Judge Sarah Netburn – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Federal Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn has a long history as a litigator, handling a number of civil rights cases, as well as a judge, making her an experienced nominee for the federal bench.

Background

Sarah Netburn received her B.A. from Brown University in 1994 and then her J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law in 2001. Netburn then clerked for Judge Harry Pregerson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then joined Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP as an Associate. In 2010, Netburn shifted to be the Chief Counsel for the Office of Pro Bono Litigation with the Southern District of New York.

In 2012, Netburn became a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York, where she currently serves.

History of the Vacancy

Netburn has been nominated for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. This seat will open on December 31, 2024, when Judge Lorna Schofield takes senior status.

Legal Career

After her clerkship on the Ninth Circuit, Netburn spent the next eight years working at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP, where she notably represented, alongside the Center for Constitutional Rights, a group of protesters arrested while protesting the war in Iraq. See Jim Dwyer, One Protest, 52 Arrests and a $2 Million Payout, N.Y. Times, Aug. 20, 2008, https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/assets/A7_08.20.08_NYTIMES.pdf.

Among other cases she handled, Netburn represented a group of inmates in the New York City correctional system who alleged that they were subjected to a pattern and practice of excessive force from correctional officers. See Ingles v. Toro, 438 F. Supp. 2d 203 (2d Cir. 2006). Netburn also represented proponents of a marijuana legalization initiative in challenging the rejection of the initiative from the ballot by the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office. See Am. Civil Liberties Union of Nevada v. Lomax, 471 F.3d 1010 (9th Cir. 2006). Netburn has also represented the families of the victims of the Pan Am 103 terrorist attack in suing the Libyan government for supporting the terrorists. See Hurst v. Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya et al., 474 F. Supp. 2d 19 (D.D.C. 2007).

Jurisprudence

Netburn has served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York since her appointment in 2012. As a Magistrate Judge, Netburn handles arraignments, pretrial release, discovery disputes, and settlement. She also writes Reports and Recommendations for District Judges, recommending, for example, that the Afghanistan Central Bank’s funds not be used to compensate the relatives of September 11th victims. See Tia Sewell, Magistrate Judge Recommends Court Reject Efforts to Turn Over Frozen Afghan Funds to 9/11 Families, Lawfare, Aug. 30, 2022, https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/magistrate-judge-recommends-court-reject-efforts-turn-over-frozen-afghan-funds-911-families.

Among the notable cases that Netburn has presided over, she is presiding over the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs, alleging that Ripple’s trading of cryptocurrency amounted to trading of unregistered securities. See Qadir AK, Good News! Pro-Crypto Judge Netburn Nominated in Ripple vs. SEC Case, CoinPedia, Apr. 25, 2024, https://coinpedia.org/news/ripple-vs-sec-how-sarah-netburns-nomination-could-shape-the-outcome/. In the suit, Netburn has been occasionally critical of the SEC’s litigation positions, ruling against them regarding access to internal agency documents. See Holly Barker, SEC Crypto Woes: Judicial Rebuke and a Critical Commissioner, July 19, 2022, https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/sec-crypto-woes-judicial-criticism-and-a-critical-commissioner.

Overall Assessment

Netburn has, both as an attorney and as a judge, built up significant experience with litigation, including presiding over a fair number of complex cases. As such, Netburn should be favored for a comparatively smooth confirmation to the federal bench.

78 Comments

    • If we do have nominees available for a hearing on the 6/19 week, the hearing would likely be on 6/20 (Thursday), since Juneteenth is on that Wednesday and the Senate is out. It shouldn’t interfere with any nominees being voted out of the SJC, all of the nominees currently in the SJC would be voted out by 6/13 (the previous batch should have their hearings in two weeks, the holdover hearing would be 6/6 and allowing for a 6/13 vote). If we have nominees for a 6/5 hearing their holdover week would likely be 6/20 and that meeting would be cancelled in all likelihood.

      Like you said, really important we get nominees Wednesday for the possibility of having two hearings in June. Someone mentioned that we might get a First Circuit nominee, which is what I was thinking considering we got an agreement on a ME District Court nominee.

      As for any confirmations this week, there could be a cloture motion sent out tomorrow but I’m sure the Senate will spend the whole week dealing with passing the FAA bill and will probably have a Thursday night/Friday session to take care of it and then take off. Any cloture motions would probably come out once that’s all taken care of.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. It’s curious that neither of the two NY senators has claimed Sarah Netburn as their recommendation. They are usually upfront about it.

    Gillibrand is considered pro-crypto and Netburn is considered a pro-crypto judge, so maybe this is Gillibrand’s? It might not matter to many, but I like to know who’s recommending nominees for my home state/local courts.

    Liked by 1 person

    • That is surprising. If I had to guess I would say she’s a Gillibrand recommendation. As for the new batch this weekend, I certainly hope we don’t miss another SJC hearing so a new batch would be needed. I think we are down to 16 or so vacancies that don’t need a Republican blue slip so only three more batches worth unless we get some red state district court nominations.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Here’s how long it’s taken the Biden admin to announce circuit nominees in states with at least one GOP senator, relative to the date of the vacancy’s public announcement:

      157 days: Johnstone (split delegation)
      162 days: Bloomekatz (split)
      167 days: Freeman (split)
      174 days: Pryor
      183 days: Mathis
      205 days: Federico (vs. Wamble nom expiring)
      215 days: Ritz
      220 days: Chung (split)
      313 days: Benjamin
      398 days: Douglas
      406 days: Kolar
      456 days: Ramirez
      550 days: Wamble

      We’re currently sitting at:

      171 days: ME
      118 days: NC
      105 days: FL
      101 days: TN

      I’m optimistic we’ll get a ME nominee this week, but it would be surprisingly quick if we get a nominee for any of the three other seats before July. I’m guessing we’ll have to wait till August for those.

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  4. I could see Kunstler v City of New York being a spicy moment at her hearing since it was a case against the NYPD unlawfully arresting and violating the 1st amendment rights of anti-war protesters. I could see someone like Hawley or Lee or Cruz trying to use it as a launch pad into a rant about the college campus protests.

    Also, I found a profile of Netburn in an old UCLA Law School Magazine Article. Some highlinghts.

    • She worked as a teacher in a rural village in Benin in West Africa. “There she gained ‘an understanding of the problems facing people in developing countries and of the importance of empowering individuals to challenge the status quo'”. Could see Kennedy digging into the “challenge the status quo” bit.
    • She spent 2 yrs working with the International Refugee Program of the Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights, which helped inspire her to go to law school.
    • In Law School, she interned with the Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, working with political asylum seekers.
    • She also worked with the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy’s International Program. This org later changed its name to the Center For Reproductive Rights.

    https://law.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/PDFs/Publications/UCLA_Law_Magazine/UCLALawMag_Fall_Winter1999.pdf

    Netburn received Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publico Award in 2004 and 2005.

    She also served on the Board of Directors of The Fortune Society, an organization that helps previously incarcerated people rebuild their lives. (Curious if this org has made any comments that will set GOP off).

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hey Keystone, I could have sworn that the Fortune Society was brought up by a Republican senator in the last nomination hearing. I don’t remember by whom or to which nominee. The senate and SJC websites unhelpfully don’t post hearing transcripts, only submitted statements and questionnaires. And I don’t have the time to rewatch the video of the hearing.

      Liked by 1 person

    • I also would guess the Maine circuit court nominee will be the first to be announced. I think so because we already got the district court nominee announced in the last batch.

      Florida, North Carolina & Tennessee all have district court vacancies without a nominee, a total of seven. While I don’t believe the WH will allow not filling those seats be a veto for the circuit court seats getting filled, I do believe they will invest the time to try & get an acceptable deal to get all ten seats filled with nominees that get blue slips turned in. I think it’s a waste of time in the case if Tennessee but I do believe the time will be invested to try.

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  6. I wonder how long it will be till we get a new nominee for the Western District of New York seat that Colleen Holland withdrew herself from.

    One name I’d keep an eye on there is Deirdre Flynn (born c. 1970), who currently works as a Senior Counsel at the University of Rochester and previously worked as an AUSA.

    Another name I’d keep an eye on is AUSA Appellate Chief Tiffany H. Lee (born c. 1972), who is Canadian and AAPI.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Now that the two South Dakota nominees will bypass cloture votes, that’s two for sure. I’m hoping Menendez trial doesn’t take him out the entire rest of the month. I still can’t believe with all the time off the senate has this year, he couldn’t get it postponed until one of those recess periods. Judge Cannon just delayed Trump’s trial indefinitely (Let me put on my shocked face).

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  10. Great news with the South Dakota nominees! Looks like this agreement will play out in a similar way like it did for the W.D. TX nominees.

    Did anyone else notice someone on Wikipedia went ahead and had the SD nominees confirmed by voice vote tonight haha? Very odd…

    Hoping for nominees tomorrow. Many blue state judges we can still knock out, as well as some others.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Was at the casino earlier so I missed the Senate session and the UC agreement on the South Dakota nominees. I figured the nominees being from the state of the #2 Senate Republican (and the likely Republican Leader next Congress) would have some weight, at least for Theeler but didn’t think there’d be an expedition on Schulte. Schulte’s vote should be interesting, was a 12-9 SJC vote so like Sneed should have a floor of five Republican votes (G/C/M and the two home Senators). With that this makes three nominees during this FAA session to be confirmed without cloture (the ambassador today being the other one), along with the voice votes from last week, not bad while they’ve only been focused on legislation. Maybe Sinema can work her magic and get the Arizona nominees expedited? Still pretty impressive Desai got expedited IMO since if I remember she did a lot of work involving voting access in Arizona which is a stingy topic in some Republican circles. Thought for sure that was going to make her nomination Dale Ho or Abudu levels of contentious.

    Nothing has been scheduled for tomorrow (and no “votes are possible” disclaimer from the galley feeds), but would have to think they’re both confirmed tomorrow so the Senate has at least something to do. Could have one vote before the lunch break and the other sometime during the afternoon, since it looks like Thursday will be dedicated entirely to the FAA bill.

    Was hoping for the outside chance of a cloture motion being sent out today, since I thought there was some possibility of Republican absences (especially in Oklahoma) due to the tornadoes out in the plains this week.

    Now we pray for the nomination fairy to deliver a fresh batch tomorrow morning.

    Liked by 2 people

  13. As for May, there are a number of noms who had bipartisan support in committee.

    • Robin Meriweather (Federal Claims)
    • Sanket Bulsara (EDNY)
    • Dena Michaela Coggins (EDCA)
    • Krissa Lanham (AZ)
    • Angela Martinez (AZ)

    I wouldn’t be surprised in Jeanette Vargas (SDNY) get’s a Graham vote.

    There are def. judges who they can vote on even w/o Menendez.

    Liked by 2 people

      • It’s not the question if it’s wishful to get them confirmed by voice vote, it’s the question if the Republicans allow it, the first five nominees from the Superior Court and two for the CoA of DC all had to go through cloture and confirmation vote.

        Not to confirm them, because ‘they are not that important’ is no option for me, because the people of Washington D. C. deserve to working judiciary and are not to blame for political games or the awkward confirming process.

        Noti would never have been confirmed by voice vote, Senator Portman and several others have already voted against her in the committee.

        I’m not optimistic that the Superior Court will have a full bench at the end of the year – from thirteen vacant posts, just the six nominees, nominated in March, June and July 2023, are waiting for a floor vote, the others five ones have not even had a hearing, two have no nominee – maybe something will move with the two CoA nominees, but here the clock is ticking pretty slow, while the workload is extremely high for years and there is no real sign of progress – I think that’s the main reason that many judges leave after a few years like Ranga Puttagunta did recently.

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    • For only the second time since 2014 we get a Black man on a circuit court once Embry J. Kidd is confirmed. And he is born c. 1983 so he is even younger than Andre Mathis. He was one of the front runners for the 11th & an outstanding pick.

      The WDNY is one of the remaining districts that has never had a person of color as a judge. I’m happy once Meredith A. Vacca is confirmed that will end. While she is AAPI, I don’t see much of a progressive background but she has extensive work protecting children so I guess that along with her being 44 is good.

      Judge Adam B. Abelson is around the same age as Kidd so another young pick which I love. He doesn’t have a solid progressive background but for Maryland he is a decent to good pick.

      Judge Joseph F. Saporito is simply a horrible pick for a blue state. His background is pretty progressive which is good but he’s in his mid 60’s. Absolutely no excuse for that in a blue state. None. We got better picks when it was a purple state.

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      • Saporito is a great pick, especially considering the M.D.P.A. isn’t exactly known for having a bastion of nominees from underrepresented backgrounds. Barring some unknown health issues, he will likely take senior status under the next Democratic president, and we know that the WH does homework there so I doubt theres anything to worry about. I’d rather have a 65 year old career public defender than a 40 year old career AUSA every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

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    • Great to see an appellate court nomination – and so soon (relative to the other red-state circuit nominees) too. Kidd’s not a particularly liberal pick given his big law/prosecutor background, but at this point I’m happy as long as the seat gets filled. Have Rubio/Scott announced where they stand on blue slips? Kidd’s background should make him pretty uncontroversial – though then again the same should’ve been true about Ritz. 

      The district court nominees are fine, and only Saporito has an interesting/non-traditional background. He is probably one of the oldest nominees yet, but it’s not like any CA3 Dem appointees are ever going to come from MDPA anyways so it’s fine. And a public defender still trumps a career prosecutor any day in my book, even accounting for the age.

      Liked by 3 people

      • I would be more confident in Rubio & Scott returning blue slips for Kidd if we had seen at least a nominee for one of the three vacancies in the MDFL. Seeing that Detra Shaw-Wilder missed the last SJC hearing, if I had to go out on a wild limb I would say at least one of them aren’t going to turn in a blue slip for Kidd. I’m perfectly fine with that. We can worry about the four remaining district court seats after the election if need be but getting this seat on the 11th filled this year is paramount.

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  16. I’m delighted to have been proven wrong on the 11th circuit seat so quickly. But I expect that means that negotiations were ongoing before Wilson announced publicly and that Shaw-Wilder was the only district court negotiating chip on the table, not the Middle District seats.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Embry Kidd –

    • Has a very traditional background, i.e. AUSA, Magistrate. I haven’t found any troubling cases yet.
    • Wife is corporate attorney.
    • Embry and his wife both serve on the Emory College Alumni Board. Given his non controversial work history, I could see the GOP going w “you’re on the Alumni Board.. do you condone the protests” rant
    • Fun Fact – Loves to travel and has been to all 7 continents.

    Adam Abelson

    • He’s only been a magistrate judge since September. I’ve long suspected that Abelson was going to be the pick and that Cardin was trying to let him build up some time in his current gig.
    • While at Zuckerman Spaeder, he focused mainly on government investigations and white-collar criminal prosecutions.
    • He was a research fellow for Human Rights Watch in Chile.
    • His wife was previously a Baltimore assistant Public Defender and is currently a research assistant at Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice.

    Joseph F. Saporito Jr.

    • He’s from the Wilkes-Barre area. I think the last MDPA judge from there was Clinton nom Richard Caputo, so it’s been a while.
    • The Saporito’s seem to be a very well known and respected family in Luzerne County. I’m sure there’s a Casey family connection since Luzerne is next to Scranton.
    • His father Joe Sr. was a decorated WWII vet who was also a lawyer and served as mayor of Pittston. They give out an annual award named after him to honor people to Public Service.
    • Joe Jr was previously a part-time public defender. In his family law firm, there are several other partners who also work as part time public defenders and another volunters as defense counsel for the Luzerne County Drug Treatment Court and the Luzerne County Specialty Court for mental health.
    • Luzerne County used to be a Dem stronghold that went Trump in 2016. Last week Biden announce that they were launching a field office there. Wondering if this is playing into some sort of broader election narrative.
    • Aside from his age (which is a big negative), Sapporito seems like a really thoughtful and capable judge.

    Vacca is totally new to me, so I don’t have any info on her.

    Liked by 2 people

    • @Keystone,

      I immediately thought of you when I saw Adam Abelson‘s name. You sure did say it would probably be a magistrate judge that just got the seat recently so Cardin was giving him more time on the bench.

      As for Joseph F. Saporito Jr., yea no question 20 years as a federal defender is a solid background. And I’m sure his family ties run deep in the region. I get it, Biden wants to win back that part of the state. I’m all for that. But I just can’t justify anybody in their mid 60’s for a blue state. There’s just far too many other options that aren’t eligible for social security by the end of a potential Biden second term. I can’t give him a F (Despite me wanting to) because his background is so solid. I guess I would have to give him a D- with his age completely dragging his grade down in my book.

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      • I just see Saporito taking senior status rather soon, but who knows, perhaps he’ll be another Manuel Real (CDCA) and stay on the court until his mid 90’s.

        Obama had several CIRCUIT court judges who ended up either taking senior status or retiring while the last guy, whose name escapes me, was president from 2017-2021.

        But I’m glad we got a Circuit nominee today.. Doesn’t appear to be grand slam home run like a Bloomekatz, but nonetheless a decent pick

        Liked by 1 person

      • He’ll have to serve at least 10 years as a district judge to qualify for senior status.

        But as long as he’s liberal and takes senior status under a Dem, why does it matter whether he’s on the bench for 10 years or 40 years? And how is he worse than a young moderate who might take senior status under a Republican administration? The main argument for youth is elevation, and that doesn’t apply here because no Dem president is going to elevate someone from middle-of-nowhere PA when there are lots of options in both Philly and Pittsburgh.

        Folks on here celebrating moderate/conservative career prosecutors solely because they’re young are really failing to grasp how the judiciary actually works.

        Liked by 1 person

      • @Han

        Uuummm no, I don’t buy that. If KBJ had been a judge on the MDPA instead of Washington DC does that mean she wouldn’t have been the pick for SCOTUS? Of course not. If you have a great pick on the MDPA they most certainly can be elevated to the Third Circuit. The problem is Democrats haven’t had any young progressives on that court in my lifetime so we have no sample size.

        And you are giving a false choice when you say we have to choose between an old progressive or a young moderate. I’m saying I want a young progressive. That’s the choice, not the one you are giving us… Lol

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  18. Eumi Lee received her commission yesterday. It was almost two months out from her confirmation, wondered if that was the longest commission wait for judges confirmed to a seat that was vacant and not to a future vacancy but it looks like Dale Ho had that beat (with over two months from confirmation to commission). We’re now caught up on commissions for current vacant seats.

    Good to see the nominees today and keeping the possibility of having two hearings in June open. If a second hearing is indeed on 6/20 due to Juneteenth would the White House technically have until 5/23 and not the 22nd for nominations?

    Also, I saw someone mention the DC Court of Appeals nominees from a few weeks back. I think those nominees go through the Homeland Security, do they have the same four-week period from nomination to hearing? If so they could have their hearing next week since I think next week would have been four weeks since their nominations.

    The other thing today is that hopefully the South Dakota nominees get confirmed today since nothing is scheduled for today. The Press Gallery feed did now say “No votes are scheduled but are possible”.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Saporito’s situation is kind of interesting. He’s obviously near retirement age and magistrate judges aren’t lifetime appointments so there’s conceivably a very easy route for him to just retire and I’m sure have a very nice life. If there’s a question of money, his family has a law firm that I’m sure he could rejoin.

    The fact that he’s eager to go through the brutal scrutiny that has become commonplace in confirmation hearings and the fact that he’d need to serve 10 years in order to get to senior status, makes me think he’s in it for a while.

    Young George Hazel left after only 9 years, so age isn’t everything.

    Liked by 2 people

  20. Schumer’s claimed Vacca:

    https://www.schumer.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-recommends-monroe-county-judge-meredith-anne-vacca-to-serve-on-the-western-district-of-new-york-federal-court-in-vacca-senator-picks-prominent-acting-state-supreme-court-judge-and-former-asst-district-attorney-with-considerable-knowledge-of-criminal-law

    Minor detail, but both his quote and the WH release mislabel the University at Buffalo.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Saporito makes a new old-age mark for this admin. He’s a month younger than Jeffery Hopkins on SD OH and a year younger than Tia Johnson on the armed forces court, but he’s more than a year and a half older than they were when they were nominated.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Nice to see new nominees.

    @Hank, I read what you wrote and see your point. But those aren’t the instances that @Rick mentioned. He mentioned the Obama judges who DID leave under a Republican admin. Isn’t a  60-something year old new judge more likely to retire soon after they are qualified? Who knows what party will have the WH in 10 years and which senior-eligible, Dem appointed judge needs to leave due to health or family issues.

    Age is no way a panacea and Dem judges aren’t the only ones to leave when the WH is controlled by another party. Look at Robert Harwell who, after serving for 20 years, is the same age or probably younger than Saporito. Who knows why this Bush judge is leaving.

    Qualification and progressiveness aside, I prioritize young age for nominees, even when there’s no feasible chance of elevation. Simply because, whether we like it or not, actuarially speaking, older folks are more likely to have health issues that could force them off the bench. This isn’t a jab at the older folks here, so no one should take it personally. Also, this doesn’t mean that every 60+ year old judge is going to drop dead, but I’d rather not risk it.

    Also worth reiterating, unlike Frank, I never complain when a Dem appointee leaves the bench early if they do so under a Dem president.

    Liked by 1 person

    • There has been nothing publicly stated as to what’s going on with Kanter. By all accounts, based on precedent, her nomination is toast. The only Biden nominee I can think of that has missed more than a couple hearing & still eventually got one was Orelia Merchant. I believe in her case her parent passed away so that was understandable.

      Liked by 1 person

  26. I heard in Jerry Moran’s floor speech about the Senate finishing up on the FAA bill Friday, so it does sound like we may have another overtime session this week. Wouldn’t be surprised if one or both SD nominees got confirmed that day, I know Gonzalez was confirmed on a Friday when the Senate was I believe finishing up on FISA.

    Liked by 1 person

      • I think wither Marina Garcia Marmolejo or Diana Saldaña would have bene much more acceptable choices over Irma Ramirez. My personal favorite realistic choice would have been Amparo Monique Guerra so we wouldn’t have had to backfill any district court seat.

        Nina Perales would have been a less likely compromise nominees but with her age, perhaps at least Cornyn would have turned his blue slip in. My overall screw Cruz & Cornyn pick would have been Rochelle Garza but I admit it’s a little tougher to go that route when there are 8 district court vacancies as there was at the time.

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  28. Meredith Vacca may have to answer for a case she prosecuted while an ADA in Rochester. She was the lead prosecutor of Kali Watkins, a girls’ basketball coach who was falsely accused of raping a student and acquitted during the trial.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. At 64, Saporito isn’t much older than a lot of recent past Dem judges on his court.

    2 of the Clinton appointees, Richard Caputo & James Munley, were 59 & 62, respectively. The 2 liberal Obama judges, Mariani & Mannion, were 61 & 59. Both Caputo & the elder Munley went senior under Obama, while both Mariani & Mannion, went senior under Biden.

    I disagree with those who say that Saporito is a bad nominee. Of course it would be better if he were younger, but Saporito seems progressive and does not seem like someone who would willingly let a Republican replace him (especially with Saporito possibly being part of Biden’s campaign strategy in Luzerne County).

    Liked by 1 person

    • I would say Saporito is a bad nomination more so than a bad nominee. He was a federal defender for three decades so him, himself I wouldn’t say is bad. But his age is too much for a lot of us, including myself to get past in a blue state. I am hoping for better for the EDPA vacancies.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Luckily for them, Bea took senior status under Trump, allowing Trump to appoint Patrick Bumatay. Also, blue slips quasi-existed for circuit judges at the time, as did the filibuster, so Bea’s age made him more acceptable to Democrats.

        I’m not worried about Saporito’s seat unless an unreasonable Republican wins a Senate seat in Pennsylvania (which is possible given Pennsylvania is a swing state).

        However, the ages of the nominees in Texas irk me more because I see exactly what Cornyn and Cruz are doing. They are hoping that John Kazen & Ernest Gonzalez go senior in 10 years, and even if they go senior under a Democratic president, Cornyn & Cruz (or more unreasonable successors) have power over the seat (absent a Texas miracle).

        I’m also trying to understand how the Texas senators’ math works. They want to make sure that the court isn’t too understaffed but they also want to hold seats open for Federalist Society hacks. WDTX had 4 vacancies and 2 were filled. SDTX had 3 vacancies and 1 was filled. NDTX has 1 vacancy. So maybe 2 vacancies per court is their baseline? Would they have ok’d Schydlower & Gonzalez had there only been 2 vacancies on WDTX? I don’t know. Though it seems it also depends on where those vacancies are.

        The TX ratio isn’t too different from the California ratio during the Trump years. On CDCA, 4 out of 10 vacancies were filled. On SDCA, 1 out of 5. On EDCA, 0 out of 2. Though some of the seats had nominees who were unconfirmed.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Blue slips AND the filibuster were around back then & California had two Democrat senators. This is a post Trump worked. There was no way conservatives could have complained then because the rules didn’t allow them to do anything about it. I can assure you they would complain if Trump got reelected & did that post 2017.

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