- By nominating Johnstone, Thomas’ former clerk, to replace him, Biden has chosen someone to fill every vacancy on the 9th Circuit. Five of his nominees have been confirmed.
- Johnstone, if confirmed, would not change the partisan split on the 9th Circuit, which has 16 judges appointed by Democratic presidents and 13 picked by Republicans.
- Biden still has not nominated anyone to fill three California district court vacancies, two in the Central District and another in the Southern District.
- Biden is moving, though more slowly than his progressive allies hoped, to fill circuit and district court vacancies. The U.S. Senate has approved 75 of those nominations, and Democrats hope to get to 100 by the end of the year, but that would still leave about 60 vacancies unfilled nationwide.
- The Senate is evenly divided, with 48 Democrats and two independents who vote with them against 50 Republicans. As vice president, Kamala Harris gives Democrats a thin majority and was needed to allow 9th Circuit Judge Jennifer Sung’s nomination to pass last year.
Law360's story is Biden Nominates Montana Law Professor For 9th Circ.
Think you understand what a "holding" is? Today's monthly Exceptionally Appealing column in the DJ, Dicta ain't necessarily so, explains the Ninth Circuit's minority-view rule, as explained in Charles W. Tyler, The Adjudicative Model of Precedent, 87 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1551 (2020).
In other 9th Cir. news, The Marble Palace Blog has Justice William O. Douglas, an Early Activist of the Environmental Movement -- A compelling new book by a Ninth Circuit judge [McKeown] focuses on the conservation advocacy of Douglas and his high public profile, unlike any other.
The book is “CITIZEN JUSTICE: The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas—Public Advocate and Conservation Champion” and is available on Amazon.
Posts
