Welcome to the January 11 edition of Bold Justice, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S. New year, new court business: SCOTUS ushers in its 2021 sittings to hear arguments and Congress has begun its 117th session. With all of these updates, Ballotpedia’s got you covered. Click here to subscribe to Ballotpedia’s Daily and Weekly Transition Trackers. Stay up to date on the latest news by following us on Twitter or subscribing to the Daily Brew. The Supreme Court will hear three hours of arguments the week of January 11 via teleconference with live audio. The court is conducting proceedings this way in accordance with public health guidance in response to COVID-19. SCOTUS has agreed to hear 48 cases during its 2020-2021 term. Twelve of those were originally scheduled for the 2019-2020 term but were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ current term. In its October 2019 term, SCOTUS heard arguments in 61 cases. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ previous term. Click the links below to read more about the specific cases before SCOTUS during its January sitting. January 11
January 12
January 13
Upcoming SCOTUS datesHere are the court’s upcoming dates of interest:
Who was the first sitting president to observe an oath ceremony for a new justice at the Supreme Court? Choose an answer to find out! The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts in a one-month period. This month’s edition includes nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from December 1 to December 31. Highlights
Vacancy count for December 31, 2020A breakdown of the vacancies at each level can be found in the table below. For a more detailed look at the vacancies on the federal courts, click here. *Though the United States territorial courts are named as district courts, they are not Article III courts. They are created in accordance with the power granted under Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. Click here for more information. New vacanciesNo judges left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies, since the previous vacancy count. A presidential nomination is required to fill an Article III vacancy. Nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. The chart below shows the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals from the inauguration of President Donald Trump (R) on January 20, 2017, to December 31, 2020. U.S. District Court vacanciesThe following map displays U.S. District Court vacancies as of December 31. New nominationsPresident Trump has not announced any new nominations since the November 2020 report. The president has announced 274 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on January 20, 2017. The president named 69 judicial nominees in 2017, 92 in 2018, and 77 in 2019. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here. New confirmationsBetween December 1 and December 31, 2020, the Senate confirmed seven of the president’s nominees to Article III courts.
Between January 2017 and December 31, 2020, the Senate confirmed 234 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—174 district court judges, 54 appeals court judges, three Court of International Trade judges, and three Supreme Court justices. Need a daily fix of judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? Click here for continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees. Or, check out our list of individuals the president has nominated. In the next several Bold Justice editions, we’re taking a closer look at the U.S. Supreme Court justices. Today, we’re learning about Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch has been an associate justice since April 10, 2017. President Donald Trump (R) nominated Gorsuch on January 31, 2017, to succeed Antonin Scalia. The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Gorsuch 54-45 on April 7, 2017. Before joining the U.S. Supreme Court, Gorsuch was a judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit (2006-2017). Before that, he was a principal deputy, associate attorney general with the U.S. Department of Justice (2005-2006), and a partner and associate with a private practice, Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans, and Figel (1995-2005). Click here to learn more about Gorsuch’s professional career. Gorsuch was born on August 29, 1967, in Denver, Colorado. He earned his B.A. from Columbia University in 1988, his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991, and his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in 2004. In the 2019-2020 term, Gorsuch wrote the following opinions:
We’ll be back on January 18 with a new edition of Bold Justice. Until then, gaveling out! ContributionsKate Carsella compiled and edited this newsletter, with contributions from Sara Reynolds and Jace Lington.
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