Author: Maude Carroll

On The Bench: Week May 4, 2023

Posted on by Maude Carroll

The Senate made substantial progress on judicial nominations this week. As of this writing, there have been 6 Article III confirmations: Anthony Johnstone (9th Cir.) in a 49-45 vote, Orelia Merchant (E.D.N.Y.) in a 51-48 vote, Michael Farbiarz (D.N.J.) in a 65-34 vote, Judge LaShonda Hunt (N.D. Ill.) in a 56-41 vote, Judge Wesley Hsu (C.D. Cal.) in a 53-43 vote, and Judge Robert Kirsch (D.N.J.) in a 57-42 vote. These confirmations help alleviate some of the backlog of judicial nominees on the Senate floor. After these confirmations, there are still 20 Article III nominees waiting for cloture and confirmation votes.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a mark-up. Due to ongoing attendance issues, the Committee was unable to advance any Article III nominees out of Committee.

The White House announced the next slate of judicial nominees this week. The slate contained four district court nominees: Judge Loren AliKhan (D.D.C.), Susan DeClercq (E.D. Mich.), Judge Julia Munley (M.D. Pa.), and Judge Vernon Oliver (D. Conn.). This slate continues the White House’s trend of trying to diversify the federal bench, as a majority of these candidates are women, and a majority are people of color.

As of May 4, there are 97 Article III vacancies, 73 of which are current. Once the new nominees are officially nominated, there will be 36 pending nominees: 20 waiting for floor votes, 7 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 9 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 125 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

In other judiciary news, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on judicial ethics this week. The hearing seemed to be a response to the ongoing reporting about Justice Clarence Thomas and billionaire Harland Crow by ProPublica.

Emory Law Student Chapter

Posted on by Maude Carroll

The Emory Law Student Chapter is thrilled to be recognized as Student Chapter of the Week!

The Chapter had a busy year, starting with an event on reproductive rights in Georgia. The fall semester was highlighted by a Pilot Program event with Mark Joseph Stern from Slate. The Chapter also hosted panels on workers’ rights, voting rights, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine in collaboration with several other campus organizations. This spring began with another Pilot Program event, this time with Molly Thomas-Jensen from Everytown for Gun Safety. In February, the Chapter was lucky enough to host Judge Carlton Reeves with Professor Fred Smith as the former traveled through Atlanta. They rounded out the semester with a reentry-focused documentary screening, disability law discussion, and – most recently, in collaboration with the Georgia Lawyer Chapter – a state legislative recap featuring Senator Jason Esteves and Representative Sam Park. The Emory Chapter also greatly enjoyed its happy hour with the Georgia State Chapter and Judge Catherine Salinas.

The Chapter was able to increase its footprint on campus this year, thanks in large part to ACS National’s constant support and (if they are honest) meals from Cava, Chipotle, and Buffalo Wild Wings. They were recently named a 2023 Reproductive Rights and Justice awardee by ACS and the Center for Reproductive Rights and have elected a capable new board to continue growing the organization next year. Nick is excited to stay involved with ACS as a Next Generation Leader, and Andy and Ryan are excited to meet other student leaders at the National Convention this weekend! The chapter would also like to thank its Faculty Advisors, Professor Tonja Jacobi and Professor Fred Smith, for their support.

Learn more about Student Chapters of the Week »

April 2023: Joey Vettiankal

Posted on by Maude Carroll
Joey Vettiankal, Vanderbilt Law School ‘24

Joey Vettiankal (he/him) 
Vanderbilt Law School ‘24

As the son of immigrants in rural Kentucky, my first exposure to the legal profession was not from anyone I knew but from my love of comic books and the Marvel Comics character, Daredevil. Inspired by Daredevil to personally live out these values, my own life experience, education, and community involvement quickly demonstrated to me the reality of constant inequality and hardships faced by the marginalized in our communities. When many of our country’s leaders focused on building walls to divide us, I wanted to be one to build bridges so that everyone had a seat at the decision-making table. I wanted to dedicate my life to being an advocate for others through the law as the first in my family to go to law school.

My time at Vanderbilt Law School has allowed me to work in a collegial environment with the incredible leaders both in and outside of ACS at the law school. My immediate involvement with ACS during my 1L year gave me a community of support and friends who shared the same values of inclusivity, accessibility, and justice as me. After my first year, I knew that I wanted to serve as President of the Vanderbilt chapter to ensure future students would have an even stronger community that I did when I began law school. I am proud of our chapter’s work to put on numerous, quality events spanning a wide variety of issues like voting rights, reproductive rights, and court reform as well as our chapter tripling its membership since the start of the year. My time with the Vanderbilt ACS chapter has allowed me to develop my leadership skills and be a part of a larger coalition of progressive students at the law school.

ACS has also shown me that folks with my background or those who look like me can be the oral advocates arguing before our nation’s highest courts as litigators. My involvement with ACS has allowed me to live out my personal values of advocating for others and lifting up marginalized voices. This organization also showed me my passion for both written and oral advocacy.

To me, being a leader means being involved in the betterment of my community both in and out of the courtroom. As a future attorney, ACS has enabled me to continue to live my values and lay a foundation for a successful career centered in advocacy.

Learn more about the Students of ACS »

On The Bench: Week April 27, 2023

Posted on by Maude Carroll

Another week with limited progress on judicial nominations. As of this writing, there have been no confirmations, which means it will likely be at least a month between judicial confirmations. With the results of this week’s Senate Judiciary Committee mark-up, there are now 26 Article III nominees pending on the Senate floor.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a mark-up where they successfully voted 1 Article III nominee out of Committee and to the floor: Judge Amanda Brailsford (D. Idaho). Judge Brailsford is now eligible for a cloture and a confirmation vote.

The Senate invoked cloture on one nominee this week: Anthony Johnstone (9th Cir.). Johnstone can now be confirmed as soon as next week. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also filed cloture on 3 Article III nominees: Orelia Merchant (E.D.N.Y.), Michael Farbiarz (D.N.J.), and Judge Robert Kirsch (D.N.J.). At this time, it is unclear when the votes on these cloture motions will occur.

As of April 27, there are 103 Article III vacancies, 76 of which are current. There are 38 pending nominees: 26 waiting for floor votes, 7 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 5 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 119 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.

Harvard Law ACS Chapter

Posted on by Maude Carroll

The Harvard Law ACS Chapter is proud to be recognized as Student Chapter of the Week!

Harvard ACS hosted more than 50 progressive events on campus this year. Some programming highlights include the constitution in the classroom series, which teaches constitution law to incarcerated people and kids in public schools, and bringing a host of progressive speakers onto campus, including Julian Castro, Deval Patrick, and Michelle Goodwin. The chapter also saw success with its supreme court moots program, which brings litigants to campus to moot their cases for progressive causes in preparation for argument in front of federal courts. The chapter additionally organized some social events as well, such as bar trivia, white elephant gift exchanges, and election night watch parties. It organized or contributed to a variety of student activism on campus, from reforming Harvard's low-income protection plan, to organizing for reproductive justice.

The chapter recently took its annual trip to DC, where it met with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, DC Public Defender Service, and ACS National.

Next year, the chapter hopes to continue ACS’ mission of making Harvard Law School and the United States a more progressive place, and to collaborate with other progressives both within and outside of ACS. The chapter wishes to thank its faculty advisors, Professors Bowie and Lvovsky, for all of their support.

Learn more about Student Chapters of the Week »

On The Bench: Week April 20, 2023

Posted on by Maude Carroll

The Senate returned from recess this week yet continued to make limited progress on judicial nominations. As of this writing, there have been no confirmations. With the results of this week’s Senate Judiciary Committee mark-up, there are now 25 Article III nominees pending on the Senate floor.

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for 3 Article III nominees: Jeremy Daniel (N.D. Ill.), Magistrate Judge Brendan Hurson (D. Md.), and Darrel Papillion (E.D. La.). These nominees are now eligible for a full committee vote.

On Thursday, the Committee held a mark-up where they successfully voted 7 Article III nominees out of committee and to the floor. The nominees were: Judge Jeffrey Cummings (N.D. Ill.), Judge LaShonda Hunt (N.D. Ill.), Judge Wesley Hsu (C.D. Cal.), Orelia Merchant (E.D.N.Y.), Michael Farbiarz (D.N.J.), Judge Robert Kirsch (D.N.J.), and Mónica Ramírez Almadani (C.D. Cal.). All seven are now eligible for a cloture and confirmation vote on the Senate floor.

Late last week, the White House announced the next slate of judicial nominees. The slate contained two nominations for the circuit courts: Judge Ana de Alba (9th Cir.) and Judge Irma Ramirez (5th Cir.). If confirmed, Judge Ramirez would be the only active Latinx judge on the Fifth Circuit.

As of April 20, there are 102 Article III vacancies, 75 of which are current. There are 38 pending nominees: 25 waiting for floor votes, 8 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 5 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 119 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.