Welcome to the Dec. 4 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.

Dear readers, it is the penultimate 2023 edition of Robe & Gavel. A wise person once said:

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

Get it? Please don’t unsubscribe.   

Bad dad jokes aside, we’ve got a brand new batch of federal judicial updates for you. So let’s gavel in! 

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Grants

SCOTUS has accepted no new cases to its merits docket since our Nov. 27 issue. To date, the court has agreed to hear 46 cases for the 2023-2024 term. SCOTUS dismissed one case after it was accepted.

Arguments

The Supreme Court will hear three arguments this week. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ current term.

Click the links below to learn more about these cases:

Dec. 4

• Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P. concerns Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
  • The questions presented: “Whether the Bankruptcy Code authorizes a court to approve, as part of a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, a release that extinguishes claims held by nondebtors against nondebtor third parties, without the claimants’ consent.”

Dec. 5

• Moore v. United States concerns the 16th Amendment and Congress’s authority to tax unrealized sums without apportionment among the states.
  • The questions presented: “Whether the Sixteenth Amendment authorizes Congress to tax unrealized sums without apportionment among the states.”

Dec. 6

• Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri concerns Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  • The questions presented: “Does Title VII prohibit discrimination as to all ‘terms, conditions, or privileges of employment,’ or is its reach limited to discriminatory employer conduct that courts determine causes materially significant disadvantages for employees?”

In its October 2022 term, SCOTUS heard arguments in 60 cases. One case was dismissed. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ previous term.

Upcoming SCOTUS dates

Here are the court’s upcoming dates of interest:

• Dec. 4: SCOTUS will issue orders.
• Dec. 4: SCOTUS will hear arguments in one case.
• Dec. 5: SCOTUS will hear arguments in one case.
• Dec. 6: SCOTUS will hear arguments in one case.
• Dec. 8: SCOTUS will conference. A conference is a private meeting of the justices.

Federal court action

Nominations

President Joe Biden (D) has announced no new Article III nominees since our Nov. 27 edition.

The president has announced 195 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on Jan. 20, 2021. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.

Committee action

The Senate Judiciary Committee has reported six new nominees out of committee since our Nov. 27 edition.

• Seth Aframe, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Edward Kiel, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
• Sarah Russell, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Shanlyn A. S. Park, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii
• Mustafa Kasubhai, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon 
• Eumi Lee, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California 

Kasubhai and Lee were rereferred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Nov. 13 after being reported out of the committee on Nov. 9. They were reported out of the committee again on Nov. 30. 

Confirmations

The Senate has confirmed five nominees since our Nov. 27 issue.

• Jeffrey Bryan, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
• Margaret Garnett, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Jamel Semper, to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
• Micah W.J. Smith, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii
• Shanlyn A. S. Park, to the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii

Vacancies

The federal judiciary currently has 65 vacancies, 64 of which are for lifetime Article III judgeships. As of publication, there were 34 pending nominations.

According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, there were 30 upcoming vacancies in the federal judiciary, where judges have announced their intention to leave active judicial status.

For more information on judicial vacancies during President Biden’s term, click here.

Do you love judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? We figured you might. Our monthly Federal Vacancy Count monitors all the faces and places moving in, moving out, and moving on in the federal judiciary. Click here for our most current count.

Need a daily fix of judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? Click here for continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees.

Or, keep an eye on our list for updates on federal judicial nominations.

Looking ahead

We’ll be back on Dec. 11 with a new edition of Robe & Gavel. Until then, gaveling out! 

Contributions

Myj Saintyl compiled and edited this newsletter, with contributions from Sam Post and Ellie Mikus.