Tuesday, September 01, 2026

September 2026 Judiciary News

Nominations, Hearings, Confirmations:

Red states:  President Trump nominated 11 district judges in August, eliminating many outstanding vacancies.  There are still 6 vacant district court seats without nominees in red states (two R senators), including three in North Carolina, two in Texas, and one in AR.

Nominations:  Trump's judicial appointments will not match his first term record.

8th Circuit:  Mike Fragoso explains the divide between conservatives and moderates on the 8th Circuit, and how the nomination of Lee Rudofsky to replace Bobby Shepherd will affect the balance.

Senate Judiciary Committee:  Following the death of Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and primary defeat of Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is in line to be the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee next year, after current chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is term limited.

Nominations:
TBD

The Federal Judiciary:

Supreme Court:  Justice Kagan defended her conservative colleagues, saying "is this court kind of a puppet for the current administration? I think definitely not."

3rd Circuit:  Judge Jennifer Mascott briefly ran a public relations firm that she inherited when her husband died.  This led liberals, including Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) to accuse her of ethics violations.

9th Circuit:  Trump appointees are increasingly influential on the liberal 9th Circuit.

Vacancy Declarations:  There are now 38 current and future judicial vacancies.  New vacancies over the past two months are listed below.

ED-NC: Terrence Boyle (Reagan) TBD (senior)
ED-LA: Anna St. John (Trump) TBD (elevated)
8th Circuit: Bobby Shepherd (W) TBD (senior)
MD-NC: Thomas Schroeder (W) TBD (senior)

State Supreme Courts:

Hawaii:  Justice Todd Eddins of the Hawaii Supreme Court wrote an attack on recent US Supreme Court decisions in an unrelated case.

Idaho:  Governor Brad Little (R) appointed Jason Scott to the Idaho Supreme Court.  He is currently a district judge in Idaho’s Fourth Judicial District.  He will replace Chief Justice G. Richard Bevan, who will retire on October 30.  

Kansas:  Governor Laura Kelly (D) appointed Johnson County District Court Judge K. Christopher Jayaram to the Kansas Supreme Court.  He notably issued a recent pro-abortion ruling.  He was one of three finalists for the seat on the Kansas Supreme Court vacated by Chief Justice Marla Luckert.

Mississippi:  Governor Tate Reeves appointed Celeste Embrey Wilson to the Mississippi Supreme Court (Northern District, Place 1).  Wilson was a circuit court judge for DeSoto County since 2017, and was previously a county court judge 2009-17.  Reeves also appointed Amanda Jones Tollison to the Mississippi Supreme Court, (Northern District, Place 3).  She was legal counsel to Governor Haley Barbour 2008-2012 and was in private practice since then.
They replace Robert Chamberlin and James Maxwell, who were confirmed to ND-MS. A federal judge previously ruled that the map for the Mississippi Supreme Court districts must be redrawn, but this was overturned by the US Supreme Court.

Rhode Island:  Governor Dan McKee (D) appointed Judge Luis Matos to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.  Matos was an AUSA, and was appointed to the Rhode Island Superior Court by Lincoln Chafee (I) in 2012.  He was one of five finalists for the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg.
Most speculation about the appointment concerned former House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi.  A court ruled that appointing him would not violate a rule prohibiting legislators from immediately accepting a job with another state agency.  Rhode Island is the only state with lifetime tenure for Supreme Court judges.

South Carolina:  There are five candidates for a seat on the South Carolina Supreme Court.  Justice John Few chose to retire after he did not have enough support in the legislature to win another term.  This caused filing to reopen.  Former Speaker Jay Lucas, who had the most support for the seat, did not file this time.  The legislature will hold hearing on the candidates on November 16.

Tennessee:  Tennessee Supreme Court justices Mary Wagner and Kyle Hixson won retention elections on August 6 with 72% and 71%, respectively.

Utah:  Governor Spencer Cox nominated Matthew Bell and Michael Menssen to the Utah Supreme Court.  Bell was an AUSA and served as a judge on the Fifth District Court since 2017.  Menssen is in private practice.  They were among the 12 candidates for the position.  They will replace justices Matthew Durrant and Diana Hagen, who resigned from the court.

Numbers and Trivia:

2nd Circuit:  As of July 1, the new chief judge of the 2nd Circuit is Raymond Lohier, who was appointed by Obama in 2010.  He replaces Debra Ann Livingston, who was appointed by W in 2007. 
6th Circuit:  Soon, the new chief judge of the 6th Circuit will be Raymond Kethledge, who was appointed by W in 2008.  He will replace Jeffrey Sutton, who was appointed by W in 2003. 
The Presidents who appointed chief judges of the 13 appeals courts are W (3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, Fed), Obama (1, 2, 4, 9, DC), and Trump (7).

History:

On Ed Whelan's Substack, "Confirmation Tales", recent posts deal with Barack Obama's Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.
Graham:  Mike Fragoso explains Senator Lindsay Graham's history with judicial confirmations.

Resources:
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