In the News

2/7/12 – Democrats Will Try to Smoke Out GOP on Nominations
Looking to test Republicans’ resolve to block nominations, Senate Democrats are planning to hold votes on judicial and administration picks before the Presidents Day holiday. read full story

2/6/12 – Obama could alter stance of federal appeals courts
Despite his slow start in nominating judges and Republican delays in Senate confirmations, Obama has still managed to alter the balance of power on four of the nation's 13 circuit courts of appeals. Given a second term, Obama could have the chance to install Democratic majorities on several others. read full story

2/6/12 – Act with dispatch to ease federal courts’ vacancy burden
Recent attacks on judges and the courts by various candidates for office have at least raised the visibility of the role of the judiciary in American society. Unfortunately, the picture is not a promising one. read full story

2/5/12 – Internal Affairs: Politics be damned — Feinstein opts for a Republican judge
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has chucked partisan politics aside in choosing a potential successor to San Jose U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel. Feinstein has forwarded U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal's name to the White House. Grewal, 40, is a Republican, which may come in handy in a presidential election year, when federal judge nominations tend to grind to a halt in the Senate amid partisan bickering. Senate Republicans may be less inclined to stand in Grewal's way. read full story

2/3/12 – 9th Circuit Court nomination hits GOP snag
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he objected to Watford's representation of plaintiffs challenging Arizona's immigration law, which allows police to demand identification from people they detain and suspect of being illegal immigrants. Although Watford told the committee he was only representing a client, he gave a speech in 2010 arguing that the Arizona law was unconstitutional, Grassley said. read full story

2/2/12 – GOP Senators Pressure Reid Over WH Recess Picks
In an effort to put pressure on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid over four controversial recess appointments, Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) and 33 other GOP Senators today asked the Nevada Democrat to square his previous opposition with his current stance that the appointments are constitutional. read full story

2/2/12 – Senators join suits on recess appointments
Republican senators said this week they will file papers supporting lawsuits trying to overturn President Obama’s recess appointments and demanding that the Senate’s top Democrat explain his own change of heart on the constitutional questions raised by the president’s move. read full story

2/2/12 – Hartford Lawyer Michael P. Shea Nominated For Federal Judgeship
President Obama late Thursday nominated Hartford lawyer Michael P. Shea for a federal judgeship in Connecticut. Shea is chairman of the appellate practice group at Day Pitney, an East Coast law firm with offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington. In addition, he has represented companies involved in a variety of commercial and criminal disputes, as well as municipalities. read full story

2/2/02 – President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the US District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Stephanie Marie Rose and Michael P. Shea to serve on the United States District Court. "These individuals have demonstrated the talent, expertise, and fair-mindedness Americans expect and deserve from their judicial system," said President Obama. "I am grateful for their willingness to serve and confident that they will apply the law with the utmost impartiality and integrity." read full story

2/1/12 – Sen. Mike Lee Vows To Block Obama’s Nominees, Uses PAC To Raise Money Off Effort
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) insists it is the Constitution, not politics, driving his vow to unilaterally block all of President Barack Obama's nominees submitted to the Senate. But it turns out Lee's political action committee is also raising money off of his effort. read full story

1/30/12 – Law professor doubts Senate will speed up nominations
A University of Richmond law professor says he doubts the U.S. Senate will go along with a plan by President Barack Obama to speed up judicial appointments. "President George W. Bush and a number of senators have offered similar proposals in the past. However, partisanship has kept them from being adopted," he said. read full story

1/29/12 – Maine on the Hill: Jon Hinck says former courtroom rival a good choice for federal bench
"I have had the opportunity to see Mr. Kayatta in court and handling complex litigation matters," Hinck said. "He demonstrates a well-honed understanding of that law that certainly qualifies him for this appointment." Hinck said he may have lost that case to Kayatta, but believes the litigation was responsible for Maine's adoption of policies more strictly regulating the additive. read full story

1/28/12 – Obama takes aim at Sen. Mike Lee in nominee fight
President Barack Obama used his weekly address Saturday to rip Congress for blocking his nominees, focusing his ire on Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. "One senator gumming up the whole works for the entire country is certainly not what our founding fathers envisioned," Obama said, not specifically identifying Lee but leaving no doubt which senator he meant to single out. read full story

1/28/12 – GOP senator responds to Obama’s criticism of blocking confirmations
Facing criticism in President Obama’s weekly address over his pledge to block nominees, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) responded Saturday that he was adhering to the Constitution. “Sadly, the President has sought to make this a partisan issue; but the Constitution is not partisan. The Constitution does not allow any president, Republican or Democrat, to circumvent the Senate in making appointments, and I will resist, just as vigorously, members of my own party who would attempt to do the same thing,” Lee said in a statement. read full story

1/26/12 – Republicans May Impede Some Judges After Recess Appointments
Senate Republicans are weighing a plan to block most of President Barack Obama’s appellate-court nominations starting in June or earlier in response to the recess appointments he made this month. read full story

1/26/12 – Obama, senators at odds over picks
The White House and Georgia's U.S. senators may agree that Atlanta lawyers Jill A. Pryor and Mark H. Cohen should be federal judges—but they apparently differ on which lawyer should fill an opening at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and which one should serve on Atlanta's U.S. District Court. read full story

1/26/12 – Senate GOP Not United on Nominations
Despite significant deliberation, Senate Republicans are wrestling with how to devise a united response to President Barack Obama’s controversial recess appointments earlier this month. Some Senators appear to be concerned that further blockades of nominees could give the president more ammunition for his narrative about GOP obstruction creating a do-nothing Congress. read full story

1/26/12 – Lee vows to block Obama nominees
Fuming over President Barack Obama’s four recess appointments, freshman Sen. Mike Lee signaled on Thursday he’ll go it alone and try to block the president’s nominations this year, even as many other GOP senators worry that going nuclear is a bad political tactic. read full story

1/26/12 – With GOP Divided on Recess Appointments, Some Strike Out on Their Own
As Senate Republicans struggle to craft a collective response to President Obama's recent controversial recess appointments, some are striking out on their own. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., announced he will boycott Tuesday's Banking Committee hearing with Cordray, the appointee's first appearance before a Senate panel. Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a former Supreme Court clerk, called the president's appointments "deeply flawed" and said he will throw up road blocks for future nominees "unless and until (Obama) rescinds his unconstitutional recess appointments." read full story

1/26/12 – Politics may complicate federal court pick
It's hard to say when north Mississippi federal courts will get a replacement for District Judge W. Allen Pepper Jr. Pepper, 70, of Cleveland died suddenly Tuesday of a heart attack. read full story

1/26/12 – Senators Shy From Obama Filibuster Reform
President Barack Obama’s call for a sweeping overhaul of Congressional ethics and procedure has little chance of becoming reality in an institution adverse to change and built to benefit from its rules. “It seems so obvious and clear until you get into it, then you find that getting the necessary votes together [to change the rules] and holding them through this process is more difficult,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), before noting his understanding of why Obama would want to pursue it. read full story

1/26/12 – Two women wait to break judicial nomination logjam
Yet another one of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's federal nominees isn't moving forward, at least for now. But the postponement of Las Vegas attorney Ariel Stern's nomination to be a federal judge has opened the door for another candidate. read full story

1/25/12 – Obama Calls for Quicker Judicial Nominee Votes, Mortgage Crisis Unit; Four Justices Skip Speech
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. stayed away from the State of the Union speech for the second year in a row after his well-publicized reaction to the 2010 speech. Alito was one of four justices who did not attend on Tuesday evening. The other justices who missed the event were Sonia Sotomayor, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. read full story

1/25/12 – Senators send White House names for judicial vacancies
Trying to solve a judicial logjam, Georgia’s two senators have told President Barack Obama who they’ll allow to be considered as nominees for three longstanding vacancies on the federal courts in Atlanta.The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has declared the vacancies “emergencies.” read full story

1/25/12 – Nelson, Johanns rose above the fray with confirmation of federal judge
When they learned of Judge Richard Kopf's intention to retire, Sens. Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns had a choice to make. They could have treated the judicial vacancy like a political piñata. To their credit, they did not do so. read full story

1/25/12 – Reid supports rules change to eliminate filibuster of nominees
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday night endorsed President Obama’s State of the Union call to change Senate rules to ensure up-or-down votes on judicial and executive-branch nominees, but drawing the line at guaranteeing all Supreme Court nominees simple majority votes for lifetime appointments. read full story

1/24/12 – Obama nominates appeals judge
President Obama has nominated William Kayatta Jr. of Cape Elizabeth to fill Maine's seat on the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, the White House announced Monday. Kayatta, 58, is a nationally prominent trial attorney and a partner in the Pierce Atwood law firm in Portland. He was one of two people whom Maine lawmakers recommended to Obama in late May. It took the White House nearly eight months to make the nomination. If confirmed by the Senate, Kayatta would replace Judge Kermit Lipez, who has served in Maine's seat on the appellate court since 1998. Lipez shifted to "senior," semi-retired status Dec. 31 but has said he will carry a full caseload until September. read full story

1/24/12 – Oklahoma judge nominated for 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
President Barack Obama on Monday nominated U.S. Magistrate Robert Bacharach of Oklahoma's Western District to fill a vacancy on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. Rep. Dan Boren immediately expressed support for the nomination to the Denver-based federal appeals court. "Judge Bacharach is a dedicated public servant who will serve the people of the 10th Circuit with distinction," the Oklahoma Democrat said. "He will bring a wealth of experience to the position. I look forward to a speedy confirmation." read full story

1/24/12 – Magistrate Judge Robert E. Bacharach nominated for federal appeals court
President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Robert E. Bacharach, a federal magistrate judge in Oklahoma City, for a position on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, ending for now a long-running White House effort to replace Robert H. Henry on the Denver-based court. Bacharach, a Mississippi native, has been a U.S. magistrate judge since 1999 for the Western District of Oklahoma and has handled nearly 3,000 criminal and civil matters, according to the White House. read full story

1/23/12 – President Obama Nominates Judge Michael A. Shipp to Serve on the US District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Michael A. Shipp to serve on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. “I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the United States District Court bench,” said President Obama. “Judge Shipp has a long and distinguished record of service, and I am confident he will serve on the federal bench with distinction.” read full story

1/23/12 – President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the US Court of Appeals
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Robert E. Bacharach and Mr. William J. Kayatta, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals. “I am proud to nominate these outstanding candidates to serve on the United States Court of Appeals,” said President Obama. “I am confident Judge Robert E. Bacharach and William J. Kayatta will serve the American people with integrity and distinction.” read full story

1/24/12 – Judge Confirmed as Republicans Object to Obama Nominations
The U.S. Senate’s confirmation of a federal judge may be one of the last of President Barack Obama’s nominees cleared as Republicans consider whether to retaliate against his recess appointments. read full story

1/23/12 – Obama nominates Paterson native for federal judgeship
Michael A. Shipp, a Paterson native and a federal magistrate in Newark, was nominated for promotion by President Obama on Monday to be a U.S. District Court judge. Obama said in a statement that Shipp was an “outstanding candidate” with “a long and distinguished record.” After earning his law degree from Seton Hall University in 1994, Shipp worked as a clerk on the state Supreme Court, for a Newark law firm and in the state Attorney General’s Office before being confirmed in 2007 as a magistrate, a position that primarily involves handling pleas and proceedings. The nomination now heads to the U.S. Senate. read full story

1/23/12 – District Court Nominee Opposed by Sessions Because of Judicial Activism
On May 2, 2007, Judge John Gerrard of the Nebraska Supreme Court authored an opinion on capital punishment six days before the date of an execution of an inmate named Carey Dean Moore. The opinion by Judge John Gerrard demonstrates reason for very serious concern about whether Gerrard lets an agenda influence his judicial rulings. Gerrard wrote an unprecedented opinion intervening in the matter, when the inmate didn’t actually request a stay of his execution in 2007. read full story

1/23/12 – Law professor: Groh, Thacker nominations ‘up in the air’
A University of Richmond law school professor says Berkeley Circuit Judge Gina Groh and West Virginia attorney Stephanie Thacker's nominations are "up in the air" following a controversial decision by President Barack Obama earlier this month. read full story

1/20/12 – Senate Judiciary Committee schedules nomination hearing for Kristine Baker
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on the nomination of Kristine Baker of Little Rock to an eastern district federal judgeship the afternoon of Jan. 26. Can President Obama sneak another appointee through from Arkansas before the election year is out? read full story

1/20/12 – Nourse asks Obama to withdraw her nomination to federal appeals court
University of Wisconsin law professor Victoria Nourse has asked President Barack Obama to withdraw his nomination of her to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Nourse wrote to a UW colleague: The highest calling anyone could have is to serve their nation; I have served under two Presidents, one Democratic, the other Republican. I am honored to have been asked to serve my nation again. I have nothing else to say at this time, except to refer you to the letter sent by legal experts across the nation, among them many conservatives, supporting my nomination and objecting to the procedure that has been used to block it. To quote Chief Justice Roberts, 'the system is broken.' read full story

1/20/12 – UW professor withdraws from federal appeals court appointment
UW law professor Victoria Nourse tells WisPolitics.com that she has withdrawn her name from consideration for an appointment to the 7th District Court of Appeals. The president originally nominated Nourse to the post to replace Judge Terence Evans in July 2010. But the Senate failed to act on Nourse’s nomination that year and in 2011 as well, and it was sent back to the White House in December. read full story

1/19/12 – Democratic Senate Approves Fewer Obama Nominees than it Did Bush Choices
What good is a Democratic majority if it does a worse job of confirming your nominees than your Republican predecessor? This question has probably crossed the mind of President Barack Obama as he has watched nominee after nominee of his not get approved by the Senate, even though Democrats are in charge. read full story

1/18/12 – 5th Circuit Judge Emilio Garza to take senior status
President Barack Obama has another opportunity to nominate a Texan for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals now that Judge Emilio Garza has announced he will take senior status as of Aug. 1. Garza, nominated by then-President George H.W. Bush, has served on the 5th Circuit since 1991. He did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Kyle Boudreau, a 5th Circuit spokesman, says Garza sent a letter to the White House on Jan. 1 notifying Obama of his plan to take senior status. read full story

1/17/12 – Super PACs Having Negative Impact, Say Voters Aware of ‘Citizens United’ Ruling
54% of registered voters say they have heard about the 2010 Supreme Court decision that allows corporations and individuals to spend as much money as they want on political advertising as long as it is not coordinated with candidate campaigns. Fully 65% of those who are aware of the new rules on independent expenditures say they are having a negative effect on the 2012 presidential campaign. read full story

1/17/12 – Opinion: Time for up-or-down votes in Senate on appointees
An incredibly partisan nomination process — focused on exploiting loopholes in the Senate rulebook — was not what the Founders meant by “advise and consent.” Writing in the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton hoped that when reviewing presidential appointees, the Senate would avoid conflicts of interest — and never reject a nominee “where there were not special and strong reasons for the refusal.” read full story

1/13/12 – Menendez Drops His Opposition to Obama’s Pick for a Federal Appeals Court
Reversing himself in what had become an awkward intraparty stalemate for Democrats, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey said Friday that he would no longer block President Obama’s nominee to a federal appeals court. read full story

1/13/12 – Bob Menendez to Meet With Judicial Nominee He Blocked
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) plans to meet again with a judicial nominee he has been blocking, after news reports have called into question his reason for holding up the nomination. read full story

1/13/12 – At Three-Year Mark, Obama Lags Behind Bush in Judicial Nominations, Study Finds
Obama has nominated 133 individuals for district court judgeships and 37 for appellate seats. Bush tapped 165 individuals for district seats and 49 for circuit seats during the first three years of his presidency. But Obama seems to be picking up his pace. Of his total number, 137 Obama’s nominations came after the first year of his administration. read full story

1/13/12 – Judicial Vacancies Rising Under Obama, Study Says
Federal trial court vacancies are going up under President Obama, even as caseloads are rising. A Brookings Institution report released Friday shows that this is the first time in memory that a president three years into his first term has seen judicial vacancies rise. The report shows that Obama has been slower to nominate trial judges, the Senate slower to confirm them, and at the same time a larger number of judges are retiring. read full story

1/13/12 – Obama’s Judicial Nomination Scorecard: Three Years In
The Brookings Institution’s Russell Wheeler, the judicial nomination tracker-in-chief, has the latest progress report on President Obama. read full story

1/13/12 – U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez right to meet with blocked judge
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez agreed yesterday to meet again with U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz, a welcome sign that he may back down from his confrontation with the Obama administration over her nomination. read full story

1/12/12 – D.C. and Maryland Judges to Speak on Judicial Selection Process
A group of judges from courts in the District and Maryland are scheduled to speak at a series of forums this year on judicial selection: “Our approach to this really is to cover a broader diversity of judicial panels,” Barber said, noting that the panels will include judges from U.S. Tax Court, military courts and other positions “beyond just the state judiciary and the federal judiciary.” read full story

1/12/12 – Obama Nominees Cool Heels as Divided Senate Stalls on Confirmation Votes
Even though Obama’s Democratic Party controls the Senate, only 57 percent of his 2011 nominees were approved, according to congressional statistics, compared with 67 percent of those Bush put up for confirmation from 2007 through 2009, when Democrats also controlled the Senate. Democrats don’t have enough seats to stop a Republican filibuster, and the threat keeps them from putting the picks up for a vote. read full story

1/10/12 – Grassley Says Delaying Confirmations an Option After Cordray Recess Naming
Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said today he prefers first seeking some Senate Democrats to join in a public pushback to Obama’s four recess appointments Jan. 4, including the installation of Richard Cordray as the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Short of that, Grassley said, Republicans may have to go it alone with tough actions that could include holding up pending nominations from a Senate confirmation vote. read full story

1/10/12 – Senate Republicans consider blocking future presidential nominations
Sure, standing your ground on pro forma sessions that seek to fulfill the letter of the law regarding Congress being in session, while clearly violating the spirit of it...even to the point that Grassley himself admits it. If you're in session like you say, you shouldn't have to wait for two more weeks of fund-raising (er, vacationing? hibernation? a meditation retreat on Korriban?) to get together about it. read full story

1/10/12 – Chief judge calls on senators to fill remaining vacancies
U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane, chief judge of the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, told Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey she would like two other court vacancies filled as soon as possible. The Eastern District of Pennsylvania has at least three vacancies. read full story

1/9/12 – Sen. Bob Menendez blocks a qualified candidate for judge to get revenge
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, is singlehandedly blocking President Obama, also a Democrat, from filling a spot on the U.S. Court of Appeals with a woman who was deemed highly qualified by, oh, everyone else in the world. read full story

1/9/12 – Democrats have in-fighting, too: See Robert Menendez’s stalling of Obama’s judicial nomination
Patty Shwartz got the American Bar Association's highest rating possible. The state's other senator, also a Democrat, has praised the selection. And The NYT quoted Tom Curtin of the lawyers' advisory committee for the United States District Court for New Jersey as saying, "Every lawyer in the world will tell you that she's extraordinarily qualified, a decent person and an excellent judge, and would be an asset to the circuit." So what's the hold-up? read full story

1/9/12 – Menendez, Obama Showdown? Discord Over Third Circuit Nomination

read full story

1/8/12 – Menendez denies opposition to appointment is political payback
Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) said Friday that his decision to block a federal court appointment had nothing to do with the judge's relationship to a federal prosecutor who investigated him in 2006. Menendez is the first Democrat to reject one of President Obama's judicial appointments. He said Judge Patty Shwartz, whom Obama nominated in October, was not qualified to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. read full story

1/8/12 – Why did Sen. Robert Menendez block nomination of favored N.J. judge?
Like him or not, most people regard U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez as a very smart fellow. He was a boy wonder in Hudson County politics, winning public office at age 19 as an anti-corruption crusader. And in the decades since, his ascent up the political ladder has never stopped. But what was he thinking when he blocked the nomination of Judge Patty Shwartz to the U.S. Court of Appeals? read full story

1/6/12 – Menendez defends blocking of Appeals Court nominee
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez issued a scathing response today to reports that he had held up the nomination of Magistrate Patty Shwartz to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

1/6/12 – Bob Menendez denies judge block reports
Sen. Bob Menendez flatly rejected media reports Friday suggesting that he’s blocking one of President Barack Obama’s appellate court nominees because she’s in a relationship with a federal prosecutor who investigated the senator for corruption during his 2006 campaign.  “It is incredibly disappointing and unfortunate that my real concerns over the suitability of Judge Shwartz to serve a lifetime appointment as circuit court judge have been spun as some petty political vendetta by some of her supporters,” Menendez said in a statement to POLITICO. . read full story

1/6/12 – Sen. Menendez blocking federal judge’s appointment to powerful court of appeals
A federal magistrate judge nominated to the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals is being blocked by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), in a little-known use of senatorial courtesy that could kill the appointment. The move, which has effectively derailed the nomination of U.S. Magistrate Patty Shwartz to the Third Circuit, marks the first time a judicial appointee of President Obama has been held up by a senator from his own party. read full story

1/6/12 – Sen. Menendez questions qualifications of federal magistrate
A rare fight between the president and a senator from his own party continued to escalate today, with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) openly raising questions about the qualifications of judicial nominee proposed by the White House. read full story

1/6/12 – Sen. Menendez defends his vote against Obama judicial appointment
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D.-N.J., said Friday that his decision to block a federal court appointment had nothing to do with the judge's relationship to a federal prosecutor who investigated him in 2006. Menendez is the first Democrat to reject one of President Barack Obama's judicial appointments. He said Judge Patty Shwartz, whom Obama nominated in October, was not qualified to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. read full story

1/6/12 – Senator Says His Concerns With Nominee Aren’t Personal
Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey denied Friday that he was blocking an Obama administration nominee to a federal judgeship because of a grudge against her longtime companion, who led a corruption investigation of the senator during his tough election fight of 2006. Instead, Mr. Menendez said, he has “substantive” concerns about her knowledge of constitutional issues. read full story

1/6/12 – NJ Senator Takes Rare Step to Block Obama’s Judicial Nomination
New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez has remained mum on why he is blocking the appointment of a popular judge backed by President Barack Obama to the federal appeals court – the first time a Democrat has held up an Obama judicial nomination. read full story

1/5/12 – ABA vets Pryor for seat on 11th Circuit
It appears the White House has landed on Atlanta litigator Jill A. Pryor as its new choice for Georgia's vacant seat on a federal appeals court.  The administration of President Barack Obama has struggled to fill a Georgia-based spot on the 11th Circuit vacated in August 2010 by Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr., who retired. read full story

1/5/12 – In Act of Defiance, Democrat Stalls Obama Choice for Court
Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey is holding up President Obama’s nomination of a judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the only time a Democrat has tried to block one of Mr. Obama’s judicial nominees. Mr. Menendez would not comment. But the nominee, Patty Shwartz, has been in a relationship for more than two decades with the head of the public corruption unit for New Jersey’s federal prosecutor. And that unit investigated the senator during his 2006 election fight, an inquiry Mr. Menendez has long contended was politically motivated. read full story

1/2/12 – Oklahoma AUSA’s Federal Judgeship Nomination Returned
The controversial nomination of Oklahoma City Assistant U.S. Attorney Arvo Mikkanen to a federal judgeship appears to be dead. The Senate on Dec. 17 returned Mikkanen's nomination to the White House without action, after it had languished since February.  Mikkanen, a member of the Kiowa tribe, reportedly would have been the only American Indian to hold a federal judgeship if he'd been confirmed.  But his nomination to the federal bench in Tulsa was opposed by Oklahoma Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, both Republicans.  There is no indication from press reports that the White House intends to renominate him read full story

1/2/12 – Nominee for federal court seat is in limbo
Nearly two years after Judge James Carr announced his retirement from U.S. District Court in Toledo and nearly eight months after his successor was nominated by President Obama, the federal courthouse on Spielbusch Avenue is still waiting for its newest judge. read full story

1/2/12 – Federal Judicial Nominating Commission accepting applications for Middle District seat
The Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission is accepting applications for the position of U.S. district judge for the Middle District of Florida. read full story

12/27/11 – Short Hills resident’s nomination stirs controversy
Short Hills resident Kevin McNulty was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey earlier this month. The nomination, announced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) Dec. 16, has recently stirred up controversy. read full story

12/21/11 – Partisan wrangling sinks Obama nominations
As Congress winds down 2011′s final session, unfinished business hampered by partisan politics extends into the new year. The final session was marked by significant challenges to several Obama administration nominees, including one nominee from western New York. read full story

12/27/11 – Federal judicial appointments stalled as Senate takes holiday recess
Relief finally seemed to be in sight for Utah’s federal bench. Balancing a 40 percent reduction in the number of active judgeships for nearly two years, federal judges were optimistic that at last they’d be fully staffed following the recent nominations of David Nuffer and Robert Shelby to become the next members of the Utah’s U.S. District Court. read full story

12/26/11 – Schumer in-law offered judgeship
Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) brother-in-law was quietly nominated by President Barack Obama to a federal judgeship in New Jersey, even though the state’s senior senator, Frank Lautenberg, was leaning toward other candidates, according to a report Monday. read full story

12/23/11 – Groh, Thacker nominations could see vote in February
A University of Richmond law school professor says it is unlikely that Berkeley Circuit Judge Gina Groh or Charleston attorney Stephanie Thacker's nominations will receive a vote by the U.S. Senate before the end of January. read full story

12/22/11 – White House Laments GOP’s Mikkanen Rejection
The White House is expressing disappointment by a Republican-led senatorial rejection of President Barack Obama’s nomination of Kiowa tribal citizen Arvo Mikkanen to be a federal judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma. read full story

12/21/11 – Michael Green not alone in rejection
Monroe County District Attorney Michael Green's failed nomination to serve as a federal judge in the Western District of New York is a singular case. read full story

12/20/11 – Memphis Judge Fowlkes Appointed To Federal Judgeship
Memphis Criminal Court Judge John Fowlkes was appointed Monday by President Obama to the Federal Bench for Western District, Tennessee. read full story

12/20/11 – California Judicial Nominees Stranded as Senate Recesses for Year Amidst Partisan Rancor
Twenty-one nominees for the federal bench, including three from California, lost their prospects for confirmation this year, after the Senate recessed Saturday without a vote. read full story

12/20/11 – Obama Nominates Fowlkes for Vacancy
The White House nomination of Criminal Court Judge John Fowlkes to be a U.S. District Court judge would return Fowlkes to the building where he once worked as a federal prosecutor. read full story

12/20/11 – Mike Green: Politics foiled nomination
A series of excuses for why Monroe County District Attorney Mike Green shouldn't be confirmed to a federal judgeship originated with local Republicans and were the reason why his nomination was scuttled, Green said Monday. read full story

12/20/11 – State delegation awaits next nomination for Tulsa judgeship
With Arvo Mikkanen's embattled nomination now out of the way, U.S. Rep. Dan Boren expressed hope Monday that another nominee could be put forward to fill the judicial vacancy in Tulsa. read full story

12/20/11 – Mystery surrounds rejection of Mikkanen judicial nomination
On Feb. 2, President Barack Obama nominated Arvo Mikkanen to become a federal judge in Tulsa. On Saturday, the U.S. Senate sent the nomination back to the president. In between, we heard little to nothing from the men most responsible for the nomination getting spiked. read full story

12/19/11 – DA Green Blasts Politics, Process
For the last three years Monroe County District Attorney Mike Green adopted a low-profile while he awaited confirmation for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench as a US District Court Judge in Rochester. read full story

12/19/11 – Mike Green denied judgeship
Monroe County District Attorney Michael Green will not be renominated for a Rochester vacancy on the federal court, White House spokesman Brandon Lepow said Sunday. read full story

12/19/11 – DA Mike Green blames politics for scuttling nomination
District Attorney Mike Green today put the blame for his blocked judicial nomination squarely on Republicans. read full story

12/18/11 – Senators block Oklahoma City federal prosecutor from judge post
Faced with unrelenting — and mostly unexplained — opposition from Oklahoma's senators, the U.S. Senate on Saturday sent back to the White House the nomination of Arvo Mikkanen to be a federal judge in Tulsa. read full story

12/17/11 – Sen. David Vitter, two others vote against judicial nominee
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., cast one of only three no votes last week as the Senate voted 95-3 to approve President Barack Obama's nomination of Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Christen was backed by both of Alaska's senators, Democrat Mark Begich and Republican Lisa Murkowski. read full story

12/17/11 – McConnell demands assurances from Obama on recess appointments
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Saturday afternoon blocked more than 50 judicial and executive branch nominees, demanding assurances that President Obama not make recess appointments during Christmas break. read full story

12/17/11 – Republicans block recess appointments
President Barack Obama has been under immense pressure from the left to install Richard Cordray as head of a new consumer watchdog agency as soon as the Senate closes its doors for the holidays. read full story

12/17/11 – Senate sends Green’s judicial nomination back to Obama
Monroe County District Attorney Mike Green will have to wait even longer to find out if he'll become a federal judge. read full story

12/17/11 – Michael Green’s judicial nomination sent back to Obama
The Senate sent the nomination of Monroe County District Attorney Michael Green to serve as a federal district court judge back to the White House today as lawmakers began a monthlong break. read full story

12/17/11 – Senate plans vote on Gerrard
The Senate will vote on whether to confirm John Gerrard as Nebraska's next federal judge as soon as it returns from holiday recess next month. read full story

12/16/11 – Senate confirms Alaska justice to U.S. appeals court
Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen won Senate confirmation to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, ending a lengthy congressional standoff to become the second jurist approved for the powerful Western appeals court during the Obama administration. read full story

12/16/11 – Obama judicial nominee Morgan Christen confirmed, at last
Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen won confirmation to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, ending a lengthy congressional standoff to become the second jurist approved for the powerful Western appeals court during the Obama administration. read full story

12/16/11 – President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the US District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Judge John Thomas Fowlkes, Jr. and Mr. Kevin McNulty to serve on the United States District Court. read full story

12/16/11 – Senate punts on judicial nominations; Texas vacancies await action
Two federal judicial nominees for Texas will be held over until the next session of Congress and the likelihood of filling a San Antonio judicial vacancy appeared more remote with continued Senate delays on presidential nominees, officials said Friday. read full story

12/16/11 – Obama nominates N.J. attorney for federal bench

A New Jersey attorney with wide-ranging experience as a prosecutor and defense lawyer has been nominated by President Obama to serve on the federal bench. read full story

12/16/11 – Obama nominates Shelby County Criminal Court Judge John Fowlkes to federal bench
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. was nominated Friday evening by President Barack Obama to be the next federal district judge for the Western District of Tennessee. read full story

12/15/11 – Senate Confirms Obama Nominee to Ninth Circuit
Morgan Christen, an Alaska Supreme Court Justice nominated by President Obama to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, won Senate confirmation on Thursday. read full story

12/15/11 – Senate Confirms Judge Morgan Christen

read full story

12/15/11 – After 202-day delay, Senate confirms judge for appeals court seat
Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen won confirmation to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, ending a lengthy congressional standoff to become the second jurist approved for the powerful Western appeals court during the Obama administration. read full story

12/15/11 – Federal magistrate has a shot at appeals court position, sources say
A beleaguered process that repeatedly has failed to put Oklahomans in key federal positions reportedly has produced a potential nominee to fill a year-old vacancy on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

12/12/11 – Senate blocking Xenia native court nominee with filibuster
A Xenia native’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court is being held up because of a Senate filibuster. read full story

12/12/11 – Republicans Call Off Truce on Judicial Nominees
Hypocrisy was aptly defined by the French essayist La Rochefoucauld as the homage that vice renders to virtue. Twice last week, Senate Republicans hypocritically paid homage to the principle of executive branch authority by blocking nominations by President Obama to an important federal court and a new consumer protection agency. read full story

12/10/11 – Lag in finding appeals judge replacement may slow system
A blow to Maine's legal prestige and delayed justice in a key federal court. Those are potential consequences of President Barack Obama's failure this year to nominate a replacement for Judge Kermit Lipez, who occupies Maine's sole seat on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

12/8/11 – Michael Green still in limbo on judicial nomination
Monroe County District Attorney Michael Green is still waiting for a Senate confirmation vote, 11 months after President Barack Obama nominated him to a district court judgeship. read full story

12/8/11 – Bar Association Leaders Urge Appointment of Latino Judge
Leaders of five Latino bar associations have called on President Obama and Sen. Dianne Feinstein to give consideration to Latino candidates for U.S. district judge for the Central District of California. read full story

12/8/11 – Scott Skavdahl sworn in as Wyoming’s 8th federal judge
With a raised right hand, Scott Skavdahl took an oath to administer justice and defend the U.S. Constitution. read full story

12/7/11 – NRA sinks key Obama judicial nominee
One of President Obama’s most important judicial nominations has gone down to defeat, thanks in large part to the National Rifle Association. read full story

12/7/11 – GOP filibusters judicial nominee
Senators move to block Caitlin Halligan, President Obama's pick for a seat on the Washington federal appeals court. Republicans cite concerns about her record on gun rights and terrorism detainees. read full story

12/7/11 – Utah’s short-handed federal bench still waiting for reinforcements
Utah is poised to have a full complement of federal judges for the first time in more than two years. Pending Senate approval of two nominees, the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City will be back up to five full-time judges. But those confirmations don't come quickly. read full story

12/7/11 – Dems warn: McConnell will regret these filibusters
The White House and Senate Democrats are issuing a blunt warning to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republicans: You live by the filibuster, you’ll die by the filibuster. read full story

12/7/11 – Caitlin Halligan’s Trial: Blocked from a Federal Judgeship for Excessive Spitzerism
Yesterday afternoon, in a move that could have far-reaching consequences for the federal judiciary, Senate Republicans blocked the appointment of Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, branding her as a judicial "activist" unsuited to sit on the country's second-highest court. read full story

12/6/11 – Judicial Wars Flare As Senate Blocks Obama Nominee
Senate Republicans have blocked the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. A Senate majority of 54 voted to break the filibuster, but that number falls short of the 60 votes needed under Senate rules. read full story

12/6/11 – Filibuster by Senate Republicans Blocks Confirmation of Judicial Nominee
Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked confirmation of Caitlin J. Halligan, a prominent New York lawyer, to be a federal appeals court judge, raising the question of whether a political deal to prevent the filibuster of most judicial nominations has broken down. read full story

12/6/11 – GOP filibusters judicial nominee
Senate Republicans on Tuesday filibustered President Barack Obama’s nomination of Caitlin Halligan for the U.S. Court of Appeals, prompting Democrats to denounce the move as setting “a new standard” for confirming judicial nominees. read full story

12/6/11 – Collins, Snowe join GOP filibuster of judicial nominee
Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine joined all but one other Republican today in blocking the nomination of Caitlin Halligan for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. read full story

12/6/11 – Filibuster Tests Senate Agreement on Judicial Nominees
Senate Democrats on Tuesday warned that a GOP-led filibuster of a judicial nominee could threaten future nominees and that the move calls into question a six-year-old bipartisan detente on judicial filibusters. read full story

12/6/11 – Statement by the President on Republican Filibuster of Caitlin Halligan
I am deeply disappointed that a minority of the United States Senate has blocked the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Ms. Halligan has the experience, integrity, and judgment to serve with distinction on this court, and she has broad bipartisan support from the legal and law enforcement communities. But today, her nomination fell victim to the Republican pattern of obstructionism that puts party ahead of country. read full story

12/6/11 – Senate GOP Shoots Down Halligan Nomination
All those hoping for a holiday-season feel-good story, maybe one featuring a rare show of bipartisanship down in the nation’s capital, well, you’ve come to exactly the wrong place. The U.S. Senate was up to its usual tit-for-tat games on Tuesday when it officially determined not to confirm Caitlin Halligan to an open seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. read full story

12/6/11 – Key appeals court nominee faces test vote today
A lawyer President Obama nominated to serve on the appeals court that handles most of the legal challenges to environmental regulations faces a make-or-break procedural vote in the Senate today. read full story

12/6/11 – Senate confirms Kalispell’s Christensen as federal judge, replacing Molloy
ith unanimous approval by the U.S. Senate on Monday, Kalispell attorney Dana Christensen was confirmed as the next U.S. District Court judge for Montana, making him the 17th federal judge in the state's history. read full story

12/6/11 – Kalispell attorney Christensen to replace Molloy as District Judge
The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Kalispell Attorney Dana L. Christensen to be the next U.S. District Judge for Montana. read full story

12/5/11 – Partisanship blamed for holdup of Ga. bench nominees
Georgia Democrats hoping for confirmation of President Barack Obama's nominees for the federal bench in Atlanta say they're frustrated by the opposition of the state's two U.S. senators to one candidate and their silence on the subject. read full story

12/5/11 – Senate showdown expected Tuesday over D.C. appeals court nominee Caitlin Halligan
A nominee tapped last year by President Obama to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will face a cloture vote in the Senate on Tuesday amid opposition from Republicans in part over her record on gun rights and detainee policy. read full story

12/2/11 – Senators Seek to Force Up-or-Down Vote on D.C. Circuit Nominee
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pushing his colleagues to stop blocking the nomination of Caitlin Halligan, who has earned the American Bar Association's highest possible rating, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. read full story

12/2/11 – Senate Democrats Pushing Caitlin Halligan For D.C. Circuit
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is advocating for the nomination of Caitlin Halligan for a slot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, calling for a vote to move the stalled nominee forward. read full story

12/2/11 – DC Circuit nominee Halligan headed for vote showdown
Senate majority leader Harry Reid has scheduled a cloture vote next week on the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, setting up a likely showdown on the controversial nominee. read full story

12/1/11 – Key Senate committee approves LA judge for Ninth Circuit
A Los Angeles judge who fled Saigon with her family at the end of the Vietnam war is one step closer to becoming a member of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave a unanimous thumbs up Thursday to the nomination of Jacqueline Nguyen. read full story

12/1/11 – Obama nominates Judge Hillman
Magistrate Judge Timothy S. Hillman has been nominated by President Barack Obama to become the next federal judge in Worcester. read full story

11/30/11 – U.S. magistrate nominated for federal judgeship
Robin S. Rosenbaum, a federal magistrate in Fort Lauderdale, was nominated by President Barack Obama Wednesday to serve as a U.S. District Court judge in Miami. read full story

11/30/11 – Salt Lake City attorney nominated for federal judge post
A Salt Lake City commercial and catastrophic personal injury attorney has been nominated to serve as a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Utah. read full story

11/30/11 – Obama nominates Salt Lake lawyer as federal judge
President Barack Obama has nominated a Salt Lake lawyer to fill a vacancy on the federal bench in the U.S. District Court for Utah. read full story

11/30/11 – President Obama Nominates Three to Serve on the US District Court Bench
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Timothy S. Hillman, Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum and Robert J. Shelby to serve on the United States District Court bench. read full story

11/28/11 – Hispanic Bar Group Voices Concern on ABA Screening Results
The Hispanic National Bar Association issued a statement of concern over a news report that that numerous women and minorities were among President Obama’s judicial prospects receiving a “not qualified” rating from an ABA screening panel. read full story

11/28/11 – Senate Confirms Droney to Second Circuit
The U.S. Senate on Monday evening voted to elevate federal Judge Christopher Droney to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit​, by a vote of 88-0. read full story

11/28/11 – Senate Confirms Judge Christopher Droney For U.S. Appeals Court
The U.S. Senate on Monday unanimously approved the appointment of Hartford federal district Judge Christopher F. Droney to the U.S. 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. read full story

11/23/11 – ABA Rates Obama’s Women and Minority Judicial Nominees “Unqualified”
Today, the New York Times revealed that the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary is not only far more likely to deliver harsh verdicts about President Obama’s federal judicial nominees than it was during the Clinton or Bush administrations (7.5% rejection rate for Obama nominees compared to 2% rate for Clinton and Bush) but those deemed unqualified are overwhelmingly women and minorities. read full story

11/23/11 – Action in December on Backlogged Judicial Nominations?
To allow more time for the Senate to vote on pending judicial nominations, the Senate Judiciary Committee will slow nomination hearings in the final weeks of 2011. read full story

11/22/11 – Panel Rejects Many Obama Prospects for Judgeships
The American Bar Association has secretly declared a significant number of President Obama’s potential judicial nominees “not qualified,” slowing White House efforts to fill vacant judgeships — and nearly all of the prospects given poor ratings were women or members of an ethnic minority group, according to interviews. read full story

11/22/11 – Detroit judge nominated for federal bench
The White House has announced that President Barack Obama has nominated Wayne County Circuit Judge Gerswhin Drain to a seat on U.S. District Court in Detroit. read full story

11/22/11 – Senate Judiciary plans to slow nomination hearings
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has decided to slow down nomination hearings to give time to confirm pending nominees. read full story

– ABA Gives “Not Qualified” Rating to 14 of 185 Proposed Obama Judicial Nominees
The White House has chosen not to nominate any person the bar association deemed unqualified, so the negative ratings have not been made public. But the association’s judicial vetting committee has opposed 14 of the roughly 185 potential nominees the administration asked it to evaluate, according to a person familiar with the matter. read full story

11/22/11 – Ratings Shrink President’s List for Judgeships
The American Bar Association has secretly declared a significant number of President Obama’s potential judicial nominees “not qualified,” slowing White House efforts to fill vacant judgeships — and nearly all of the prospects given poor ratings were women or members of a minority group, according to interviews. read full story

11/19/11 – Conservative federal appeals court shifts left
The federal appellate court that covers Maryland has for years been considered one of the more right-leaning in the nation, finding that women can be banned from a military institute, that the FDA can't regulate tobacco and that confessions count even when suspects haven't been read their rights, among other conservative opinions. But the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals now appears to have taken a left turn. read full story

11/18/11 – Consent agreement on judicial nominations
At a time to be determined by the Majority Leader, in consultation with the Republican Leader, but not prior to December 5, 2011, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider the four nominations. read full story

11/18/11 – Wayne County judge nominated for U.S. District Court
Veteran Wayne County and Detroit jurist Gerswhin Drain, who presided over prayers for grace and testimony of unshakeable horror, was nominated Thursday to a seat on the U.S. District Court. read full story

11/18/11 – Senate to take up judicial nominations after break
U.S. Senators on Friday brokered an agreement to take up five judicial nominees after the Senate returns from its Thanksgiving break. read full story

11/17/11 – President Obama Nominates Judge Gershwin A. Drain to Serve on the US District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Gershwin A. Drain to serve on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. read full story

11/17/11 – Obama nominates Drain for federal court judgeship
President Barack Obama nominated Wayne County Circuit Judge Gershwin A. Drain on Thursday to fill a seat on the federal court bench in Detroit. read full story

11/16/11 – Bay Area to get 1st Latina federal judge
Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, an Alameda County judge since 2008, was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday for the U.S. District Court in Oakland, where she will become the first Latina federal judge in the Bay Area. read full story

11/16/11 – Senate confirms Gleason for federal district court
State court Judge Sharon Gleason on Tuesday became the first woman named to a federal bench in Alaska. read full story

11/15/11 – Judge Sharon Gleason Confirmed by Senate
Alaska will soon get its first female judge appointed to the federal bench in state history. read full story

11/15/11 – Senate confirms Piedmont judge to federal bench
The U.S. Senate voted 89-6 this morning to confirm Alameda County Superior Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers as Northern California’s first Latina U.S. District Judge. read full story

11/15/11 – Senate confirms Gleason to federal bench
State court Judge Sharon Gleason on Tuesday became the first woman named to a federal bench in Alaska. read full story

11/15/11 – Senate confirms two judicial nominees
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed two of President Obama's judicial nominees to sit on the federal bench. read full story

11/14/11 – Federal judges in Idaho face swelling caseload
Idaho's two U.S. District Court judges are juggling three times the caseloads of federal judges in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Alaska, and each of those states has three federal judges, instead of two, the Idaho Business Review reports. read full story

11/14/11 – Edward DuMont Asks Obama to Withdraw Federal Circuit Nomination
Edward DuMont won't be rounding out the judicial lineup for the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. DuMont has asked President Obama to withdraw his name from consideration for the final opening on the Federal Circuit bench. read full story

11/11/11 – Openly Gay Judicial Nominee Edward DuMont Withdraws His Nomination
Openly gay judicial nominee Edward DuMont has asked President Barack Obama to withdraw his nomination to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, D.C gay weekly Metro Weekly reported. read full story

11/11/11 – Gay appeals court nominee withdraws
The White House sent out notice Thursday night that it was withdrawing the nomination of openly gay attorney Edward DuMont to serve on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. read full story

11/10/11 – D.C. Lawyer Nominated To Federal Circuit Bench
Richard Taranto, a name partner at the Washington firm Farr & Taranto, was nominated Thursday evening to a slot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. read full story

11/10/11 – President Obama Nominates Richard Gary Taranto to Serve on the US Court of Appeals
Today, President Obama nominated Richard Gary Taranto to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. read full story

11/10/11 – Obama Nominates Two as Federal Judges in Chicago
President Obama on Thursday nominated two men for federal judgeships in the Northern District of Illinois, both of whom once worked at the same law firm as his current chief of staff, Bill Daley. read full story

11/10/11 – Obama nominates 2 as federal judges in Chicago
The president nominated two men Thursday for federal judgeships in the Northern District of Illinois. read full story

11/10/11 – Susie Morgan’s judicial nomination wins committee approval
One week after Republicans delayed a vote on her nomination, New Orleans lawyer Susie Morgan won quick, unanimous approval Thursday from the Senate Judiciary Committee for a seat on the New Orleans federal court. read full story

11/10/11 – Two D.C. Federal Judges to Retire
U.S. District Chief Judge Royce Lamberth announced late Thursday that two judges from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia are retiring. read full story

11/10/11 – President Obama Nominates Four to Serve on the US District Court Bench
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, John Z. Lee, Judge George Levi Russell, IIIand John J. Tharp Jr. to serve on the United States District Court bench. read full story

11/10/11 – Presidential Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate
Presidential Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate read full story

11/10/11 – Edward DuMont is Out: DuMont Requests that President Obama Withdraw his Federal Circuit Nomination
Once Judge Wallach is sworn-in, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will have 11 members on the full bench. In early 2010, President Obama nominated WilmerHale attorney Edward DuMont for the job as a circuit court judge on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Senate did not act upon that nomination in 2010 and the President resubmitted the nomination again to the new congress in January 2011. The ABA gave DuMont its highest rating for the job -- "unanimously well qualified." However, the Senate Judiciary Committee never held a hearing on DuMont's nomination. Now, DuMont has requested that President Obama withdraw his nomination. read full story

11/10/11 – Criminal Case Glut Impedes Civil Suits
An explosion of criminal prosecutions in the nation's overextended federal courts has left civil litigants from bereaved spouses to corporate giants waiting years for their day in court. read full story

11/10/11 – Obama picks San Diego judge for federal bench
President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated Superior Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel to a seat on the federal court in San Diego. read full story

11/9/11 – CIT’s Evan Wallach Confirmed by Senate To Fill 11th Judge Slot on Federal Circuit
The U.S. Senate voted 99-0 Nov. 8 to confirm Evan Jonathan Wallach's nomination to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. read full story

11/8/11 – Delegation mum on next nominee for Kentucky federal judge
The Western District of Kentucky is in line to get a new $174,000-a-year federal judge. But where that judge will come from and who will make the recommendation isn’t clear. read full story

11/8/11 – Evan Wallach Unanimously Confirmed to Federal Circuit
The Senate voted 99-0 to confirm Judge Evan Wallach to the Federal Circuit. Wallach becomes the 11th member of the court that still has a vacancy. Judge Wallach does not have signficant intellectual property experience. He does bring significant experience in international trade, having been a judge on the Court of International Trade since 1995. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War and served as Judge Advocate General in the Army and National Guard. read full story

11/8/11 – Former Las Vegas attorney confirmed as appeals judge
Former Las Vegas attorney Evan J. Wallach was confirmed Tuesday by the U.S. Senate to become a federal appeals judge. read full story

11/6/11 – 3 attorneys nominated for vacant federal judgeship
The names of three Baton Rouge attorneys were announced Friday by U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., as candidates for the federal judgeship left vacant by the death of Chief U.S. District Judge Ralph E. Tyson. read full story

11/5/11 – Federal Bench in Delaware Now at Full Strength
For the first time in about 5 years, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware will not have a empty chair among its full-time members. read full story

11/5/11 – Federal court nomination of Susie Morgan to get more consideration
A planned Senate Judiciary Committee vote last week on President Barack Obama's nomination of New Orleans lawyer Susie Morgan to the New Orleans federal District Court was put off after Republicans asked for more time to consider the nomination. read full story

11/4/11 – Third Gay Obama Court Pick Makes Slow Progress
Two of four openly gay and lesbian picks for the federal courts nominated by President Obama have been confirmed, but two others are languishing, making only fitful progress if that. read full story

11/4/11 – Jackson takes his place on Colorado’s federal bench
R. Brooke Jackson kissed his wife, Liz, after she helped him into his black robe just before he was formally sworn onto Colorado's U.S. District Court bench this evening. read full story

11/4/11 – Landrieu recommends 3 to fill federal vacancy on bench in Louisiana
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu has recommended three people to President Barack Obama to consider as he fills a judicial vacancy in Louisiana's Middle District based in Baton Rouge. read full story

11/4/11 – Senate confirms Andrews as federal judge in Del.
The U.S. Senate has confirmed the appointment of former federal prosecutor Richard Andrews as Delaware's newest U.S. District Court judge. read full story

11/4/11 – Senate confirms Skavdahl’s nomination as Wyoming federal judge
The U.S. Senate voted 96-0 Thursday to confirm the nomination of Scott Skavdahl to be a federal judge for Wyoming. read full story

11/3/11 – Justice Ginsburg: A clean bill of health
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has twice survived cancer and is regularly subject to speculation about her retirement plans, said Thursday she recently received a clean bill of health. read full story

11/3/11 – Judicial nominee Du advances over GOP objections
Gov Brian Sandoval issued a glowing recommendation this summer for Reno attorney Miranda Du to become a federal judge in Nevada. read full story

11/3/11 – Justice nominated for 9th Circuit
President Obama on Wednesday nominated one of Arizona's Supreme Court justices to serve on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals - a move that would give Gov. Jan Brewer the chance to put a third pick on the state's high court. read full story

11/3/11 – Thacker’s federal bench nomination sails through committee
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously approved the nomination of Charleston attorney Stephanie Thacker as a federal appeals court judge, clearing the way for a final vote in the full Senate. read full story

11/3/11 – Senate committee supports openly gay federal judicial nominee Michael Walter Fitzgerald
An openly gay California attorney moved a crucial step closer Thursday to confirmation as a federal judge, with his smooth passage one more sign of a slowly evolving political climate. read full story

11/3/11 – Thacker Wins US Senate Committee Approval For Judicial Post
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Charleston attorney Stephanie Thacker's nomination to be a federal judge on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday. read full story

11/3/11 – Conservative Christian Groups Lobby Against Gay Judicial Nominee
Two conservative Christian groups sent letters this week to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee urging them to oppose the nomination of Michael Fitzgerald, an openly gay nominee for U.S. District for the Central District of California, because of his “extreme liberal activism.” read full story

11/3/11 – Senate panel advances gay judicial nominee
A Senate committee approved unanimously by voice vote on Thursday a judicial nominee who could become the fourth openly gay person to sit on the federal bench. read full story

11/3/11 – Judge David Guaderrama introduced before US Senate Judiciary Committee
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee questioned El Pasoan David C. Guaderrama on Wednesday about a judicial decision he made more than a decade ago that allowed the now-convicted child killer David Renteria to stay on the streets. read full story

11/3/11 – Judicial appointments remain in limbo as Johnson, Kohl disagree on make up of nominating commission
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson says he wants equal representation on the Federal Nominating Commission to fill two judicial openings even though that would break precedent in Wisconsin. read full story

11/3/11 – Obama nominates Arizona justice to U.S. appeals court
President Obama on Wednesday nominated Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew D. Hurwitz to a seat on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, his third proposal in recent weeks to fill vacancies on the overwhelmed Western appellate bench. read full story

11/3/11 – Thacker one step closer to federal bench
A University of Richmond law school professor says the full U.S. Senate should "promptly confirm" West Virginia attorney Stephanie Thacker's nomination to a federal appeals court. read full story

11/3/11 – Grassley Spokeswoman Cites ‘Insurmountable Concerns’ over Charles Day Nomination
Senate Judiciary Committee members had "insurmountable concerns" about matters raised during a background investigation of Charles Day, whose nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland was withdrawn Monday, a spokeswoman for the panel's top Republican said Wednesday. read full story

11/2/11 – Obama Withdraws Nomination of Charles Day for Maryland District Court
President Barack Obama on Monday withdrew the nomination of a U.S. magistrate judge whom he tapped for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. read full story

11/2/11 – Southern California judge questioned by Senate Judiciary Committee
The first Vietnamese-American on the federal bench brought friends and family to Washington today for moral support as she answered questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee. The president has nominated U.S. District Court Judge Jacqueline Nguyen to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

11/2/11 – Obama nominates Arkansas lawyer for federal bench
President Barack Obama today nominated Kristine G. Baker to be the U.S. District judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas. read full story

11/2/11 – Obama nominates Kris Baker for federal judgeship
Sources tell me President Obama will nominate Kris Baker, a member of Little Rock's Quattlebaum law firm, to a vacancy on the federal district court bench. The nomination could come very shortly. read full story

11/2/11 – President Obama Nominates Kristine Gerhard Baker to United States District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Kristine Gerhard Baker to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. read full story

11/2/11 – President Obama Nominates Justice Andrew David Hurwitz to Serve on the United States Court of Appeals
Today, President Obama nominated Justice Andrew David Hurwitz to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. read full story

11/1/11 – Obama Withdraws Nomination of Charles Day for Maryland District Court
President Barack Obama on Monday withdrew the nomination of a U.S. magistrate judge whom he tapped for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. read full story

11/1/11 – Obama judge withdrawn, a slate of nominees, plus some embassy shuffles
The White House on Monday ended the twisting-in-the wind nomination of Charles Bernard Day to be federal district judge for the District of Maryland. Day’s nomination hung around the Senate for ten months, but he never got a Judiciary Committee hearing. read full story

11/1/11 – Senate confirms Loyola professor for 5th Circuit
Legal academics have had a tough time winning confirmation for high-profile government jobs. But Loyola University New Orleans School of Law professor Stephen Higginson had a relatively easy time of it. The Senate voted unanimously on Oct. 31 to confirm him for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. read full story

11/1/11 – October is banner month for judge confirmations
 The Senate last month confirmed 15 nominees to the federal bench, the busiest month so far this year. read full story

10/31/11 – Hutchison and Cornyn recommend three people to fill Eastern District of Texas bench in Sherman
U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, R-Texas, have forwarded the names of three people to President Barack Obama to fill the U.S. District Court bench in Sherman. read full story

10/31/11 – Senate confirms Stephen Higginson for seat on 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
The U.S. Senate on Monday unanimously approved Stephen Higginson's nomination for a seat on the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The vote was 88-0. read full story

10/31/11 – Senate OKs Higginson for appeals seat
The Senate voted Monday to confirm Stephen Higginson to serve on the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Louisiana. The vote was 88-0. read full story

10/31/11 – NAACP Calls for More Black Judges in North Carolina
North Carolina needs more Black federal judges, the NAACP says. In an effort to secure more African-American officials for positions on the federal bench, North Carolina’s largest civil rights organization is calling on the state’s two senators to nominate them. read full story

10/31/11 – Presidential Withdrawal Sent to the Senate
Withdrawal sent to the Senate: Charles Bernard Day, of Maryland, to be United States District Judge for the District of Maryland, vice Peter J. Messitte, retired, which was sent to the Senate on January 5, 2011. read full story

10/31/11 – ‘State of the District’ not too rosy: Chief Judge Conway talks budget and judge shuffle
U.S. District Chief Judge for the Middle District of Florida Anne Conway explained the court will have to do more with less in her “State of the District” speech at a recent meeting of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association at the Main Library Downtown. read full story

10/28/2011 – Obama asks ABA to evaluate Adegbile for D.C. Circuit
President Obama has asked the American Bar Association to evaluate the credentials of Debo Patrick Adegbile, director of litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. read full story

10/27/11 – Senators Hutchison and Cornyn Submit U.S. Judicial Recommendations to White House
U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn today notified the White House of their recommendations to be considered for the federal judicial vacancy in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Office. All candidates were vetted by the bipartisan Federal Judiciary Evaluation Committee (FJEC). read full story

10/26/11 – Schumer Bucks Far Right Sneak Attack on Lesbian Judge
Chuck Schumer, New York’s senior senator, found himself scrambling on October 13 to ensure that what had been shaping up as a relatively noncontroversial confirmation of a federal judicial nominee he recommended in fact play out successfully. read full story

10/26/11 – Charles Schumer Makes Case for Gay Judges
When it comes to openly gay appointees to the federal bench, the glass ceiling might as well have been coated in concrete — until Sen. Charles Schumer pushed for two out nominees. read full story

10/25/11 – OB native named to bench
Bernice Bouie Donald, who was sworn in this past Thursday as the newest federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, was a trailblazer long before her most recent honor. read full story

10/25/11 – State NAACP urges more African-American federal judges
The state NAACP wants more African-American judges appointed to U.S. District Courts in the state. In an open letter to U.S. Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr, the state's largest civil rights group said the senators should recommend an African American to serve as U.S. District Court judge in the Eastern District. read full story

10/23/11 – Judicial branch lacks gender diversity
The federal bench still lacks gender diversity, despite growing numbers of women in the legal profession. read full story

10/23/11 – Females Scarce in Federal Court System
The lack of gender diversity on the federal bench seems to be an “anomaly” because since the 1980s more women have joined the legal profession, more women have entered law schools in recent years and women continue to apply when openings are available. read full story

10/21/11 – Senate confirms Middle District judge
One of the three judicial vacancies in the U.S. Middle District has been filled with the Senate confirmation this week of Scranton labor attorney Robert D. Mariani. read full story

10/21/11 – NASABA Asks Obama to Recruit South Asians for Judiciary
The North American South Asian Bar Association has asked President Barack Obama to consider the “statistical and demographic evidence” of a need for greater representation of the South Asian (American) community in the nomination and appointment of federal judiciary.” read full story

10/21/11 – Law professor says committee will approve Thacker
A University of Richmond law school professor says it's not surprising that West Virginia attorney Stephanie Thacker's nomination to a federal appeals court was held over Thursday. read full story

10/21/11 – Wyden Announces Statewide Committee to Recommend Names for Federal Judgeship
Senator Ron Wyden announced today the names of 13 Oregonians who will serve on the Senator’s Judicial Selection Committee that will recommend names to fill a federal district court judgeship for Oregon. read full story

10/21/11 – S.F. federal court vacancy gives Obama an opening
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer says he will transfer to senior status with a limited caseload by the end of the year, creating another vacancy on the federal bench in San Francisco. read full story

10/20/11 – Hornak Confirmation Fills Pittsburgh Federal Bench
The final vacancy on the U.S. District Court bench in Pittsburgh has been filled now that the U.S. Senate has confirmed a city attorney nominated by President Barack Obama last year. read full story

10/20/11 – Confirmation for Susie Morgan as federal judge might come slowly
New Orleans lawyer Susie Morgan appears headed for confirmation as a federal District Court judge after a conflict-free confirmation hearing Wednesday, but it might take awhile. Morgan was nominated by President Barack Obama to replace New Orleans Federal District Court Judge Thomas Porteous, who was removed by the Senate last December for judicial misconduct. read full story

10/20/11 – Conservatives balk, but Senate OKs Mariani for judgeship
The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Scranton attorney Robert D. Mariani as a federal district judge Wednesday, despite an unexpected last-minute wave of opposition led by some of its most conservative senators. read full story

10/20/11 – Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Sen. Feinstein’s Bill To Add 4 New EDCA Judgeships
The Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved legislation authored by Senator Dianne Feinstein to add four new District Judgeships in the Eastern District. The legislation proposes to pay for the new spots through a $10 increase in the civil filing fee. read full story

10/19/11 – Senate confirms Hornak as federal judge
By unanimous consent, the Senate today filled the last remaining federal judicial vacancy in Western Pennsylvania by confirming the nomination of Homestead native Mark R. Hornak as a federal district judge. read full story

10/19/11 – Senate panel may vote Thursday on gay judicial nominee
A Senate committee may vote Thursday on the nomination of a judicial nominee who could become the fourth openly gay person to sit on the federal bench. read full story

10/19/11 – Charles Breyer to Take Senior Status, Opening Another Slot on Bench
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, the court's behind-the-scenes mover and shaker with a well-deserved reputation as the federal bench's ham, will take senior status this year. read full story

10/19/11 – Scranton Attorney Mariani Confirmed as Federal Judge
The Senate Wednesday voted 82-17 to approve the nomination of Scranton labor attorney Robert Mariani to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. read full story

10/18/11 – Senate Oks 49th Judicial Nominee; Dozens Await Vote
The Senate voted 82-3 to confirm Cathy Bissoon to the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, where she will be the first Hispanic woman to sit on the bench. read full story

10/18/11 – Paul Watford nominated to federal appeals court
Paul Watford, a Los Angeles lawyer and former federal prosecutor, was nominated Monday by President Obama to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, where Obama's judicial choices have been bogged down in the Senate. read full story

10/18/11 – Obama nominates L.A. lawyer to 9th Circuit
Paul J. Watford, a Los Angeles lawyer with broad experience and the support of some influential local conservatives, was nominated by President Obama on Monday to the busiest federal appeals court in the country. read full story

10/18/11 – Magistrate OK’d as judge for Western District of Pennsylvania
The Senate on Monday confirmed a Mt. Lebanon woman as the newest federal judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania. read full story

10/18/11 – U.S. Senate confirms Bissoon as district judge
The U.S. Senate on Monday voted to confirm Cathy Bissoon, 43, to the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, but the commonwealth still has empty bench seats waiting to be filled. read full story

10/17/11 – Obama nominates L.A. attorney for 9th Circuit post
Paul J. Watford, a Los Angeles attorney with broad experience and the support of some influential local conservatives, was nominated by President Barack Obama on Monday to the busiest appeals court in the country. read full story

10/17/11 – Attorney Paul J. Watford Nominated to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
President Obama has nominated Los Angeles attorney Paul J. Waford to serve as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The White House announced the nomination today. read full story

10/17/11 – Senate confirms 49th judicial nominee this year
The Senate confirmed Cathy Bissoon to be a United States District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania by a vote of 82-3 on Monday. read full story

10/17/11 – Senate confirms Judge Cathy Bissoon
The U.S. Senate today confirmed Cathy Bissoon's nomination as U.S. district judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Judge Bissoon's confirmation came on an 82-3 vote. read full story

10/17/11 – President Obama Nominates Paul J. Watford to Serve on the United States Court of Appeals
Today, President Obama nominated Paul J. Watford to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. “Paul J. Watford has displayed exceptional dedication to the legal profession through his work and I am honored to nominate him to serve the American people as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals,” President Obama said. "He will be a diligent, judicious and esteemed addition to the Ninth Circuit bench." read full story

10/15/11 – Judges’ deaths add to 9th Circuit backlog
Five judges from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals have died this year, worsening an already critical case backlog and spotlighting President Obama's inability to put his judicial choices and stamp on the powerful court. read full story

10/14/11 – ABA President Urges Senate Leaders to Reduce Federal Court Vacancies
The Senate’s confirmation of ten judicial nominees during the span of two weeks is welcome progress, but federal court vacancies remain high and a continued effort to move judicial nominations is needed, American Bar Association President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III says in letters to congressional leaders. read full story

10/14/11 – One Pennsylvania judicial nominee to reach Senate floor Monday – but it’s not Mariani
A Pennsylvania federal district court nominee will be voted on and presumably approved by the Senate Monday – but it isn’t Robert Mariani, the Scranton labor lawyer nominated by President Obama for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. read full story

10/14/11 – Gerrard judgeship bid advances
Nebraska Supreme Court Judge John Gerrard's nomination to the federal bench moved forward Thursday, despite the opposition of one U.S. senator who criticized the judge's decision in a death penalty case. read full story

10/13/11 – Senate confirms lesbian to federal judiciary
The U.S. Senate confirmed on Thursday an out judicial nominee to become the second-ever open lesbian to sit on the federal bench. read full story

10/13/11 – Senate Confirms Three Judicial Nominees
Three pending judicial nominees won final approval by the U.S. Senate Thursday, three months after having been reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee. There remain more than two dozen judicial nominations awaiting final action by the Senate after having been approved by the Judiciary Committee, including nominations reported by the Committee prior to the August recess. read full story

10/13/11 – Senate confirms lesbian court nominee
The U.S. Senate voted Thursday (October 13) to confirm the nomination of lesbian attorney Alison Nathan to serve as a federal district court judge. read full story

10/13/11 – Senate confirms controversial Obama judicial nominee
Following a low intensity floor-scuffle, the Senate confirmed Obama nominee Alison J. Nathan, 48-44, to serve as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. read full story

10/13/11 – With Just Two Openly Gay Appointees, President Obama Triples The Number Of Out Federal Judges
 Later today, the Senate is expected to confirm Alison Nathan to as a United States District Judge in New York City. Nathan will be the second openly gay Obama appointee confirmed to the federal bench. Sadly, this means that President Obama has now appointed two-thirds of the openly gay attorneys ever appointed as a life-tenured federal judge. President Clinton appointed the third out judge, Judge Deborah Batts. read full story

10/13/11 – Panel sends Obama judicial nominee to Senate floor
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to send U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jose Jordan of Miami to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote to fill a vacancy on the federal appeals court in Atlanta. read full story

10/13/11 – Judge Jordan voice vote with no opposition
Judge Jordan took the next step today in getting to the 11th Circuit. The judiciary committee's voice vote was unanimous today on Judge Jordan. Senator Sessions even congratulated President Obama on nominating Judge Jordan, who said he had met with him and was impressed with his "12 good years as a district judge" and his prior experience. read full story

10/13/11 – Senate panel OKs Nuffer as Utah’s next federal judge
Magistrate David Nuffer is now one vote away from becoming Utah’s newest federal judge after the Senate Judiciary Committee gave approval Thursday to his nomination. read full story

10/13/11 – Senate approves Hickey’s nomination to federal bench
The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Susan Hickey’s nomination to the federal bench in Arkansas today, over the objections of some Republicans who questioned her experience. read full story

10/13/11 – Without GOP support, Senate confirms gay woman as federal judge in New York
Without Republican support, the Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed an openly gay woman to become a federal judge in New York. read full story

10/13/11 – Senate Confirms Three More Judicial Nominees
Two lawyers who have served in the Obama administration will be joining the federal district court in the Southern District of New York after they won Senate confirmation — one of them by a narrow margin. read full story

10/13/11 – Nathan, NY judicial nominee, narrowly passes Senate
A nominee for the federal court in New York whom Republicans had criticized for her lack of courtroom experience and liberal views, was confirmed on Thursday by the Senate in a narrow, party-line vote. read full story

10/13/11 – Gerrard’s judicial nomination moves to Senate floor
President Barack Obama's nomination of Nebraska Supreme Court Judge John Gerrard to the U.S. District Court cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday with one dissenting vote. read full story

10/13/11 – Lesbian Survives 11th Hour Right-Wing Assault to Win Court Seat
What had been shaping up as a relatively noncontroversial judicial confirmation turned into a nail-biter just hours before the Senate vote on Alison Nathan, an out lesbian appointed by President Barack Obama in March to a seat on the US Court for New York’s Southern District. read full story

10/13/11 – Senate to Vote Today on Alison Nathan’s Nomination, Would Be Second Lesbian Federal Judge
Today, the U.S. Senate is slated to vote on the nomination of Alison Nathan for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. read full story

10/13/11 – Vote today on Arkansas judgeship
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote this morning on the president's nomination of Circuit Judge Susan Hickey of El Dorado to a federal district court vacancy for the western district of Arkansas. read full story

10/12/11 – ‘Emergency’ judge nominees for Georgia stalled in Senate slog
Three long-awaited federal judge vacancies in Atlanta that have been declared "emergencies" are nowhere close to being filled, as they remain bogged down in murky disputes between the White House and Georgia's Republican U.S. senators. read full story

10/11/11 – Harkin recommends three names to Obama for federal judge vacancy
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin has submitted three names to President Obama to fill an upcoming federal judge vacancy. The vacancy will occur on July 1 after current Judge Robert Pratt retires from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. read full story

10/11/11 – Harkin recommends three women for federal bench
Three Iowa women, all with distinguished legal careers, have been recommended by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Southern District of Iowa federal bench. read full story

10/11/11 – Federal judge selection process in crisis, experts say
Vacant federal judge positions in Pennsylvania provide a good example of the problems plaguing the nomination and confirmation process nationwide, an analyst said. read full story

10/11/11 – Jane Triche-Milazzo secures Senate’s confirmation for federal judgeship
The U.S. Senate voted 98-0 Tuesday to confirm Louisiana District Court Judge Jane Margaret Triche-Milazzo of Napoleonville as a federal judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. "I am truly honored by the trust President (Barack) Obama and the Senate have placed in me through my nomination and confirmation. As I undertake these new responsibilities, I look forward to continuing to serve the people of Louisiana," Triche-Milazzo said. "I greatly appreciate Sen. (Mary) Landrieu shepherding me through this process and her unwavering support." read full story

10/10/11 – East Texas Federal judge, magistrate leave posts
After 12 years on the bench, U.S. District Judge T. John Ward has retired to take advantage of a golden opportunity —practicing law with his son. read full story

10/9/11 – Judge Jane Triche-Milazzo could pass Senate muster soon
Don't blink, or you might miss this. For two minutes on Tuesday the Senate will debate President Barack Obama's nomination of Louisiana state District Court Judge Jane Margaret Triche-Milazzo of Napoleonville for a seat on the Federal District Court in New Orleans. read full story

10/7/11 – Judge’s ‘senior’ role leads to vacancy
U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan has achieved “senior status” with the court — a shift that eases him into semiretirement and creates a vacancy on the federal bench in Eugene. read full story

10/7/11 – US Senate Judiciary Committee Approves W.Va. Federal Judge Nominee
A state 23rd Judicial Circuit judge could serve on the federal bench after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination in an Oct. 6 hearing. read full story

10/7/11 – Judge Jordan’s nomination delayed and will join dozens awaiting Senate Floor votes
David Oscar Markus lives in a rational world. Thus, he reasonably believed that the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee would vote today on the nomination of S.D. Fla. District Judge Adalberto José Jordán to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit. read full story

10/6/11 – Advocates seek action on nominations
With the U.S. Senate confirming Marina Garcia Marmolejo for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, nonpartisan advocates are urging senators to move quickly to fill other judicial vacancies, including one for U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, which Marshall’s James “Rodney” Gilstrap has been nominated to fill. read full story

10/6/11 – Henry Floyd Confirmed for Fourth Circuit in Rare Unanimous Vote
U.S. District Judge Henry Floyd was confirmed to a seat on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals by a 96-0 vote on Tuesday. read full story

10/6/11 – Senate Judiciary approves Groh for federal court
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to approve Berkeley Circuit Judge Gina M. Groh to the federal court, along with four other judges in different states. read full story

10/5/11 – Mexican-born Naturalized Citizen Confirmed Federal Judge
Marina Marmolejo is about to take a federal judgeship in Laredo, right across the border from her hometown of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Monday. She obtained her law degree from St. Mary's University in San Antonio. read full story

10/5/11 – Family hears judicial nominee testify at Senate hearing
Miranda Du, who came to the United States in childhood as a Vietnamese refugee, took a step Tuesday toward becoming a federal judge in Nevada. read full story

10/5/11 – Gay nominee politely labeled an ‘activist’ by GOP
A fourth openly gay nominee—one who has been fairly heavily involved in both gay and non-gay legal and political issues and who spent “hundreds of hours” doing pro bono work that led to the elimination of a gay ban on FBI agents—has gone before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The nominee’s gay-related history prompted the only Republican in attendance on his confirmation hearing to label the nominee an “activist.” read full story

10/5/11 – Marina Garcia Marmolejo confirmed for federal bench in Laredo
On Oct. 3, the Senate confirmed Marina Garcia Marmolejo to become a U.S. district judge in Laredo. Marmolejo, a former federal prosecutor and partner in Austin’s Reid Collins Tsai, will become the second judge nominated by President Barack Obama who has been seated in Laredo -- one of the busiest courthouses in the Southern District of Texas when it comes to criminal cases. read full story

10/5/11 – Nonpartisan legal experts urge Senate to approve Obama’s Texas judicial nominees
A group of nonpartisan legal leaders in Texas called Tuesday on the U.S. Senate to expeditiously move to fill judicial vacancies with President Barack Obama’s nominees for district and appellate courts. read full story

10/5/11 – The historic confirmation of Nannette Jolivette-Brown
Nannette Jolivette-Brown will be the first African-American woman to serve on the federal bench in Louisiana, following a unanimous vote by the U.S. Senate Monday confirming her nomination. read full story

10/5/11 – Hamlin native on way to bench
Charleston lawyer Stephanie Thacker fielded questions from members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, a key stop on her path to the federal bench. read full story

10/5/11 – New Jersey judge nominated for appeals court
President Obama today nominated a New Jersey judge to serve on a federal appellate court. read full story

10/5/11 – Obama nominates Paterson-born judge to federal appeals court
President Obama nominated Paterson-born federal magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Wednesday. read full story

10/5/11 – President Obama Nominates Judge Patty Shwartz for the United States Court of Appeals
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Patty Shwartz for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. read full story

10/5/11 – Texans point to judicial slots
A group of nonpartisan legal leaders in Texas called Tuesday on the U.S. Senate to quickly fill judicial vacancies with President Barack Obama's nominees for district and appellate courts. read full story

10/4/11 – Texas Legal Group Urges More Judicial Appointments
A nonpartisan group of Texas lawyers, law professors and other legal advocates today called on the U.S. Senate to quickly fill judicial vacancies that are slowing down the justice system in Texas and nationwide. read full story

10/4/11 – Federal judicial vacancies threaten justice system, experts say
Today a group of legal experts called on Congress to move quicker to fill vacant federal judgeships around the country. The number of vacancies "is damaging to the judiciary and its ability to perform its basic core function, which is the swift dispensation of justice," said Christopher Elliott , chair of the Austin chapter of the American Constitution Society, in a conference call with reporters today. "We see this as a non partisan issue." read full story

10/4/11 – Senate Confirms Successor to Late Judge John Roll
The U.S. Senate has elevated a federal magistrate judge to the district court bench in Arizona, filling a position that has been vacant since the shooting death of Judge John Roll. read full story

10/4/11 – Judge Henry Floyd elevated to 4th Circuit
The Senate on Monday unanimously confirmed U.S. District Judge Henry F. Floyd to serve on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, promoting the South Carolinian to the five-state appellate bench. read full story

10/4/11 – Senate confirms New Orleans city attorney as judge
The Senate on Monday confirmed New Orleans City Attorney Nannette Jolivette-Brown to a seat on the New Orleans federal bench. She was one of five judges to win Senate confirmation, signaling an easing, albeit probably a temporary one, in Republican resistance to confirming judges nominated by President Barack Obama. read full story

10/4/11 – Senate approves six for judgeships
The Senate on Monday approved six nominees to fill judicial vacancies, addressing a backlog of 27 judicial nominees that were pending before the chamber. read full story

10/4/11 – Thacker testifies before judiciary committee
West Virginia attorney Stephanie Thacker touched on her experience as both a prosecutor and private practice attorney while testifying before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. read full story

10/4/11 – Senators talk up Thacker for federal appeals court
Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin urged the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to support the nomination of Charleston lawyer Stephanie Dawn Thacker to become a judge on the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

10/4/11 – Hearing Held For Charleston Attorney Nominated For Judge Seat
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote within the next few weeks on President Barack Obama's nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. read full story

10/4/11 – US Senate Judiciary Committee Hosts Hearing on Thacker’s appointment to the 4th Circuit
Approximately 26 days after President Barack Obama nominated a Charleston lawyer to the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to discuss a possible appointment. read full story

10/4/11 – Fifth Circuit Nominee Stephen Higginson Waits for Senate Vote
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals may have to continue waiting for the Senate to confirm Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Higginson’s nomination to the bench due to delays in a D.C. Circuit nominee’s confirmation process. read full story

10/4/11 – Senate approves replacement for judge slain at Giffords shooting
The Senate has moved quickly, in Washington terms, to confirm a replacement for slain federal Judge John Roll, killed in the mass shooting at a Tucson shopping center in January. read full story

10/4/11 – Out Gay Judicial Nominee Fitzgerald Has Senate Hearing
President Barack Obama's fourth out LGBT judicial nominee, California attorney Michael Fitzgerald, appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee this afternoon along with three other federal trial court nominees for a brief hearing on their nominations. read full story

10/4/11 – Senate confirms six judicial nominees
The Senate confirmed Monday six non-controversial nominees for federal judgeships, according to a Main Justice blog post. They were Henry Floyd, Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Nannette J. Brown, Eastern District of Louisiana; Nancy Torresen, District of Maine; William F. Kuntz II, Eastern District of New York; Marina Marmolejo, Southern District of Texas; and Jennifer G. Zipps, District of Arizona. read full story

10/4/11 – Judge Jordan’s nomination to be heard by Judiciary Committee on Thursday
After the vote this Thursday, it will go to the full Senate. read full story

10/3/11 – Senate confirms Torresen as U.S. District Court judge for Maine
The Senate unanimously confirmed Nancy Torresen on Monday as a U.S. District Court judge for Maine. read full story

10/3/11 – Senate confirms Torresen as first female U.S. District judge in Maine
The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Nancy Torresen of Bangor for a federal judgeship. read full story

10/3/11 – Senate confirms second judge for Laredo
Lawyer Marina Garcia Marmolejo was confirmed by the Senate on Monday to be a federal judge in the U.S. Southern Judicial District of Texas, filling a second border judicial vacancy in Laredo. read full story

10/3/11 – Texas lawmakers applaud confirmation of Obama federal judge in Texas
Former prosecutor Marina Garcia Marmolejo was confirmed by the Senate on Monday to be a federal judge in the U.S. Southern Judicial District of Texas, filling a second border judicial vacancy in Laredo. read full story

10/3/11 – Judicial nominee will have support of Rockefeller, Manchin at hearing
U.S. Senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin will introduce West Virginia attorney Stephanie Thacker at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday. read full story

10/3/11 – Senate Confirms 6 Of 27 Pending Judicial Nominees
The U.S. Senate Monday night unanimously confirmed six of the more than two dozen judicial nominees approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) welcomed the action, expressing hope that the Senate has turned a new page in the consideration of pending judicial nominations, which has slowed to a crawl during the Obama administration. read full story

10/2/11 – Senate to vote on some judicial nominations, while others languish
The Senate will chip away at a backlog of federal judicial vacancies Monday evening with the likely approval of six nominees who aren't considered controversial. read full story

10/2/11 – Judge nominee heads for Senate hearings
Reno attorney Miranda Du and four other nominees are scheduled to appear Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. read full story

10/1/11 – Judge’s retirement adds to courthouse crunch
The retirement of Fresno-based U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger will leave a gaping hole in one of the federal judiciary's busiest regions. read full story

9/29/11 – Torresen to be confirmed as new District Court judge
Barring unexpected problems or delays, Nancy Torresen will be confirmed by the Senate on Monday as a new U.S. District Court judge for Maine. read full story

9/29/11 – Gay judicial nominee to face Senate hearing Tuesday
A gay judicial nominee who has been tapped to serve on the federal bench will face his confirmation hearing before the Senate on Tuesday. read full story

9/29/11 – Thacker hearing set for Tuesday
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hear the nomination of Charleston attorney Stephanie Thacker for an opening on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

9/28/11 – Edward Chen Inducted as Federal Judge
There has never been a federal judicial induction ceremony quite like this one. Nearly 1,000 people crammed into six courtrooms to watch Judge Edward M. Chen inducted as the first Chinese-American judge on the federal bench in the Northern California. In the early decades of the court’s 158-year history its first judge, Ogden Hoffman, granted hundreds of petitions from Chinese immigrants seeking admission to the U.S., despite anti-Chinese exclusion laws. read full story

9/28/11 – Judging the candidate
Multiple sources report that background checks have begun on Kris Baker, a partner in the Quattlebaum law firm in Little Rock. That would make her the leader in consideration for nomination by the White House. A Senate confirmation process would follow, ever more chancy as the 2012 election nears and already-obstructive Republicans become more obstructive of the president's nominees. read full story

9/28/11 – Senate Agrees to Consider 10 Judicial Nominees
Senate leaders have reached an agreement to consider ten judicial nominees in the coming weeks, the Blog of LegalTimes has reported. The candidates, all of whom have been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, can expect floor votes beginning as soon as Monday. read full story

9/28/11 – 10 of the 27 Judicial Nominees Awaiting Confirmation Will Finally Get A Vote
The Senate reached a deal to confirm 10 pending nominees. Yet, as Nicole Flatow notes, the real story here is the 17 nominees who are ready for confirmation votes but will nonetheless remain behind a wall of obstructionism. read full story

9/27/11 – Senate to take up Hickey nomination
The U.S. Senate is expected to begin debate next week on 10 judicial nominations, including Susan Hickey to serve on the federal bench in Western District of Arkansas. read full story

9/27/11 – Senate nears vote on U.S. District Court nominee
Barring unexpected problems or delays, the U.S. Senate next week will confirm a new U.S. District Court judge for Maine. read full story

9/27/11 – New Orleans City Attorney Jolivette-Brown now a virtual lock for seat on federal District Court
New Orleans City Attorney Nannette Jolivette-Brown has moved a giant step closer to taking a seat on the federal District Court in New Orleans. The Senate agreed before recessing Monday night to take up the nomination of Jolivette-Brown and four other federal District Court nominees next Monday and to confirm them by unanimous consent without requiring a roll call vote. read full story

9/27/11 – Senators Reach Deal on 10 Judicial Nominees
Senate leaders have come to an agreement to consider 10 judicial nominees during the next several weeks, stepping up the rate that senators have been considering judges in recent months. read full story

9/27/11 – Green nomination stuck in Senate
The Senate will consider confirming several judgeships Monday, but the nomination of Monroe County District Attorney Michael C. Green is not one of them. read full story

9/27/11 – Out Lesbian Judicial Nominee Set for Senate Vote in Coming Weeks
Earlier today, the Blog of Legal Times noted that Alison Nathan, the former White House associate counsel nominated for a federal judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is among the 10 judicial nominees who Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced would be coming for a vote in the coming weeks. read full story

9/23/11 – Obama makes potentially historic pick for 9th Circuit
Senate Republicans balked the last time President Barack Obama nominated an Asian American from California to a prominent bench seat, which some conservatives considered a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. read full story

9/22/11 – President Obama Nominates Judge Brian C. Wimes to Serve on the United States District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Brian C. Wimes to the United States District Court bench for the Eastern and Western District of Missouri. read full story

9/22/11 – President Obama Nominates Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen to Serve on the United States Court of Appeals
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. read full story

9/21/11 – Gerrard backed for federal court
John Gerrard appeared on track Tuesday to become Nebraska's next federal judge — as long as the gears of government turn quickly enough. read full story

9/21/11 – Nuffer sails through committee hearing
Magistrate David Nuffer received nothing but praise from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, making it highly likely that the Senate will confirm him to be Utah’s next District Court judge in the weeks to come. read full story

9/20/11 – Senate approves Timothy M. Cain for federal court
The U.S. Senate voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to confirm Oconee County Judge Timothy M. Cain to serve on the United States District Court for South Carolina read full story

9/20/11 – St. Louis County judge confirmed for federal bench
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Judge John A. Ross of St. Louis County to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, one of few recent judicial confirmations in the slow-moving Congress. read full story

9/20/11 – Senate confirms 99th and 100th Obama judicial nominees
The Senate on Tuesday afternoon confirmed the 99th and 100th Obama judicial nominees this year, keeping a pace that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, celebrated as faster than in previous years. read full story

9/16/11 – Texas judicial nominee clears key hurdle in the Senate
A Senate committee cleared James Rodney Gilstrap on Thursday to be a federal judge in East Texas, hours after President Obama nominated U.S. Magistrate Judge David Campos Guaderrama of El Paso to fill a judicial vacancy in the Western District of Texas. read full story

9/16/11 – Loss of judge will further clog Fresno court
U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger's departure at the end of the month will do more than take two decades of institutional memory from Fresno's federal courthouse. It will test the court's ability to do its job effectively. read full story

9/16/11 – Rumors confirmed regarding district judge openings
Four names were sent up by the Judicial Nominating Commission to fill Judge Alan Gold's seat. Apparently, the White House is vetting two of those names, John Thornton and Robin Rosenbaum -- one to fill Judge Gold's seat and one to fill Judge Jordan's seat. read full story

9/15/11 – DOJ Official Nominated To Armed Forces Appeals Court
U.S. Justice Department attorney Kevin Ohlson took on a new role this year when Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. selected him to lead a unit that reviews prosecution ethics matters. But Ohlson could be moving on. read full story

9/15/11 – U.S. Magistrate Judge David Guaderrama nominated for US district judge post
President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated U.S. Magistrate Judge David Guaderrama to be a U.S. district judge in El Paso. read full story

9/15/11 – New York Judicial Nominees Win Committee Support
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to advance four nominees for federal district court, including three for the high-profile Southern District of New York. read full story

9/15/11 – Obama taps El Paso judge for district including S.A.
U.S. Magistrate Judge David Campos Guaderrama of El Paso was nominated by President Barack Obama to fill a judicial vacancy in the Western District of Texas and a Senate committee cleared James Rodney Gilstrap on Thursday to be a federal judge in East Texas. read full story

9/15/11 – Senate committee approves three for New York judgeships
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved four nominees to federal judgeships, including three for the Southern District of New York. read full story

9/14/11 – President Obama Nominates Ronald Buch to the United States Tax Court
President Obama announced today his intent to nominate Ronald Buch asaJudge to the United States Tax Court. read full story

9/14/11 – President Obama Nominates Judge David Campos Guaderrama to the United States District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Judge David Campos Guaderrama to serve on the United States District Court bench for the Western District of Texas. read full story

9/13/11 – Obama moves at historic pace to diversify federal bench; white males under half his choices
President Barack Obama is moving at a historic pace to try to diversify the nation’s federal judiciary: Nearly three of every four people he has gotten confirmed to the federal bench are women or minorities. He is the first president who hasn’t selected a majority of white males for lifetime judgeships. read full story

9/12/11 – 10th Circuit Seat Could Stay Vacant For 3 Years
Robert Henry stepped down from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July 2010, but it could be years before the seat is filled. read full story

9/12/11 – Sen. Tom Coburn blocked attempt to fill federal appeals court vacancy
Sen. Tom Coburn shot down the impending nomination of the dean of the University of Tulsa law school for the vacant seat on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to Oklahoma attorneys who said Coburn was concerned about Janet Levit's background in international law. read full story

9/9/11 – Panel moves to confirm some judicial nominees
Facing criticism for a backlog in judicial nominees, a Senate committee moved Thursday to confirm a dozen of President Barack Obama's appointees, including nominees for four U.S. attorney posts in Texas. read full story

9/8/11 – President Obama Nominates Gregg Jeffrey Costa to Serve on the US District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Gregg Jeffrey Costa to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. read full story

9/8/11 – President Obama Nominates Stephanie Dawn Thacker to Serve on US Circuit Court of Appeals
Today, President Obama nominated Stephanie Dawn Thacker to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. read full story

9/8/11 – President Obama sends two names to Senate
Gregg Jeffrey Costa, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, vice John D. Rainey, retired and Stephanie Dawn Thacker, of West Virginia, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit, vice M. Blane Michael, deceased. read full story

9/8/11 – Former Las Vegas attorney meets with Senate panel over appeals court nomination
Evan J. Wallach, a federal judge and former Las Vegas attorney, got a welcoming reception Wednesday from a U.S. Senate committee as it considers elevating him in the judiciary. read full story

9/8/11 – Alaska judicial nominees clear committee
The U.S. Senate will now decide the fate of the nominations of two Alaska judges to the federal bench. read full story

9/8/11 – Casper judge’s nomination heads to Senate floor
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Scott Skavdahl of Casper for a federal judgeship Thursday. read full story

9/7/11 – Rockefeller, Manchin tout Groh for confirmation
West Virginia Democrats Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin are urging their fellow Senators to quickly confirm Gina Marie Groh as a federal judge. read full story

9/6/11 – Obama faces crucial period for judicial nominations
With the Senate set to vote on just one judicial nominee as it returns to work on Tuesday, President Obama faces an uphill fight to get federal judges approved and ease a backlog of cases in the courts. read full story

9/6/11 – First African-American woman on Sixth Circuit
The Senate has confirmed Bernice Donald as a judge on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Donald will be the first African-American woman confirmed for that court. read full story

9/6/11 – U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald of Memphis wins confirmation to federal appeals court
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Memphis federal judge Bernice Bouie Donald to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

9/6/11 – Alexander Applauds Senate Confirmation Of Judge Donald For 6th Circuit
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tn.) today applauded the Senate’s vote to confirm U.S. District Court Judge Bernice Donald to serve on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by a vote of 96 to 2. read full story

9/4/11 – Miami federal Judge Adalberto Jordan on track for appeals court post
Miami federal Judge Adalberto Jordan, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor after graduating from UM law school, is poised to become the first Cuban-born judge on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

9/1/2011 – Goodwin Liu Confirmed to California Supreme Court, sworn in
UC Berkeley School of Law professor Goodwin Liu won confirmation Wednesday as the newest Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California. The unanimous vote by the three-member Commission on Judicial Appointments came after Liu’s supporters spoke on his behalf at a public hearing in San Francisco—there was no opposing testimony. Friends, family, and colleagues in the audience broke out into spontaneous applause after the vote. read full story

8/29/11 – California Supreme Court appointee got state bar’s highest rating
UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu, appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to the California Supreme Court, received the state bar’s highest rating of “exceptionally well-qualified,” the court announced Monday. read full story

8/24/11 – PBS NewsHour Video: Debating the Politics of Confirming President Obama’s Judicial Nominees

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

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8/24/11 – Wyomissing lawyer to help review applicants for federal judgeship
Wyomissing attorney Heidi B. Masano has been named to a 20-member merit-selection panel appointed by Pennsylvania's two U.S. senators to review applicants to fill three vacancies on the federal bench for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. read full story

8/23/11 – Korean-American named senior counsel to Obama
Korean-American Christopher Kang was named last week senior counsel to U.S. President Barack Obama for legislative affairs, according to reports on Tuesday. read full story

8/19/11 – Arizona in great need of judges
Arizona's judicial system is suffering, under incredible strain due to a lack of judges. Politicians are busy wrangling over approving President Obama's nominees. And Thursday night Washington's mess spilled over into Tucson. read full story

8/19/11 – White House fights back on judicial nominations
The White House, with an unprecedented number of blocked judicial appointments, has released a new blog post, which reveals that the Republican blocking maneuvers are costing the government $1.4 billion detaining prisoners awaiting trial alone. Moreover, the average wait time of a civil litigant's jury trial is approximately 25 months and 15.9 percent of civil cases in 2010 experienced a wait of 3 years for a revolution. read full story

8/19/11 – White House: Confirming Judges a ‘Top Priority’
The White House is ramping up its information campaign on President Barack Obama's judicial nominees, ahead of a possible push this fall to confirm more judges. read full story

8/17/11 – White House Counsel Brings in New Staff
The office of the White House counsel has undergone a rapid changeover during the weeks since Kathryn Ruemmler took over as President Barack Obama's top lawyer. read full story

8/15/11 – New Members Join Panel That Vets Judges
Two lawyers from the Washington area are among the new members of the American Bar Association committee that screens nominees for the federal judiciary. read full story

8/15/11 – Davis a finalist for Middle District seat
Fourth Judicial Circuit Judge Brian J. Davis is one of four finalists announced for the U.S. District Judge seat for the Middle District of Florida. read full story

8/7/11 – Ron Johnson puts the kibosh on Louis Butler and another judicial nominee
While President Obama has been successful in getting women and minorities confirmed to federal judicial posts, two nominees in Wisconsin, a woman and an African-American, are going nowhere. read full story

8/6/11 – Trio of Louisiana judicial nominees still stuck in Senate limbo
The U.S. Senate took off for its August recess last week without voting on nearly two dozen pending federal court nominees, including three from Louisiana. read full story

8/5/11 – Some movement on the federal judge front for Texas
On Aug. 2, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Barack Obama's second nominee for a federal bench in Texas. Nelda Gonzales Ramos, now judge of the 347th District Court in Corpus Christi, was confirmed to become a U.S. district judge in the Southern District of Texas, says Erica Shabot, a spokeswoman for the Senate Judiciary Committee. read full story

8/5/11 – Fitchburg’s Hillman in line for federal judgeship in Worcester
Federal Magistrate Judge Timothy S. Hillman of Fitchburg has been recommended to be the next federal judge in Worcester. read full story

8/5/11 – Democrats say GOP senators blocked a vote on Texas judge, 19 others
Democrats blamed Republican leaders in the Senate on Thursday for refusing to confirm 20 federal judicial nominees to fill crucial vacancies in nearly a dozen states including Texas. read full story

8/4/11 – Senate recess leaves judicial nominees in limbo
Democrats blamed the Senate's Republican leaders Thursday for refusing to confirm 20 federal judicial nominees to fill vacancies in nearly a dozen states, including Texas. read full story

8/4/11 – NV’s first Asian judge appointed
For the first time in history, the Nevada judicial system will have an Asian-American member as President Obama nominated Reno attorney Miranda Du to serve in the US District Court. read full story

8/4/11 – DA Mike Green Still Waiting for Judicial Confirmation
The United States Senate approved four judicial nominees before leaving for recess, but Monroe County District Attorney Mike Green was not one of the confirmed candidates. read full story

8/3/11 – Obama Nominates Jordán for Eleventh Circuit Vacancy
President Barack Obama nominated Judge Adalberto José Jordán to serve on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. read full story

8/3/11 – Obama nominates judge to Atlanta appeals court
President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated U.S. District Judge Adalberto José Jordán to the federal appeals court in Atlanta. read full story

8/3/11 – Senate confirms Kathleen Williams to federal bench
Federal Public Defender Kathleen Williams has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a district judge, and U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan in Miami was nominated to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. read full story

8/3/11 – Senate approves one Texan for federal judgeship
A South Texas judge from Corpus Christi was one of only four judicial nominees confirmed by the Senate before its month-long recess, leaving nearly two dozen still waiting, officials said Wednesday. read full story

8/3/11 – Four judicial confirmations as Senate calls it quits
The Senate confirmed four district court judicial nominees on Tuesday as the chamber headed into its August recess. On the same day, President Barack Obama announced two new federal judge nominations. read full story

8/3/11 – Green confirmation delayed
Monroe County District Attorney Michael Green will have to wait until at least September for a Senate vote on his nomination to serve as a federal judge in Rochester. read full story

8/3/11 – Senate confirms R. Brooke Jackson to federal bench
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Judge R. Brooke Jackson's nomination to the federal bench in Colorado, filling the second of two Colorado vacancies deemed "judicial emergencies" because of caseloads and the length of time it has taken to fill them. read full story

8/3/11 – U.S. District Judge Bernice Donald faces confirmation vote on Sept. 6
U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice B. Donald will get a confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate on Sept. 6, the first day Congress reconvenes after its five week summer recess, a Senate staffer confirmed this morning. read full story

8/3/11 – Leahy blasts Senate GOP for delaying judicial nominations
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee blasted Senate Republicans Tuesday for perpetuating the country's high rate of judicila vacancies and suggested that the process of judicial confirmation in the Senate has become worse than during other administrations. read full story

8/3/11 – Judiciary chairman blasts Senate GOP for slowing judicial confirmations
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). blasted the Senate GOP on Tuesday night for slowing the upper chamber's pace on confirming President Obama's judicial nominees after 20 were left in limbo for the month-long recess. read full story

8/2/11 – President Obama Nominates Miranda Du to the United States District Court Bench
Today, President Obama nominated Miranda Du to serve on the United States District Court bench for the District of Nevada. read full story

8/2/11 – President Obama Nominates Judge Adalberto José Jordán to the United States Court of Appeals
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Adalberto José Jordánto the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. read full story

8/2/11 – Tallahassee Judge a Finalist for Federal Bench
Second circuit judge Mark Walker has just been named a finalist for a seat on the federal bench. His name, along with those of Gary R. Jones and Monte C. Richardson, has been forwarded to Florida U.S. Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio for further consideration. read full story

8/2/11 – List of federal judicial candidates down to 3
The number of candidates to become the next U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Florida has been whittled down to three. The Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission met in Tallahassee last week and named the following as finalists for the job: Gary R. Jones, Monte C. Richardson and Mark E. Walker. read full story

8/2/11 – Obama nominates Reno lawyer for federal bench
A Reno lawyer who arrived in the United States as a 9-year-old refugee from South Vietnam has been nominated for a federal judgeship in Nevada. read full story

8/2/11 – Kathy Williams confirmed
The Senate just unanimously confirmed Kathy Williams to sit on the Southern District of Florida. read full story

8/2/11 – Ramos confirmed as federal judge; Judicial dominos could result
Corpus Christi District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos was confirmed today by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate for a federal judgeship. She will replace U.S. District Judge Hayden Head, Jr., the son of a legendary South Texas politico and uncle of U.S. Congressman Blake Farenthold, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. read full story

8/1/11 – Wisconsin Senators address judicial vacancies
In Wisconsin, where a new Republican senator has blocked an appeals court nomination, he and the state’s Democratic senator are giving different views on judicial nominations. read full story

7/30/11 – County jurists eye federal bench
Luzerne County Judges Joseph Van Jura and Joseph Cosgrove confirmed they are among the applicants seeking appointment to three open seats on the federal judiciary. read full story

7/29/11 – Davis Polk Lawyer Nominated for Federal Bench
President Obama on Thursday afternoon nominated Ronnie Abrams, a lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell, to serve as a judge in Federal District Court in Manhattan. read full story

7/29/11 – Steve Six’s nomination to Denver’s circuit court all but dead
Kansas Republican Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran may have succeeded Thursday in killing President Obama’s nomination of former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six to Denver’s 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals. read full story

7/29/11 – Former Colleagues Weigh In on Rudolph Contreras Nomination
During his 17 years with U.S. attorney offices in Washington and Delaware, new judicial nominee Rudolph Contreras earned a reputation as a skilled writer and analyst, handling complex fraud prosecutions as deftly as he defended routine administrative suits against the government, according to former colleagues and superiors. read full story

7/28/11 – President Obama Nominates Judge Evan Jonathan Wallach to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Evan Jonathan Wallach to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Judge Wallach is currently a judge on the United States Court of International Trade. read full story

7/28/11 – President Obama Nominates Two to the United States District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Ronnie Abrams to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and Rudolph Contreras to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. read full story

7/28/11 – At Kansas senators’ request, committee will not consider Steve Six’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals
U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., on Thursday said he couldn’t support former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six’s nomination to the federal bench because of Six’s position on the new federal health care reform law and an abortion investigation. read full story

7/28/11 – Abrams, Gillibrand’s first judicial pick, nominated to bench
President Obama on Thursday nominated Ronnie Abrams, an attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell, to serve as a judge in the Southern District of New York. read full story

7/28/11 – Assistant U.S. Attorney Nominated to D.C. Federal Bench
The White House announced this afternoon that Assistant U.S. Attorney Rudolph Contreras has been nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. read full story

7/28/11 – International Trade Court Judge Nominated To The Federal Circuit
President Barack Obama today nominated an International Trade Court judge for a slot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. read full story

7/28/11 – Kan. senators block former AG’s appeals court bid
The chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday that it will not consider the nomination of former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six to the federal appeals court bench, deferring to opposition from the nominee's Republican home state senators. read full story

7/28/11 – At Kansas senators’ request, committee will not consider Steve Six’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals
U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., on Thursday said he couldn’t support former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six’s nomination to the federal bench because of Six’s position on the new federal health care reform law and an abortion investigation. read full story

7/28/11 – Roberts explains opposition to Six
Opposition to former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six's nomination to the federal bench reflected his decision not to challenge a federal health care reform law and his handling of two criminal investigations, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts said Thursday. read full story

7/28/11 – Results of the Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting
The Senate Judiciary Committee held an executive business meeting to consider pending nominations and legislation on July 28, 2011. read full story

7/28/11 – At Kansas senators’ request, committee will not consider Steve Six’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals
A Senate committee will not consider the nomination of former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six to the federal appeals court. read full story

7/27/11 – Charleston attorney to be nominated for Fourth Circuit opening
Charleston attorney Stephanie Thacker is President Obama's pick to fill an opening on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

7/27/11 – Federal Circuit judgeships in flux
Federal Circuit judge Arthur Gajarsa's announcement that he will assume senior status July 31 leaves one more vacancy on the 12-member panel of the top US IP court. read full story

7/27/11 – Senate considers Zipps to replace John Roll on backlogged federal court
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Guerin Zipps faced a friendly Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday on her nomination to fill the seat of U.S. District Judge John Roll, who was slain in the Jan. 8 attack that wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. read full story

7/27/11 – Arizona judicial nominee put on fast track
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Zipps appeared on Wednesday for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The hearing came five weeks after President Barack Obama nominated Zipps — a faster schedule than senators have been following for other recent judicial nominees. read full story

7/27/11 – NY judicial report: Three nominees get hearings, one confirmed
Three judicial nominees to the Southern District of New York went before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, a day after another nominee, Paul Engelmayer, was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. read full story

7/26/11 – Jerry Brown nominates Goodwin Liu to California Supreme Court
Gov. Jerry Brown nominated UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the California Supreme Court Tuesday, giving the state high court a fourth Asian justice and a collegial liberal who is likely to be strongly supportive of civil rights. read full story

7/26/11 – Goodwin Liu picked for California Supreme Court
Two months after U.S. Senate Republicans forced law professor Goodwin Liu to withdraw as a nominee for federal court, Liu is up for a spot on California's top state court. read full story

7/26/11 – Brown nominates Goodwin Liu to state high court
Goodwin Liu, the UC Berkeley law professor whose federal appeals court appointment was blocked by Senate Republicans, was nominated by Gov. Jerry Brown today to the California Supreme Court. read full story

7/26/11 – Governor Brown Nominates Goodwin Liu for California Supreme Court
Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. nominated Goodwin Liu, Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley Law School, to the state Supreme Court today. read full story

7/26/11 – Southern District of Florida Judicial Nominating Commission sends four names to Senators
The next federal judge in the Southern District of Florida will be one of these four people: Jerald Bagley, John O'Sullivan, Robin Rosenbaum, or John Thornton. read full story

7/26/11 – Senator Leahy Speaks Out on Behalf of Stalled SD FL Judicial Nominations
Chief Judge Moreno has started writing letters in hopes of getting Kathy Williams and Bob Scola confirmed as judges sometime this century. read full story

7/26/11 – Senate Confirms 2 District Court Judges, Dozens of Nominees Still Await Votes
Today the Senate confirmed Paul Engelmayer to the Southern District of New York on a vote of 98-0, and Ramona Manglona to a 10-year term on the District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands on a voice vote. Both nominations were reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee without opposition nearly four months ago. read full story

7/26/11 – Wilmer partner headed for judgeship
The U.S. Senate voted unanimously today to confirm Paul Engelmayer, the partner in charge of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr's New York office, for a federal judgeship. read full story

7/25/11 – Loyola law professor reaches final step in appointment to federal bench
The nomination process for Loyola University New Orleans College of Law associate professor and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Higginson to fill a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has reached its final step. read full story

7/25/11 – Sen. Johnson’s Former Campaign Aide Criticizes Him for Holding Up Judicial Nominee
It’s not every day that a former campaign aide publicly breaks with his boss. But last week, Kevin Binversie, who served as the campaign research director for Wis. Sen. Ron Johnson, did just that. read full story

7/25/11 – Reid cancels Senate confirmation votes due to foul weather
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) canceled two judicial confirmation votes scheduled for Monday afternoon, saying a storm system had delayed senators in their travel to Washington, D.C. read full story

7/25/11 – US Senate to vote today on Manglona’s confirmation
The full U.S. Senate will vote on Monday afternoon, July 25, Washington D.C. time, the final step in the confirmation process of Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona to be the judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. read full story

7/24/11 – Nuffer federal bench nomination part of Obama appointee trend
If U.S. Magistrate David Nuffer becomes Utah’s newest federal judge, his path to a lifetime appointment of deciding disputes will be an increasingly common one: magistrates are more often being appointed to federal judgeships. read full story

7/23/11 – Judge Muir dies at 96
A local judicial icon worked for the people until the almost minute he succumbed. Four days ago, U.S. Middle District Court Senior Judge Malcolm Muir, who died Friday at age 96, was busy in his chambers working on Social Security appeal cases, according to court officials and colleagues. read full story

7/22/11 – Senate panel backs Robert Mariani for federal judge
Attorney Robert D. Mariani is a big step closer to becoming a federal judge. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously on a voice vote Thursday to send President Barack Obama's nomination of Mr. Mariani along to the full Senate for a final vote. read full story

7/22/11 – Judicial vacancy crisis only getting worse
Nan Aron of the Alliance For Justice notes that officially, because judges are retiring faster than Obama is nominating them and the Senate is confirming them, the number of judicial vacancies is higher than it was at the beginning of the year. read full story

7/22/11 – Senate committee OKs Mariani nod
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved the federal judicial nomination of Scranton labor lawyer Robert Mariani. read full story

7/21/11 – Arkansas senators recommend prosecutor, attorney and commission chair to fill judge post
Arkansas Sens. Mark Pryor and John Boozman have recommended three individuals for the open federal judge position in the Eastern District of Arkansas. read full story

7/21/11 – Two federal judge nominees recommended to full Senate
A pair of Western Pennsylvania nominees moved one step closer to confirmation as U.S. District Court judges this morning. read full story

7/21/11 – Droney Gets Unanimous OK From Senate Judiciary Committee
The U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee approved U.S. District Judge Christopher Droney's nomination to the federal appeals court by a unanimous voice vote Thursday morning, sending the appointment to almost certain approval in the full Senate. read full story

7/21/11 – Results of Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting
The Senate Judiciary Committee held an executive business meeting to consider pending nominations and legislation on July 21, 2011. read full story

7/21/11 – Senators Cornyn, Hutchison recommend Costa & Guaderram for the federal bench
U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), today sent a letter to President Obama recommending Gregg J. Costa and David C. Guaderrama to fill the judicial vacancies for the Southern District of Texas in Galveston and Western District of Texas in El Paso. read full story

7/21/11 – Michael Fitzgerald nominated for federal judgeship
President Obama nominated attorney Michael Fitzgerald to the federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, making Fitzgerald the first openly gay nominee for a federal judgeship in California. read full story

7/21/11 – Chief Judge starts letter writing campaign for Kathy Williams and Bob Scola
Congrats to Bob Scola, who received a unanimous voice vote today getting out of the judiciary committee. read full story

7/20/11 – President Obama Announces His Intent to Nominate Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Today, President Obama announced his nomination of Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. read full story

7/20/11 – Obama to nominate fourth openly gay judicial candidate
President Barack Obama intends on Wednesday to nominate the fourth openly gay judicial candidate of his administration to U.S. district court, according to a White House official. read full story

7/20/11 – California court gets gay nominee
Moments ago, President Obama nominated Michael Fitzgerald to serve as a U.S. District Court judge for the Central District of California. He is the fourth openly-gay nominee that the Administration has put forward to fill seats in our Article III courts. read full story

7/20/11 – President Obama nominates gay L.A. lawyer to U.S. District Court
President Obama announced Wednesday that he is nominating Los Angeles attorney Michael Walter Fitzgerald to serve as a judge on the federal court for the Central District of California. read full story

7/20/11 – Senators push El Pasoan David Guaderrama for federal judgeship
Both of Texas' senators on Tuesday recommended U.S. Magistrate Judge David Guaderrama of El Paso to fill a vacant federal judgeship. read full story

7/20/11 – Pryor ready with federal judge picks
U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor has completed a list of three candidates for the White House to consider for a vacant federal district judgeship in the eastern district of Arkansas. (It has been open since Judge James Moody took senior status.) All are women and one is an African-American. read full story

7/19/11 – Obama urged to fill two federal bench vacancies
U.S. Magistrate Judge David Guaderrama in El Paso and assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Costa of Houston were recommended to the White House on Tuesday for nomination to the federal bench in Texas. read full story

7/19/11 – Boozman joins small opposition to gay judge
The Senate confirmed President Obama's nomination of Paul Oetken to a federal judgeship, the first openly gay man to be confirmed, though not the first gay federal judge. In a time when most nominations are enduring delays and opposition, it's notable that Oetken was confirmed 80-13. read full story

7/19/11 – Legal Experts Challenge Sen. Johnson’s Judicial Hold
A group of legal academicians from around the U.S. is protesting Sen. Ron Johnson’s successful obstruction of a nomination to the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

7/19/11 – Academics champion colleague’s nomination to 7th Circuit
A group of law professors and administrators are rallying behind the stalled nomination of University of Wisconsin Law Professor Victoria Nourse to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. read full story

7/18/11 – Oetken Approved By U.S. Senate, Is First Out Gay Man OK’ed for Federal Judgeship
Today, in a 80-13 vote completed at a little past 6:10 p.m., the Senate approved the nomination of out gay attorney J. Paul Oetken to serve as a federal disctrict court judge in the Southern District of New York. The move came with no opposition from Senate Democrats and a majority of the Republicans supporting the nomination as well. read full story

7/18/11 – Federal judges are retiring at twice the rate new judges are being confirmed
Later today, the Senate will hold a confirmation vote on Paul Oetken’s nomination to a federal judgeship in New York City. If confirmed, Oetken will be the first of President Obama’s three openly-gay nominees to join the bench — but he will also be only the fourth new federal judge in two months. read full story

7/18/11 – UW-Madison Law Professor judicial appointment held up by U.S. Sen. Johnson
Law professors from around the country are slamming Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson. read full story

7/18/11 – Johnson’s block of UW judicial nominee draws criticism
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson's decision to block the judicial nomination of a University of Wisconsin law professor has drawn a pointed letter of protest by a group of legal academics from around the country. read full story

7/18/11 – Senate confirms first openly gay man to federal bench
J. Paul Oetken on Monday became the first openly gay man confirmed to the federal bench. read full story

7/18/11 – Oetken gets confirmation as SDNY judge
By a vote of 80 to 13, the Senate on Monday confirmed the nomination of J. Paul Oetken to a seat on the Southern District of New York, the Manhattan federal trial court where vacancies are at the highest point since the early 1990s. read full story

7/18/11 – Openly gay judge confirmed
The Senate on Monday voted 80-13 to confirm Paul Oetken, making him the first openly gay male federal judge. read full story

7/18/11 – Senate Due to Vote on Judicial Nomination of Openly Gay Lawyer
The U.S. Senate is due today to vote on the nomination of J. Paul Oetken for a federal judgeship in New York City. read full story

7/15/11 – Obama’s Out Judicial Nominees: Two Moving Forward, One Stalled
For President Barack Obama's out LGBT judicial nominees, two of the three -- both of whom formerly worked in the White House under a Democratic administration -- have seen their nominations move forward with relative ease and speed. The third -- the first out gay appellate judicial nominee in the country's history -- has not. read full story

7/15/11 – Obama’s Nominations Team Described as Insular, Lacking Energy
A new academic article says President Barack Obama's legal shop has been trying to cut down on its interaction with academics, activists and Justice Department lawyers, restricting the flow of information about how Obama's lawyers select new federal judges. read full story

7/14/11 – Senate Judiciary Committee approves Higginson and Triche-Milazzo judicial nominations
The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday approved the nominations of Stephen Higginson of New Orleans for the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th U.S. Circuit, and Jane M. Triche-Milazzo of Napoleonville for a federal District Court seat in the Eastern District of Louisiana. read full story

7/14/11 – Humor, tough questions mark judges’ confirmation hearings
Alaska Justice Morgan Christen mixed it up with Sen. Al Franken. Sharon Gleason, an Alaska Superior Court judge, took tough questions from Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. And they both got a nod of approval from Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who's the former chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. read full story

7/14/11 – Committee Backs Judicial Nominees, Including Two for SDNY
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to move ahead with five of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees, including two for the high-profile U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. read full story

7/14/11 – East Bay judge likely as 1st Latina on S.F. court
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday gave Alameda County Superior Court judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers the green light for confirmation as a federal judge in San Francisco. She would be the first Latina on the court. read full story

7/14/11 – White House Nominations Chief Headed to Harvard
Susan Davies, the deputy White House counsel in charge of the nominations process for potential federal judges, is leaving the Obama administration to teach at Harvard Law School, according to a news release today from the school. read full story

7/14/11 – Grassley hints at trouble ahead for lesbian judicial nominee
There was a hint of trouble ahead for the nomination of lesbian attorney Alison Nathan to the U.S. District Court for Southern New York. read full story

7/14/11 – Two Alaskan judges on path to federal bench
Two Alaskan judges passed a first test Wednesday on their way to jobs on the federal bench. But there’s still far to go before either woman can serve. read full story

7/14/11 – Houston native could be San Francisco’s first Latina federal judge
A Houston native is in line to become the first Latina federal judge in Northern California history. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday gave Alameda County Superior Court judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the green light for confirmation as a federal judge in San Francisco. read full story

7/14/11 – Vote on Droney postponed
Republicans on the U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee have asked for another week to consider the almost certain appointment of Hartford District Judge Christopher F. Droney to the federal appeals court. read full story

7/14/11 – Alison Nathan One Step Closer to Becoming Federal Judge
This morning, by a 14 to 4 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Alison Nathan’s nomination to become a federal judge to the Senate floor. read full story

7/14/11 – Ark nominee for fed bench clears Senate panel with some reservation
With some reservations, the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the nomination of Circuit Judge Susan Hickey to serve on the federal bench in western Arkansas. read full story

7/14/11 – Sen. Pryor close to sending names to White House for federal judgeship
No word yet from Sen. Mark Pryor's office, but he's said to be close to sending new names to the White House for an open federal judgeship in the eastern district of Arkansas. Two we hear: Jane Duke, a member of the U.S. attorney's office who served as Interim U.S. Attorney, and Kris Baker. She's a lawyer in the Quattlebaum firm. read full story

7/14/11 – Judicial nominees draw warnings from Sen. Grassley
Five federal judicial nominees were confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, even as the committee's top Republican, Senator Charles Grassley, delivered a stern warning about what he called some nominees' lack of experience. read full story

7/14/11 – Senate Judiciary Committee approves Higginson and Triche-Milazzo judicial nominations
The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday approved the nominations of Stephen Higginson of New Orleans for the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th U.S. Circuit, and Jane M. Triche-Milazzo of Napoleonville for a federal District Court seat in the Eastern District of Louisiana. read full story

7/14/11 – Six endorsed by judge he would replace
Former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six was endorsed by the former federal judge he has been nominated to replace, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. “I can say with confidence that Stephen Six possesses the demeanor, intellect and integrity that characterizes the finest judges in the nation,” Deanell Reece Tacha wrote in a letter to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which plans to debate Six’s nomination today. read full story

7/14/11 – Six’s bid to appeals court remains in limbo
Former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six's nomination to the federal appeals court remains in limbo. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote Thursday to advance Six's nomination to the full Senate but the vote was not held. read full story

7/14/11 – White House veterans headed to Harvard Law School
Several legal experts, officers and aides will be leaving the White House staff to teach or study at Harvard Law School this fall. read full story

7/14/11 – Humor, tough questions mark judges’ confirmation hearings
Alaska Justice Morgan Christen mixed it up with Sen. Al Franken. Sharon Gleason, an Alaska Superior Court judge, took tough questions from Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. And they both got a nod of approval from Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who's the former chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. read full story

7/13/11 – Skavdahl Does Well at Senate Hearing
U.S. Magistrate Scott Skavdahl got one step closer Wednesday to being sworn in as a U.S. District Judge for Wyoming. read full story

7/13/2011 – Ex-Kan. A.G.’s bid for appeals judge faces vote
Former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six’s bid for a federal appeals judgeship has gained strong support within legal circles ahead of a critical vote in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday amid opposition from anti-abortion groups. read full story

7/13/11 – Former Kan. AG gets support for nomination to appeals court
Pepperdine University law dean Deanell Reece Tacha, in a letter to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, says she supports former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six's nomination to a federal appeals court. read full story

7/11/11 – Judge Deanell Tacha supports former Kansas AG Steve Six’s nomination to her position on appellate court
Former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six is getting support of the judge he’s trying to replace on the federal appellate bench as the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee plans to debate his nomination on Thursday. read full story

7/11/11 – Two LGBT individuals named to tax court
President Obama has nominated two HRC-endorsed and openly-gay individuals to the Federal Tax Court: Albert Lauber and Judge Joseph Gale. Both Mr. Lauber and Judge Gale are extremely well-qualified to serve on the U.S. Tax Court, the principal court for resolution of tax disputes between taxpayers and the Federal government. In a statement following the nomination of Mr. Lauber and Judge Gale, President Obama remarked that he was proud to nominate both men and praised their “unwavering integrity and a firm commitment to public service throughout their careers.” read full story

7/11/11 – Skavdahl nomination set for hearing this week
Scott W. Skavdahl is scheduled for a confirmation hearing this week before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on his nomination for a federal court judgeship in Wyoming. read full story

7/7/11 – District Judge William Zloch attempted to derail Kathleen Williams’ appointment
U.S. District Judge William Zloch has attempted to derail President Obama's nomination of Federal Public Defender Kathleen Williams to serve on the same federal bench where he presides, letters obtained by the Daily Business Review show. read full story

7/7/11 – 2 more names surface for federal judgeships in Chicago
Two more names have surfaced as candidates for federal judgeships in Chicago: Thomas Durkin and Joshua Berman. read full story

7/7/11 – Korean-American recommended as federal judge
John Z. Lee, a 44-year-old Korean-American attorney, has been recommended to the White House for a position as a federal judge in Illinois. read full story

7/7/11 – Durbin, Kirk judge 5 local lawyers ready for the bench
With three vacancies on the federal bench in Chicago, the names of five area lawyers have been shipped to President Barack Obama for consideration for judgeships. read full story

7/6/11 – Kirk and Durbin eye local attorneys for federal judge bench
U.S. Sens. Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin this week recommended to President Obama high-profile attorneys from Oak Park and River Forest for spots on Chicago's federal bench, the Chicago Tribune is reporting. read full story

7/6/11 – Durbin recommends 4 for federal bench
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois has given the White House the names of four Chicago area lawyers he would like to see appointed to the federal court bench in Chicago, the senator’s office said Wednesday. read full story

7/6/11 – State’s chief federal judge to step down
The chief judge of New Jersey’s federal court system has informed President Obama he will be stepping down from that position in January. read full story

7/5/11 – Kirk recommends former prosecutor for federal bench
Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk today is recommending former federal prosecutor John Tharp for a seat on the federal bench in Chicago. read full story

7/5/11 – Kirk pushes corruption fighting judge

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7/5/11 – Sen. Kirk makes first judicial recommendation: John Tharp
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) made his first federal judicial recommendation on Tuesday, Mayer Brown's John Tharp, a former prosecutor. Kirk and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) have a power sharing arrangement (Illinois senators have done versions of this deal for years) where the senator of the party in control of the White House does not hog all the judicial appointments. Kirk and Durbin are continuing a 3:1 ratio, with the party in power getting most of the picks. This system means that in the federal courts in Illinois, judges won't be picked just from one party. read full story

6/30/11 – New federal judicial nominee
Thomas Owen Rice, a longtime federal prosecutor in Eastern Washington, has been nominated by President Obama as a U.S. District Court judge to serve the eastern part of the state, the White House announced on Wednesday. read full story

6/30/11 – Obama makes southern Mississippi U.S. Attorney nomination
President Barack Obama on Wednesday tapped Gregory K. Davis to lead the Southern District of Mississippi U.S. Attorney's office. read full story

6/29/11 – Veteran Prosecutor-Turned-Magistrate Nominated to Replace Slain Arizona Judge
President Obama nominated candidates to fill two federal judgeships in Tucson, Ariz., including the seat left vacant when John Roll, chief judge for the District of Arizona, was killed in a mass shooting. read full story

6/29/11 – Rice nominated for federal judgeship
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice was nominated today by President Barack Obama for a federal judgeship in Spokane. read full story

6/29/11 – Obama nominates Utah magistrate to be U.S. district judge
President Barack Obama has handed a promotion to a magistrate judge in Utah, an attempt to fill a vacancy on the state’s federal bench that has remained open since November 2009. read full story

6/29/11 – Obama nominates Utah judge for U.S. District Court
President Barack Obama has nominated Judge David Ogden Nuffer to become a federal judge at the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. read full story

6/30/11 – Rare agreement on Capitol Hill over confirmation process
The normally grid-locked U.S. Senate — Democrats, Republicans, independents — came together and overwhelmingly passed a bill to reduce its workload, curb its power and perhaps even decrease partisan fighting. read full story

6/29/11 – President Obama nominates two to the United States District Court
Today, President Obama nominated Thomas Owen Rice and Judge David Ogden Nuffer to United States District Court judgeships. read full story

6/28/11 – Investiture ceremony ends 2-year journey to federal bench in R.I. for John J. McConnell Jr.
A federal appeals court judge with a flair for words joked that he would have preferred to prepare an address for Monday’s ceremony honoring John J. McConnell Jr. as Rhode Island’s newest federal judge. read full story

6/28/11 – Wednesday: Senate votes scheduled on judicial streamlining bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) managed to strike a deal with Republican senators Tuesday night that allowed him to schedule a vote on final passage on legislation that would streamline the judicial confirmation process in the Senate. The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m. to begin this work. read full story

6/27/11 – Gingrich and Romney talk judges
It’s not just Pawlenty anymore: We now have seen at least two more presidential candidates bring up their philosophy of judicial nominations. read full story

6/27/11 – Operation Rescue Calls on Obama to Withdraw Steve Six’s Judicial Nomination
"Based on the lack of support by Senators from Six's home state and Six's proven willingness to allow political and personal biases influence his professional decisions, Pres. Obama should spare the nation a protracted and divisive battle over this nominee and withdraw his name from consideration," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. read full story

6/27/11 – White House wants new names for federal judgeship
A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor confirms that the White House wants to start over on potential nominees for a vacant federal judgeship in Little Rock. read full story

6/27/11 – Austin jurist to get nod for job

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6/27/11 – Grassley Keeps Up Critique of SDNY Nominee
Alison Nathan, a former associate White House counsel who's been nominated for a federal judgeship in the Southern District of New York, continues to face pointed questions from the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. read full story

6/27/11 – House bill aims to add 38 judges across Southwest
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, introduced a bill Friday in the U.S. House of Representatives that would add 38 new permanent judgeships and seven temporary judgeships to overburdened federal district courts in four U.S. states along the Mexican border. read full story

6/27/11 – Grassley Keeps Up Critique of SDNY Nominee
Alison Nathan, a former associate White House counsel who's been nominated for a federal judgeship in the Southern District of New York, continues to face pointed questions from the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. read full story

6/24/11 – Mariani judgeship confirmation vote could come in July
The Senate Judiciary Committee could vote as early as July on the nomination of local labor lawyer Robert D. Mariani as a U.S. District Court judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, a committee spokeswoman said Thursday. read full story

6/23/11 – Nominees for federal court in New Orleans must wait longer
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has delayed a vote on the nominations of Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Higginson and Louisiana District Court Judge Jane Margaret Triche-Milazzo to the federal bench in New Orleans at the request of the panel's top Republican. read full story

6/23/11 – Obama addresses judge shortage
President Obama on Thursday sought to address concerns in Arizona over a shortage of federal judges in the state, nominating two to the district court. read full story

6/23/11 – Obama nominates Tucson lawyer and judge for federal bench
Two of President Obama's nominees for the United States District Court Bench are University of Arizona alumni who have worked in Tucson and Arizona for years. read full story

6/23/11 – President Obama Nominates Two to the United States District Court Bench
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Jennifer Guerin Zipps and Rosemary Márquez to serve on the United States District Court bench. read full story

6/23/11 – Scranton lawyer advances toward federal judgeship
Following the letter of the law and adhering to higher court precedents would guide his actions on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, not his years as a labor lawyer, Scranton attorney Robert Mariani told a Senate committee Wednesday. read full story

6/23/11 – At long last, Obama nominates judges for Arizona
After a long wait, President Barack Obama has nominated two judges to the federal bench in Arizona -- a move that could help ameliorate a judicial emergency that was formally declared there due to a surging caseload and three judicial vacancies. read full story

6/23/11 – Judicial Nominations Pops Up as Issue in Presidential Race
The presidential campaign of Republican Tim Pawlenty is out with an advertisement this week that touts his record appointing conservative judges to the Minnesota Supreme Court. read full story

6/23/11 – President Obama Nominates Two to the United States District Court Bench
WASHINGTON- Today, President Obama nominated Judge Jennifer Guerin Zipps and Rosemary Márquez to serve on the United States District Court bench. read full story

6/22/11 – Droney Breezes Through D.C. Confirmation Hearing For 2nd Circuit
Federal Judge Christopher F. Droney's appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit appeared assured Wednesday after he was warmly received by Senators of both parties at a confirmation hearing in Washington. read full story

6/22/11 – Droney gets a brief and cordial hearing on appeals court nomination
The Senate Judiciary Committee gave Connecticut's Christopher Droney a light and breezy 15-minute quizzing at his confirmation hearing Wednesday, with no hard-ball or hostile questions for the appeals court nominee. read full story

6/21/11 – After almost a year, Senate confirms district court nominee
The Senate today confirmed Perkins Coie partner Michael H. Simon to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, by a vote of 64 to 35. read full story

6/21/11 – U.S. Senate confirms Portland attorney Michael Simon as Oregon federal judge
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Portland lawyer Michael Simon to be Oregon's next federal judge, ending a journey that was both longer and bumpier than expected and one that lawmakers said highlighted the dysfunction gripping the nomination process. read full story

6/20/11 – 2 DCA judges seek spot on federal bench
Judges James R. Wolf, appointed to the court in 1990 and Joseph Lewis Jr., appointed in 2001, are the latest in a string of judges at the embattled appellate court seeking other jobs. read full story

6/20/11 – Senate to consider Michael Simon for federal judge
On Tuesday, June 21, 2011, the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Michael H. Simon, of Oregon, to be United States District Judge for the District of Oregon read full story

6/19/11 – Six faces tough bid for seat on court
Former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six’s bid for a seat on a federal appeals court has gotten more difficult now that his two home state senators have come out against it, with his nomination now debated Thursday by the U.S. Senate judiciary committee. read full story

6/17/11 – Obama unhappy Sen. Moran opposing Six; vote delayed
An unhappy White House called Kansas’ U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran’s office Thursday, in response to his public statement opposing confirmation of former Kansas AG Steve Six to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. read full story

6/17/11 – Michael Green moves step closer to confirmation
Monroe County District Attorney Michael Green's nomination to serve as a federal judge is headed to the full Senate following a vote Thursday by the Judiciary Committee. read full story

6/17/11 – Senator digs into past of former U.S. Attorney in D.C.
The nomination of Wilma Lewis for a federal judgeship is giving one Republican senator a chance to revisit Lewis' tenure as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. read full story

6/16/11 – Second LGBT judicial nominee for D.C. Superior Court receives hearing
Yesterday, Jennifer Di Toro was questioned before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs on her qualifications to be appointed to serve as Associate Justices of the D.C. Superior Court. Di Toro was nominated by the President on February 3, 2011. If confirmed, Di Toro will by the second openly-LGBT nominee to be appointed to the D.C. Superior Court by the President. In April of 2010, Marisa Demeo was confirmed by the Senate for appointment to the D.C. Superior Court. read full story

6/16/11 – Both KS Senators oppose Kansan Steve Six federal court nomination
The two U.S. Senators from Kansas, Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, have announced their opposition to Obama U.S. Court of Appeals nominee Steve Six. read full story

6/16/11 – Legal Lasso: Six’s nomination to Denver circuit faces senatorial opposition
Both of the U.S. Senators from Kansas, Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, say they will oppose the nomination of a fellow Kansan, former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six, to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Six is a Democrat nominated to the court by President Barack Obama. read full story

6/16/11 – Vote on former Kansas attorney general delayed
Former Kansas attorney general Steve Six will have to wait another week to see if his bid for a federal appeals court seat will move ahead. read full story

6/16/11 – Marina Marmolejo one step closer to Laredo federal judgeship
President Barack Obama’s nomination of lawyer Marina Garcia Marmolejo to the federal judicial bench in Laredo was approved Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. read full story

6/16/11 – Senate committee clears Green for federal judgeship
Monroe County District Attorney Mike Green is a step closer today to becoming a federal judge. read full story

6/16/11 – Results of Senate Executive Business meeting leads to Steve Six being held over
The Senate Judiciary Committee held an executive business meeting to consider pending nominations and legislation on June 16, 2011. read full story

6/15/11 – Moran adds his opposition to Six’s nomination to U.S. court
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said today he will vote against former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six's nomination to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals read full story

6/15/11 – More women among Obama judicial picks
President Obama has named a significantly higher percentage of women to openings on the federal bench than did his predecessors, according to newly issued data. read full story

6/15/11 – Senate approves two for federal judgeships
Two federal magistrates sitting in Newark were unanimously approved for promotion to U.S. District Court judgeships by the Senate on Tuesday. read full story

6/14/11 – Senate confirms two new judges after month-long dry spell
After nearly an entire month without any judicial confirmation votes whatsoever, the Senate finally voted to confirm two new federal judges. At this rate, the bench is currently emptying out due to retirements faster than new judges are being confirmed. read full story

6/13/11 – Senate to consider two judicial nominations
On Tuesday, June 14, 2011, the Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Claire C. Cecchi, of New Jersey, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey, and Esther Salas, of New Jersey, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey. read full story

6/13/11 – RI Convention Center to host McConnell’s formal ceremony
The U.S. District Court in Rhode Island will hold Judge John J. “Jack” McConnell Jr.’s public investiture ceremony at the Rhode Island Convention Center in order to have enough room for the big crowd that’s expected. read full story

6/13/11 – White House poised to take on judicial vacancy crisis
In an incredibly rare public appearance in February, White House counsel Bob Bauer warned that the political standoff over judicial nominees was threatening the very fabric of government. read full story

6/10/11 – Grassley grills lesbian nominee for federal court
Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa challenged Nathan about her qualifications during the June 8 hearing, noting that the American Bar Association’s proposed standards for judicial nominees suggest “at least 12 years’ experience in the practice of law” and “substantial courtroom and trial experience.” read full story

6/10/11 – Female judicial nominees’ qualifications questioned
At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel’s senior Republican raised questions about the qualifications of four nominees for federal district court openings. All four nominees are women. read full story

6/10/11 – Senate to return to judicial nominees next week
After a four-week pause in considering nominees for the federal bench, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote next week on two nominees for district court. read full story

6/9/11 – DA Green’s nomination slowed
District Attorney Michael Green’s nomination for the federal judiciary was one among a batch of judicial nominees “held over” by the Senate Judiciary Committee today for a later vote. While the action seemed uneventful, there was one indication that Green’s appointment to the federal bench could still have some hurdles. read full story

6/9/11 – Federal prosecutors nominated for southern, eastern districts
President Barack Obama has nominated two U.S. prosecutors for the federal bench in New York City. Jesse M. Furman, 39, the deputy chief of appeals for the Southern District U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, has been tapped for a slot on the Southern District bench. Margo Brodie, 42, deputy chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, has been nominated to fill an Eastern District vacancy. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Ms. Brodie, a native of Antigua, would become the nation's first Caribbean-born federal judge. read full story

6/9/11 – Clerks Support Alison Nathan
Alison Nathan has been nominated for a judgeship on the Southern District of New York, and I was very impressed by this letter in support of her nomination signed by almost the entire complement of law clerks who clerked on the Supreme Court when Alison was clerking for Justice Stevens. Of particular interest, I believe the letter is signed by all of the Thomas, Scalia, Rehnquist and Kennedy clerks that Term who are not presently in government service (one Thomas clerk is a judge; a Rehnquist clerk is an AUSA; and a Kennedy clerk is a state SG). read full story

6/8/11 – Bisson, Hornak endorsed for federal judge seats
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., has endorsed Cathy Bisson and Mark R. Hornak to be federal judges in the Western District of Pennsylvania, allowing the Senate Judiciary Committee to move forward with their confirmations. read full story

6/8/11 – Obama nominates commercial attorney Susie Morgan of New Orleans as judge for Eastern District of Louisiana
President Barack Obama has nominated a commercial litigation attorney from New Orleans as a judge for the federal district court headquartered in New Orleans. read full story