Last week, we took a deep dive into the make-up of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to see what the next President may have the opportunity to do (and also what the make-up of the next Senate will be able to affect). This week, with one week left to election day, we look at the twelve U.S. Courts of Appeals with territorial jurisdiction (1st through 11th and D.C.), to see what the Trump presidency has done to their make-up and to determine how many possible openings exist now and may come open in the next four years. There is no predicting when a judge may die or retire, so we are looking strictly at when the various judges on the Courts will be eligible to take senior status (at least 65 years old, and age plus years of federal judge service equal at least 80); where this will occur any time within the next four years, we will note that as a “potential opening.” While the filling of U.S. Supreme Court vacancies suck up all the attention, it’s these Court of Appeals vacancies that can have a more lasting, day-to-day effect on voters’ lives. At the bottom, we total it all up, and you’ll also find a link for lawyer volunteer election-protection opportunities.
U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals: 6 active judges (plus 4 senior status); 0 Trump appointees; 3 potential openings (including 1 vacant now)
U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals: 13 active judges (plus 13 senior status); 5 Trump appointees; 5 potential openings
U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals: 14 active judges (plus 9 senior status); 4 Trump appointees; 5 potential openings
U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals: 15 active judges (plus 2 senior status); 3 Trump appointees; 8 potential openings
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals: 17 active judges (plus 10 senior status); 6 Trump appointees; 8 potential openings
U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals: 16 active judges (plus 12 senior status); 6 Trump appointees; 9 potential openings
U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals: 11 active judges (plus 3 senior status); 3 Trump appointees; 8 potential openings (including 1 vacant now)
U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals: 11 active judges (plus 4 senior status); 4 Trump appointees; 5 potential openings
U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals: 29 active judges (plus 18 senior status); 10 Trump appointees; 14 potential openings
U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals: 12 active judges (plus 7 senior status); 2 Trump appointees; 6 potential openings
U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals: 12 active judges (plus 10 senior status); 6 Trump appointees; 3 potential openings
D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals: 11 active judges (plus 5 senior status); 3 Trump appointees; 4 potential vacancies
SO: Out of 167 total active-status judge seats on the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 52 are held by Trump appointees, 2 are currently vacant, and 76 are held by judges who are eligible now or will be eligible within the next four years to take senior status, thus opening up the seat. Trump has been able to fill almost a third of all federal appellate active-judge seats, but the next President could conceivably fill almost half. Therefore, this election–both for the President who could appoint and for the Senate who would confirm–has enormous implications for the judiciary.
If you are an attorney and are interested in helping to ensure these elections are protected from suppression activities, you may volunteer for election protection work and other work at We the Action, a clearinghouse for lawyer volunteer opportunities connected with the election.
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