Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for September 2021

By

Kate Carsella

In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies in Article III courts during the month of September through Oct. 1. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.

HIGHLIGHTS

  1. Vacancies: There have been four new judicial vacancies since the August 2021 report. There are 82 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions on courts covered in this report. Including the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, 86 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.
  2. Nominations: There were 18 new nominations since the August 2021 report.
  3. Confirmations: There were five confirmations since the August 2021 report.

Four judges left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies, since the previous vacancy count. As Article III judicial positions, vacancies must be filled by a nomination from the president. Nominations are subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

  1. Judge Beverly Martin retired from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
  2. Judge Richard Brooke Jackson assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
  3. Judge Rosanna Peterson assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
  4. Judge Jeffrey Viken assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota.

U.S. Court of Appeals vacancies

The following chart tracks the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals from the inauguration of President Joe Biden (D) to the date indicated on the chart.

The following maps show the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals at Biden’s inauguration and as of Oct. 1.

New nominations

Biden has announced 18 new nominations since the August 2021 report.

  1. Gabriel Sanchez, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
  2. Hernan D. Vera, to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  3. Holly Thomas, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
  4. Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  5. Lucy H. Koh, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
  6. Jennifer L. Thurston, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  7. David Herrera Urias, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
  8. Katherine Menendez, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
  9. David A. Ruiz, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
  10. Charles Fleming, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
  11. Bridget Brennan, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
  12. Victoria Calvert, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
  13. Sarah Geraghty, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
  14. Samantha Elliott, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire
  15. Dale Ho, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  16. John Chun, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
  17. Linda Lopez, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
  18. Jinsook Ohta, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

New confirmations

As of Oct. 1, the Senate has confirmed 14 of Biden’s judicial nominees—nine district court judges and five appeals court judges—since January 2021.

  1. Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  2. Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
  3. Deborah Boardman, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  4. Lydia Kay Griggsby, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  5. Julien Xavier Neals, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  6. Zahid Quraishi, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  7. Regina Rodriguez, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
  8. Tiffany Cunningham, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  9. Angel Kelley, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
  10. Margaret Strickland, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
  11. Florence Pan, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  12. Veronica Rossman, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit
  13. David G. Estudillo, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

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