Author: Sara Reynolds
-
Ballotpedia’s Federal Vacancy Count shows 15 federal judges confirmed in past month
According to Ballotpedia’s monthly federal judicial vacancy count, the U.S. Senate has confirmed 15 of President Donald Trump’s (R) nominees to Article III federal judicial seats since April 25, 2019. Article III judges are those judges who serve on courts authorized by Article III of the Constitution, which created and enumerated the powers of the…
-
Senate confirms Daniel Collins without support from home-state senators
On May 21, 2019, the U.S. Senate confirmed Daniel Collins to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on a 53-46 vote. President Donald Trump (R) nominated Collins to the seat on November 13, 2018. Collins was a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP from…
-
Bold Justice: SCOTUS issues three new opinions
We #SCOTUS, so you don’t have to Arguments The Supreme Court has finished hearing arguments for its October 2018-2019 term. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ current term. Opinions SCOTUS has ruled on three cases since our May 6 issue. The court has issued rulings in33 cases so far this term. Thirty-nine cases are still under deliberation. …
-
President Trump’s total confirmed judges moves past 100
This week, the U.S. Senate confirmed five judicial nominees to U.S. District Courts. The Senate has now confirmed 102 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—63 district court judges, 37 appeals court judges, and two Supreme Court justices—since January 2017. At the end of the 115th Congress in January 2019, the Senate had confirmed 85 of the…
-
Vermont Supreme Court Justice Skoglund retiring on September 1
Vermont Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Skoglund is retiring on September 1, 2019. Selection of Vermont Supreme Court justices occurs through assisted appointment. The governor appoints a justice from a list of names provided by a nominating commission. The appointed justice must be confirmed by the Vermont State Senate. Once confirmed, justices serve six-year terms.…
-
April 2019 state legislative seat breakdown: 52.3% Republican, 47.0% Democratic
April’s partisan count of the 7,383 state legislators shows 52 percent of all state legislators are Republicans and 47 percent are Democrats. Ballotpedia completes a count of the partisan balance of state legislatures at the end of every month. The partisan composition of state legislatures refers to which political party holds the majority of…
-
Arkansas governor signs bill prohibiting sanctuary policies
Last week Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signed a bill to prohibit sanctuary policies in Arkansas. Senate Bill (SB) 411 amends Arkansas Code Title 14, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, to include a provision prohibiting municipalities from adopting sanctuary policies. It also established that municipalities determined to be in violation of the law would be ineligible…
-
9th Circuit panel unanimously upholds California law on federal immigration enforcement compliance
On April 18, 2019, Judges Milan Smith, Paul Watford, and Andrew Hurwitz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit unanimously ruled that Senate Bill (SB) 54, California’s sanctuary state law, did not conflict with federal law. Writing for the panel, Smith wrote that SB 54 “makes the jobs of federal immigration…
-
North Carolina governor taps two for state court of appeals
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) appointed Reuben Young and Christopher Brook to fill two vacancies on the 15-member state Court of Appeals. Young and Brook are both registered with the Democratic Party. The North Carolina Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in North Carolina. The court has 15 judges who hear…
-
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) will have the chance to fill two state supreme court seats
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) will have the chance to appoint two new justices to the nine-member state supreme court. Justice Patrick Wyrick vacated his seat on April 10, 2019, when he was nominated to serve on the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Justice John Reif announced in March that…