Welcome to the April 15 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.

This is it, dear readers. The last sitting of SCOTUS arguments for this term. Are you ready for these updates? Let’s gavel in!

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Grants

SCOTUS has accepted no new cases to its merits docket since our April 8 issue. To date, the court has agreed to hear 62 cases for the 2023-2024 term. SCOTUS dismissed one case after it was accepted. Two cases have been accepted for the 2024-2025 term. 

Arguments

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

April 15

• Snyder v. United States concerns the legality of paying government officials gratuities under federal bribery law when the official’s actions or commitments were made without a quid pro quo (something for something) agreement.
  • The questions presented: “Whether section 666 criminalizes gratuities, i.e., payments in recognition of actions the official has already taken or committed to take, without any quid pro quo agreement to take those actions.”
• Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon, Ohio concerns the Fourth Amendment’s malicious prosecution claims.
  • The questions presented: “Whether Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claims are governed by the charge-specific rule, as the Second, Third, and Eleventh circuits hold, or by the ‘any-crime’ rule, as the Sixth Circuit holds.”

April 16

• Fischer v. United States concerns the legal scope of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c) when prosecuting individuals for obstruction of justice related to the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.
  • The questions presented: “Did the D.C. Circuit err in construing 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c) (“Witness, Victim, or Informant Tampering”). Which prohibits obstruction of congressional inquiries and investigations. to include acts unrelated to investigations and evidence?”

April 17

• Thornell v. Jones concerns assessing prejudice under Strickland v. Washington.
  • The questions presented: “Did the Ninth Circuit violate this Court’s precedents by employing a flawed methodology for assessing Strickland prejudice when it disregarded the district court’s factual and credibility findings and excluded evidence in aggravation and the State’s rebuttal when it reversed the district court and granted habeas relief?”

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

Opinions

SCOTUS has ruled on three cases since our previous edition. The court has issued rulings in fourteen cases so far this term. 

• Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, California
• Macquarie Infrastructure Corp. v. Moab Partners, L.P.
• Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries Park St., LLC

Upcoming SCOTUS dates

Here are the court’s upcoming dates of interest:

• April 15: SCOTUS will hear arguments in two cases.
• April 16: SCOTUS will hear arguments in one case.
• April 17: SCOTUS will hear arguments in one case.
• April 19: 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 April 8 edition.

The president has announced 223 Article III judicial nominations since taking office Jan. 20, 2021. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.

Committee action

The Senate Judiciary Committee has reported four new nominees out of committee since our April 8 edition.

• Sanket Bulsara, to be U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• Dena Coggins, to be U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• Eric Schulte, to be U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota
• Camela Theeler, to be U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota

Confirmations

The Senate has confirmed three nominees since our April 8 issue.

• Robert White, to be U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• Susan Bazis, to be U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska
• Ann Marie McIff Allen, to be U.S. District Court for the District of Utah

Vacancies

The federal judiciary currently has 42 vacancies, 41 of which are for lifetime Article III judgeships. As of publication, there were 21 pending nominations.

According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, there are 31 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.

Correction: In our April 8 edition of Robe & Gavel, there was an error in our U.S. District Court vacancies section. The correct map is below. We regret the error.

Looking ahead

We’ll be back on April 22 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.