominee.

Other Statewide Offices
Two seats on the state Board of Education and boards of trustees of U of M, MSU, and WSU will be up for election. All eight seats up are held by democrats. Democrats have swept these elections in 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2018, while Republicans swept in 2010.  The candidates are as follows (incumbents are marked with *).
State Board of Education:
Republicans:  Tami Carlone, Michelle Frederick
Democrats:  Ellen Cogen Lipton, Jason Strayhorn
UM Board of Regents:
Republicans:  Sarah Hubbard, Carl Meyers
Democrats:  Mark Bernstein*, Shauna Ryder Diggs*
MSU Board of Trustees:
Republicans:  Pat O'Keefe, Tonya Schuitmaker
Democrats:  Rema Vassar, Brian Mosallam*
WSU Board of Governors:
Republicans:  Don Gates, Terri Lynn Land
Democrats:  Shirley Stancato, Eva Garza Dewaelsche

Ballot Propositions
Several initiatives have attempted to collect signatures, but have been hampered by the coronavirus and lockdown order.  Two initiatives were put on the ballot by the legislature.
1. The Michigan Search Warrant for Electronic Data Amendment would require a search warrant for electronic data.
2. The Michigan Use of State and Local Park Funds Amendment changes how money for Michigan parks can be spent.

Michigan Congressional Seats
Republicans won an 8-7 majority in Michigan's congressional delegation in 2018, after losing up the 8th and 11th districts.  Republicans may try to reclaim both districts, while Ds try to win the open 3rd district of Republican turned libertarian Justin Amash.  The 10th district of R Paul Mitchell is open.  The post below examines these races in detail.

2020 Michigan Congressional Races

Michigan House
All 110 seats in the Michigan House of Representatives are up for election. Republicans won a 58-52 majority in 2018.  There will be 25 open seats.  Both parties have potential targets to pickup.

60th District (Kalamazoo City) Safe democrat
Democrat state rep Jon Hoadley was first elected in 2014.  He is term-limited and running for Congress.  D county commissioner Julie Rogers won the D nomination with 51.5% over fellow commissioner Stephanie Moore.  The R candidate is Gary Mitchell.
61st District (Portage, Oshtemo) Tossup
Republican state rep Brandt Iden, first elected in 2014, is term-limited.  Bronwyn Haltom, a Trump campaign aide won the R primary with 66% over IT manager Tom Graham.  County commissioner Christine Morse, who was elected in 2018, is the D nominee.
63rd District (E Kalamazoo, S Calhoun) Safe Republican
R state rep Matt Hall defeated moderate David Maturen in the 2018 R primary.  Luke Howell beat Ron Hawkins for the D nomination.
66th District (Van Buren, Cooper) Safe Republican
R state rep Beth Griffin, a former county commissioner, was first elected in 2016.  Mattawan village council member Abigail Wheeler will be the D nominee.

Kalamazoo Countywide Offices
All six countywide offices are up for election. Republicans hold three of six offices.

Sheriff: Likely democrat
Democrat Richard Fuller was first elected in 2008.  In 2016, he defeated sheriff's deputy Thomas Swafford 76-24 in the democrat primary.  This year, retired police captain Shannon Bagley won the R nomination 55-45 over Swafford.
Prosecutor: Safe democrat
Democrat former assistant prosecutor Jeffrey Getting, who was first elected in 2012, is unopposed.
Clerk: Likely democrat
Longtime moderate Republican Tim Snow will not seek reelection in 2020. Democrat county commissioner (18-20) Meredith Place is the D nominee.  Her husband, former commissioner John Taylor (02-16), lost to Snow in 2016.  She won 39-33-28 over Doreen Gardner, an AT&T manager, and deputy clerk Sarah Joshi.  The R candidate is Bronson employee Mona Lisa Watson.
Treasurer: Lean Republican
Republican Mary Balkema, who was appointed in 2007, will seek reelection.  She has won competitive elections each time since then.  She faces D real estate agent Thomas Whitener.
Drain Commissioner: Likely democrat
Democrat Patricia Crowley, who was first elected in 2008, will retire this year.  R supplier quality Engineer Joanna Croes will face D Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control agent Jason Wiersma.
Surveyor: Safe Republican
Incumbent Republican Bill Hahn has been unopposed since 2008. The position is unpaid, and its holder must be a licensed surveyor.

Kalamazoo County Commission
All 11 seats on the Kalamazoo County Commission will be up for election. Ds won an 8-3 majority, and picked up one more seat due to a resignation. Districts 1, 5, 9, and 11 are open.  Republicans may target districts 6, 9, 10, and 11 for pickups.

2020 Kalamazoo County Commission Races