This Fair Courts E-Lert highlights the retirement of several federal judges, a bomb threat called into the U.S. Supreme Court on Inauguration Day, and more.
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[FAIR COURTS]
New Vacancies Pave the Way for Biden Judicial Appointments
Following the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20, several
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federal judges have opted to assume senior status, which will enable the new president to fill their seats.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts sent a letter
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to Biden on Inauguration Day announcing her decision to take senior status. The following day, Judge Robert A. Katzmann announced
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his decision to do the same, creating a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On January 25, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also announced
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he is taking senior status, creating another vacancy for Biden to fill.
As of January 29, Biden has 53 judicial vacancies
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to fill, in comparison to former President Trump, who began his time in office with 112. In all, Trump appointed 229 federal judges
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, including three Supreme Court justices. President Obama confirmed
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324 judges as did George W. Bush over their respective two terms in office.
U.S. Supreme Court Receives Bomb Threat Just Hours Before Biden Inauguration
The U.S. Supreme Court received a bomb threat on January 20, just hours before President Joe Biden took the oath of office. In a statement
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, the Court said it had experienced “a bomb threat, the building and grounds were checked out, and the building is not being evacuated.”
Beyond the U.S. Supreme Court, other federal judges have faced security threats in recent years. Last year, federal Judge Esther Salas’ son was murdered and her husband injured after a shooting
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at her home in New Jersey. In 2017, federal Judge James Robart received over 100 death threats
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after he blocked former President Trump’s Muslim travel ban. In total, four federal judges and three family members have been killed since 1979.
The attack on Salas’ family prompted Congress to introduce legislation
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that would protect personally identifiable information of federal judges and their immediate family members. The federal judiciary also sent recommendations
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to Congress that would increase the current judicial security infrastructure.
Kansas Republicans Reject Public Defender for Judicial Nomination for the Second Time
On January 21, the Republican-controlled Kansas State Senate rejected
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Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s nomination of Carl Folsom III for a vacancy on the state’s second-highest court. The vote on Folsom’s nomination was 18-17 in favor, but he needed 21 votes to be approved.
This is the second time
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the state Senate has rejected his nomination to the Kansas Court of Appeals since last June. Some Republican senators criticized Folsom over his experience as a federal public defender, with some suggesting he would be an “activist” judge. Folsom’s supporters argued
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that his experience as a defense attorney and broad support from the legal community, including the state’s top federal prosecutor who was appointed by former President Trump, made him well-qualified for the vacancy.
That same day, the state Senate voted 37-0
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to confirm Kelly’s nominee Amy Cline, a corporate lawyer with experience representing oil and gas companies, to the Kansas Court of Appeals.
Study Recommends Legislation to Protect Independence of Administrative Law Judges
A new study
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by Richard E. Levy, a law professor at the University of Kansas, and Robert J. Glicksman, a law professor at George Washington University, examining the independence of Administrative Law Judges during the Trump administration recommends measures to protect them against politicization.
The study argues that actions by former President Trump, such as his removal of ALJs from civil service merit selection requirements, the U.S. Supreme Court’s endorsement of a strong unitary executive theory, and a Justice Department memo weakening good-cause removal protections for ALJs, “raise concerns about the neutrality and independence of ALJs.”
The authors recommend Congress pass legislation creating an independent group of federal ALJs using the “central panel” model, under which ALJs are no longer officers of the agencies they serve. This change would allow ALJs to maintain their policy authority and expertise, while also ensuring judicial independence. “Taking reasonable steps toward securing independent and impartial adjudication by agencies is a nonpartisan issue that Congress can and should address,” the authors wrote.
VIRTUAL EVENT
America’s Broken Legal System
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Wednesday, February 17 | 6:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. ET
Too often, the criminal justice system compels innocent people to plead guilty. It disproportionately incarcerates Black and brown Americans, often for relatively minor offenses. Meanwhile, high-level executives are rarely prosecuted or held accountable for much more serious crimes. Jed S. Rakoff, a federal trial judge and an expert on white-collar crime, examines these and other paradoxes in a new book, Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: And Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System
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He will be joined by Hernandez Stroud, counsel in the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, to discuss the shortcomings of the country’s legal system and propose paths to reform. RSVP today
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This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.
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The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to reform, revitalize – and when necessary defend – our country’s systems of democracy and justice.
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
120 Broadway, Suite 1750
New York, NY 10271
T 646 292 8310
F 212 463 7308
[email protected]
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