There was no progress on judicial nominations this week, as the Senate is on recess through the Memorial Day holiday. When the Senate returns, they are scheduled to vote on Darrel Papillion’s (E.D. La.) confirmation. Including Papillion, there are 22 nominees waiting for action from the full Senate.
There were media reports this week that Jabari Wamble is going to withdraw his nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. This would be the second withdrawn nominee this month.
As of May 25, there are 93 Article III vacancies, 71 of which are current. There are officially 32 pending nominees: 22 waiting for floor votes, 3 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 7 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 129 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.
There was substantial progress on judicial nominations this week. The Senate confirmed 3 Article III nominees: Bradley Garcia (D.C. Cir.) in a 53-40 vote, Jeremy Daniel (N.D. Ill.) in a 56-40 vote, and Nancy Abudu (11th Cir.) in a 49-47 vote. These confirmations exemplify the White House’s commitment to diversifying the federal bench. Bradley Garcia is the first Latinx judge to ever serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Nancy Abudu is the first Black woman to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
As of this writing, the Senate is scheduled to be on recess next week. The next vote is scheduled for May 30 on Darrel Papillion’s (E.D. La.) confirmation vote.
On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for 2 Article III nominees: Judge Ana de Alba (9th Cir.) and Judge Irma Ramirez (5th Cir.). Both nominees are now eligible for a committee vote.
On Thursday, the Committee held a mark-up. At the mark-up, no votes were taken on judicial nominations. After the mark-up, the media reported that Michael Delaney (1st Cir.) asked the White House to withdraw his nomination.
As of May 19, there are 92 Article III vacancies, 71 of which are current. There are 32 pending nominees: 22 waiting for floor votes, 3 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 7 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 129 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.
Jenny Ma, Senior Counsel, Center for Reproductive Rights; Lecturer-in-Law, Columbia Law School; Vice Chair, NY ACS Lawyer Chapter
Jenny Ma (she/her) Senior Counsel, Center for Reproductive Rights; Lecturer-in-Law, Columbia Law School; Vice Chair, NY ACS Lawyer Chapter
Lawyering for a cause is difficult work. You must vigorously represent your client’s interests, manage an inherently adversarial process, try to achieve the best results within the boundaries of the law, and juggle endless unpredictable balls in the air. And it’s all the more difficult if you are fighting to advance civil and human rights in the face of too many injustices and inequalities.
I have the great privilege of being a reproductive rights attorney. In that role, I represent healthcare providers, organizations, and patients that advocate for our ability to make basic decisions about our bodies, lives, and futures against those that want to take their rights away. Litigating in this area has certainly been tough over the years. Every legislative session, anti-abortion lawmakers passed ever increasingly cruel restrictions on reproductive healthcare, including abortion bans even as Roe v. Wade stood. That hostility reached a new apex when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe—wiping away nearly 50 years of precedent and taking away the constitutional right to abortion.
Stripped on our self-determination and bodily autonomy, the life and liberty of every Americans who can get pregnant is now threatened. Knowing that some people will suffer more than others, because of their race, income, age, gender orientation and identity, language facility, or immigration status, makes it difficult to sleep at night. Especially because my own intersecting identities—now and at various stages of my life—also makes me, members of my family, and others in my community more vulnerable.
Yet, the privilege I hold (education, position as a lawyer) allows me to play one small part in the fight for healthcare equity and access for all Americans. That goal inspires and drives. As does the community of mentors and mentees, colleagues, advocates, and supportive networks (like ACS) that uplifts and reminds us that lawyering for a more just tomorrow is absolutely worthwhile.
There was some progress on judicial nominations this week. The Senate spent a majority of its floor time on executive branch nominees. However, the Senate did invoke cloture on Bradley Garcia (D.C. Cir.), setting up a confirmation vote as early as next week. If confirmed, Bradley Garcia would be the first Latinx judge to ever serve on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a mark-up. With Senator Feinstein back in attendance, the Committee was able to successfully advance 6 Article III nominees: Charnelle Bjelkengren (E.D. Wash.), Magistrate Judge Kato Crews (D. Colo.), Judge Marian Gaston (S.D. Cal.), Jeremy Daniel (N.D. Ill.), Magistrate Judge Brendan Hurson (D. Md.), and Darrel Papillion (E.D. La.). All six nominees are eligible for cloture and confirmation votes.
As of May 11, there are 96 Article III vacancies, 72 of which are current. There are 35 pending nominees: 25 waiting for floor votes, 1 waiting to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 9 waiting for hearings before the Committee. To date, 126 Article III judges have been confirmed during the Biden-Harris Administration.
The Temple University Beasley School of Law ACS Chapter is honored to be recognized as Student Chapter of the Week!
Temple ACS hosted a wide array of progressive events on campus this year, featuring topics like housing affordability, the separation of church and state, qualified immunity and stop-and-frisk, abortion access and reproductive rights, legal accountability in judicial clerkships, and the current Supreme Court term. Some of the esteemed speakers the Temple chapter was able to host included the Honorable Judge Theodore McKee of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Honorable Judge Giovanni Campbell of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, and the Honorable Mari Carmen Aponte, Ambassador to Panama, among many others. Additionally, the chapter was thrilled to participate in planning the Philadelphia-Area Chapters Second Annual Symposium on Public Welfare & the Law. Its programming educated Temple law students, helped spread progressive legal causes, and provided our chapter members the opportunity build their professional network.
The chapter was particularly proud to organize Temple’s first ever Civic Engagement Fair ahead of the 2022 Midterm Elections, which highlighted statewide election protection organizations and spurred dozens of students to sign up to volunteer. This was possible due to the chapter’s successful campaign to secure Election Day off for Temple law students as a Day of Civic Service, an opportunity the chapter hopes to expand university-wide. The campaign arose with the assistance ACS’s Election Day Class Cancellation Project, demonstrating the power of sharing resources and collaborating between law schools.
The chapter is excited to announce that next year’s president will be Valerie Wilson, who hopes to continue the chapter’s leadership in providing progressive programming and organizing on campus. Finally, the chapter congratulates this year’s president, Arlo Blaisus, on his selection as a 2023 Next Generation Leader!
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.
