Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah

Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen would be, if confirmed, the only judge from Southern Utah on the federal district court.

Background

The daughter of former Republican State Representative Kay McIff and a Southern Utah native, Ann Marie McIff Allen received a B.A. from Brigham Young University in 1994 and a J.D. from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1997. Allen then went into private practice until 2007 when she became Deputy County Attorney for the Iron County Attorney’s Office. In 2013, she returned to private practice as a solo practitioner, although she also worked with Southern Utah University as Special Counsel and then General Counsel.

In 2020, Allen was appointed to be a judge on Utah’s Fifth District Court, where she has served since.

History of the Seat

Allen has been nominated for a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah to replace Judge David Nuffer, who took senior status on April 2, 2022. Allen was recommended for the vacancy by Sen. Mitt Romney.

Legal Experience

Allen worked in private practice at a number of different firms between 1997 and 2007 and then again between 2013 and 2020, focusing on civil practice. Between 2007 and 2013, by contrast, Allen worked for the Iron County Attorney’s Office, working both as a prosecutor and a public defender (County Attorneys in Utah have broad roles, including serving as a legal advisor, prosecution, and indigent defense).

Between 2017 and 2020, Allen worked as Counsel for Southern Utah University, where she served as a legal advisor to the University on Title IX compliance and other issues.

Jurisprudence

Allen has served as a judge on the Fifth District Court in Southern Utah since Governor Gary Herbert appointed her to the court in 2020. In Utah, District Courts are trial courts of general jurisdiction, which preside over all civil cases and all criminal felonies.

Among the notable cases Allen handled as a judge, Allen presided over a jury trial that found Darcy Anderson to be guilty of three felony counts relating to the sexual abuse of a ten year old victim. See Jeff Richards, Jury Finds Parowan Man Guilty of Sexually Abusing 10-Year-Old Girl in His Home, St. George News, Feb. 25, 2022, https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2022/02/25/jmr-jury-finds-parowan-man-guilty-of-sexually-abusing-10-year-old-girl-in-his-home/. Allen also found Jacob Schmidt, accused of running another man over with a car, to be competent to stand trial. See Jeff Richards, Cedar City Man Accused of Murder in Fatal Hit-and-Run Found Competent to Stand Trial, St. George News, Feb. 24, 2021, https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2021/02/24/jmr-cedar-city-man-accused-of-murder-in-fatal-hit-and-run-found-competent-to-stand-trial/.

Additionally, Allen was one of a group of judges who was sued in federal court by defendants who were challenging the bails set in their cases. See Medina v. Allen, Case No. 4:21-cv-00102-DN-PK (D. Utah Mar. 30, 2023); see also Jessica Miller, Lawsuit Challenges Utah’s Cash-Based Bail System, The Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 4, 2021, https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/10/04/these-utahns-are-too-poor/. The suit was dismissed by Nuffer. See id.

Overall Assessment

The District of Utah has a Salt Lake City focused bench, with the lone Southern Utah judge, Nuffer, having moved there in 2018 when the court opened a new division in Southern Utah. Allen, by contrast, has deep ties to Southern Utah, which would serve her well in building the legal community around the new division.

As for her background, Allen may draw questions about the lawsuit challenging her bail decisions, given that it was supported by a number of progressive organizations, but is nonetheless favored to be confirmed.

300 Comments

  2. tsb1991's avatar

    Also, if you’re looking for tea leaves into Crews and Mehalchick, the attendance of the Senate today was 49D-48R (2 Ds, Cantwell and Warner absent, 1 R, Cassidy) but weren’t able to be voted on today. This suggests that Manchin is likely a no on both nominees. If Warner comes back tomorrow but not Cassidy they could be confirmed if the VP is in town, if anyone knows her schedule this week. If Cassidy is back then we’re likely looking at votes next week (while a ton of nominees should be voted back out on Thursday from the SJC, they won’t appear on the executive calendar until the end of the day and cloture could only be filed next Tuesday at the earliest).

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Dequan's avatar

    Going back to the Wynn senior status, the People’s Parity Project is probably the most liberal public list of recommendations for federal judges I’ve seen. The American Constitution Society did not publicly release their list sadly. For those of you that haven’t looked it over in a while, so far only Natasha Merle has been nominated for a judgeship by Biden off the list.

    Karla Gilbride was nominated by Biden for another position. Allison Riggs is also on their list of recommendations just an fyi.

    (https://peoplesparity.org/unrigthecourts/#list)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dequan's avatar

      But I do agree either of my dream picks of Riggs, Christopher Brook or Ryan Park might not be the pick. There are a few names I could see as consensus nominees that I would still think are good picks;

      Michael F. Easley Jr. (born 1985) – He is also a US attorney. He is the son of former North Carolina Governor Mike Easley so it’s possible his connections could get him the nod. Being in his high 30’s would be a huge plus obviously but perhaps the senators view him as future threat for governor or against them in a senate race & would sign off on him getting this lifetime gig to prevent that.

      Shana Fulton (born c. 1976) – She’s a Black woman that was a former Assistant US Attorney. She also is a former Legal Intern with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

      Dena King (born 1981) – As mentioned above, she is the current US Attorney & received votes from Tillis & Budd already. She would be the 14th Black woman Biden put on the circuit courts.

      Liked by 2 people

      • keystone's avatar

        Something interesting about Park is that, although he’s definitely a lefty, he’s participated in a few Federalist Society Panels.

        One is “The Role of the Modern State Solicitor General” in which he, and the Solicitor Generals for WV and OH, and Judge Britt Grant (former SG for AL) discuss what that role is like in their States.

        Another is about “State Constitutionalism in North Carolina”.

        He’s def not a member and the topics are pretty innocuous, but interesting to se that he does seem to have relationships across the ideological spectrum.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. rob's avatar

    I’m annoyed with this week and what a waste today has been. I guess Schumer took a risk and hoped someone on the GOP side would be missing and he would have had full attendance on the Dem side to get that EPA and Labour nomination confirmed.

    When he realised last night that wouldn’t happen he should of set up votes tomorrow on some of the other nominees currently waiting for votes to free up space next week for judges e.g there are FCC and FTC nominees that are GOP appointees that Hawley stopped from a voice vote. That would be the perfect thing to vote on this week as they are gonna have to require a roll call vote anyway so use up this week for that or the one other judge he could get confirmed this week Austin from SC.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dequan's avatar

      The real miscalculation came in December. Numerous GOP senators made it clear they weren’t coming back for the extra Monday – Wednesday session. I would have forgone the 11 five star generals & Oklahoma nominees, all who could be confirmed regardless of attendance issues in January, & instead would have confirmed all of the judicial nominees Manchin said he will vote against. 3 of the 5 nominees that weren’t renominated, the Labor nominee & a few others could have been confirmed in those three days instead. That was a complete missed opportunity.

      Like

  9. tsb1991's avatar

    With the business meeting being cancelled tomorrow, what are the odds the nominees were going to just be held over anyway? I know the nominees weren’t listed in red on the agenda but odds are it’s a blanket holdover, no? The attendance issues were not caused by any SJC Democrats this week, so they would’ve had the votes to vote everyone out.

    Also, I saw the Bjelkengren news while out getting dinner. That leaves Gaston and Edelman as needing to be re-nominated, right? If Edelman isn’t re-nominated, the good news there is that there is a future vacancy on the court, so what are the chances several people have been vetted and you now pick two candidates from that pool instead of one?

    In all likelihood next week will probably continue with nominations for positions you’ve never heard of before, if not I know the Senate has to pass what is now an agreed upon CR soon, next week wouldn’t be the worst time to do it.

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Mitch's avatar

    If Marian Gaston is out of the running, who will get nominated in her place? AUSA Shireen Matthews seems like a good choice to me. She’s already been vetted and no one has any objections to her. Time is running short for nominees and she could conceivable get a voice vote.

    Like

  11. tsb1991's avatar

    I also wanted to add that given what we’ve seen with Holland and Bjelkengren (and with Gaston and Edelman still up in the air), it’s actually kind of surprising Kasubhai and Russell (Connecticut) both managed to get re-nominated. Republicans were ready to blow a gasket at their hearings and went completely nuts when both of them had their votes out of committee. Maybe internally there’s more confidence for their confirmation prospects than the four nominees that been been withdrawn/not re-nominated?

    Liked by 1 person

  12. delco's avatar

    Disappointed to hear that Bjelkengren withdrew. It is unfortunate she got tripped up during her hearing. I know Republicans would push through their nominees and confirm them regardless of what was said during a confirmation hearing.

    But as she said in her statement, the nomination process took a personal and professional tool on her so I don’t blame her. Her nomination was formally submitted by Biden in September of 2022 and from her questionnaire she submitted her application for the vacancy way back in March of 2021. So that’s approaching three years with no sign that Schumer had any intention of doing everything he could to confirming her. There’s no reason why she couldn’t have been confirmed in late December 2023 when as many as 32 Republicans were absent some days.

    Liked by 2 people

      • Frank's avatar

        ABA ratings are BS. Not saying I would’ve voted for Mizelle, and she wasn’t even close to who I would’ve picked there, but I’m not basing her qualifications off of the ABA rating (which is the focus of that article) and I’m never going to be a Democratic hack and claim that everyone the Democrats confirm is qualified, because that’s not the case. See Dale Ho (a blatant liberal hack with little regard for those who don’t share his views) or Christine O’Hearn (who isn’t able to answer basic legal questions), both of whom the ABA rated as qualified.

        Like

      • Dequan's avatar

        @Frank

        I completely agree with you on Christine O’Hearn. Her hearing was arguably as bad as the EDWA nominee who withdrew yesterday. I would have voted no on her confirmation without hesitation.

        I completely disagree with you on Dale Ho. He has argued cases in front of the Supreme Court for God’s sake. He is more than qualified to be a federal judge. There’s nothing that says as a private citizen you can’t be a liberal (Or conservative for that matter) which will prevent you from being a judge.

        The entire concept of putting a black robe on before you sit on the bench is you supposedly shred all of your bias & will objectively hear cases before you independently. Does that happy all the time? Of course it, but let’s not pretend that’s only the case when you’re a super liberal or conservative private citizen prior to ascending to the bench. Dale Ho has been a judge for about a year now & to my knowledge I haven’t heard a peep about him not being a qualified judge other than Ted Cruz bitching & moaning about him & others in the SJC.

        Like

      • Hank's avatar

        “ABA Ratings are BS” – see that you’re parroting the Republican Party line yet again, you troll. I didn’t see you saying that when Wamble withdrew over his bad ABA rating, which sounds about right for the Republican hack you are.

        Apparently you also can’t read, since What I stated was that Mizelle—a Republican nominee to be a *trial* judge—had never tried a case. That’s not an issue with an ABA rating, that’s an undisputed fact (a conservative doesn’t know what a fact is, what a shocker).

        @Dequan Frank clearly doesn’t know what the word “qualified” even means, so disputing his baseless claims about Dale Ho isn’t even worth the time or effort.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Frank's avatar

        You know who also received a “qualified” rating from the ABA? Matthew Kacsmaryk. Yeah, ABA ratings are BS, but it is nice to see you believe Kacsmaryk is a qualified federal judge, since according to you and Obama the ABA can do no wrong in their ‘ratings’. Dale Ho, like Kacsmaryk, is unable to separate his political views from the cases he is presiding on, which is the sole reason why he is unqualified to be a federal judge. It isn’t about how many times you’ve been in front of SCOTUS, or what civil rights groups you’ve led (normally I’d be all over that), it is about your temperament to be a fair minded judge and call balls and strikes, and Kacsmaryk nor Ho appear to have that, based on statements I’ve heard them make before and after becoming federal judges.

        Like

      • Aiden's avatar

        I agree Mizelle, should never have being nominated to the trial court, she wasn’t qualified.

        Also I agree with Frank that the ABA has a bit to answer for in some of its ratings.
        O’hearn is someone many of us have called out as a terrible nominee. I believe me and Dequan both said we would have voted against her.

        @Frank Dale Ho is qualified to be on the judiciary as others have said. Being a leader in a national civil rights organisation, takes skill. He is seems to be very a skilled and successful lawyer.
        However, as I said before, perhaps him being on the judiciary is not helping the perception of the judiciary. I wouldn’t have wanted him appointed. But as others have pointed out, we live in a world where Trump has said the tone in this area. Looking at the Texas appointees is just one example.

        Democrats can’t equalise with both hands tied behind their back.
        I just obviously wish it didn’t have to be like this. In an ideal world, SCOTUS judges should require 60 or maybe even 70 votes to be confirmed.

        I think we also need to acknowledge that on both sides there can people that may work in perceived partisan areas, that doesn’t mean they can’t be good judges, who are not partisan hacks. Myrna Perez has being a great judge so far, very collegial with all her colleagues and far from a partisan hack.

        Liked by 2 people

      • Aiden's avatar

        Also @Hank I think on a forum like this, it’s important to watch how we speak to one another. We all seem to be knowledgeable in this area, and are willing to engage in healthy discourse. So just keeping things respectful is always helpful.

        I don’t often agree with conservatives but many of them are extremely talented and are intellectual leaders of our generation and before.
        There are many conservative judges for example who fit this mould.

        Liked by 3 people

  13. Ethan's avatar

    Here’s some names I’d keep an eye on for Bjelkengren and Holland’s seats:

    Bjelkengren:
    -US Attorney Vanessa Waldref (born c. 1980).

    -Managing Appellate Federal Public Defender Amy Rubin (Born c. 1973).

    -Chief Appellate Federal Public Defender Colin Prince (Born c. 1981).

    -Magistrate Judge James Goeke (born c. 1971).

    -Spokane County Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn High-Edward (born c. 1972).

    -Private practice attorney Daniel Rey-Bear (born c. 1968). He once served as a Staff Attorney for the 11th Circuit.

    Holland:
    -Appellate Chief of the WDNY US Attorney’s Office Tiffany H. Lee (born c. 1972).

    -Private practice attorney Langston McFadden (born c. 1973).

    -Assistant Federal Public Defender Jeffrey Ciccone (born c. 1973).

    Liked by 2 people

  17. Gavi's avatar

    Just getting these news updates.

    Disappointed in the Bjelkengren withdrawal.
    As delco has pointed out, the immense waste of time is horrible. I would have absolutely voted for her confirmation. Let us wait another 3 years for there to be a new and better nominee who won’t ever blank on something while on the spotlight. I’m glad none of you is my boss.

    @Frank, I know you don’t love Dale Ho, but it’s a bit gratuitous coming from you that he’s unqualified. Have you led the civil rights litigation of a national organization? Have you argued before any court? Can a Dem president dare nominate a scary liberal judicial nominee? Or is that only for Republican presidents? This is all moot because Dale Ho is nice and comfortably ensconced in his chambers a mile away from me, which sucks for you.

    @Dequan
    It’s interesting that the PPP has such a poor success rate. But seeing someone like Tiffany Cabán on the list might explain it. Cabán would be a serious candidate for a judgeship only if one or both of the senators is named AOC. I know Cabán (not personally). No way she’d get a recommendation from NY senators. Again, I’d like to thank Ron Klain for suggesting Dale Ho to Schumer, because I doubt he’d ever be considered otherwise. Thankfully for everyone, except Frank, he was and now is a judge! Eat it!

    Like

    • Dequan's avatar

      @Gavi

      Yea I do agree somebody like Tiffany Cabán probably wouldn’t get serious consideration. I do think there are some other solid recommendations on the PPP list however. For instance Rochelle Garza would have been a serious contender for the 5th for me. She was defeated for Texas AG so she’s certainly credible. I would have at least threatened her to get Cornyn & Cruz to give me at least 4 Democrats for the district court vacancies in exchange for moving to the center left for the 5th (Albeit not Irma Ramirez unless I was getting at least 6 seats filled with all Democrats in exchange).

      The list also included solid contenders for Connecticut, New York & California. Leah Litman may be a stretch for the 6th but I certainly would entertain her as well. I was still hoping to wake up to a new batch with the big three from her podcast announced along with Melissa Murray & MSNBC’s Chris Hayes wife but I know I’m dreaming too big for that… Lol

      Finally any talk of Dale Ho not being qualified is nonsense & a non starter for any credible argument. If @Frank or anyone wants to say he’s too liberal, that’s certainly a persons prerogative. But to say he’s not qualified is totally ridiculous. I wish I worked a mile away from him. I would definitely make it my business to go see him preside one of these days.

      Liked by 1 person

    • keystone's avatar

      For anyone interested in timing……

      For Rhode Island
      – 7/12/23 Search committee announced
      – 7/28/23 Applications Due
      – 11/16/23 NA
      – 1/10/24 Nominee Announced

      For WDVA
      – 7/17/23 Search committee announced
      – 8/14/23 Applications Due
      – 11/16/23 List of Candidates announced
      – 1/10/24 Nominee Announced

      For NDIL
      – 8/14/23 Search committee announced
      – 9/11/23 Applications Due
      – 11/17/23 List of Candidates announced
      – 1/10/24 Nominee Announced

      For DC
      – 9/11/23 Search committee announced
      – 9/26/23 Applications Due
      – 11/17/23 N/A
      – 1/10/24 Nominee Announced

      …………
      In Progress (3 oldest)

      Arizona
      – ? Search committee announced
      -10/31/23 Applications Due

      Maryland
      – 11/06/23 Search committee announced
      – 11/13/23 Applications Due

      Pennsylvania (MDPA and EDPA:Philly)
      – 10/27/23 Search committee announced
      – 11/13/23 Search committee announced

      Liked by 4 people

    • keystone's avatar

      Yeah… For starters, he’s Muslim, and we’ve seen that be a big trigger for the Republicans on the committee.

      Plus, he teaches at Harvard (which they have claws out for atm), He has tons of comments about the need for diversity, and he’s on the board of a theater that performs “culturally diverse art” (i’m sure there’s been a production at one time that will cause pearl clutching).

      This is all aside from his actual case work.

      I like him …. we should make a bingo board for his hearing.

      Liked by 2 people

  22. Aiden's avatar

    Kanter: Extremely disappointed in the California appointee. I get appointing prosecutors occasionally and especially from fraud, anti trust, white collar and civil rights divisions. However this nominee is a C at best.

    Amir Ali: Possibly best appointee for DDC. Very happy, hopefully if Edelmans nomination fails his replacement is in this mould. The MacArthur Centre for Justice does seem to do some amazing work. Though worried for his confirmation hearing with what republicans will find from them. A+

    DuBose: From what I’ve heard from you guys and seeing her background looks like a standard liberal judge. I was hoping for a little better from Rhode Island. Maybe a B

    Harjani: I’m very happy with this nominee, I’ve said for ages that antitrust judicial nominees were desperately needed. I wish this was the type of nominees that was seen more regularly in Delaware, New York and California. A rating but not A+

    Yoon: Also seems to have a good regulatory background. Pretty happy. Again with the way SCOTUS is and Biden agendas, I hope these nominees translate into strong judges in the anti trust field.

    White: This nominee from a Democrat state again why. C at best.

    Perhaps if there is discovered information like there was with Aframe with his role in elections and civil rights, my grades will boost.

    I’m pretty happy with some of these nominees especially DDC.

    Liked by 2 people

  23. Dequan's avatar

    WHEW, I’m just waking up to the good news. The administration didn’t make us wait for the new batch. This is the first batch in quite some time without any Republican senators involved. Here’s my initial take on the nominees;

    Amir H. Ali – A+… My heart almost stopped when I was reading his bio. And then I read the bio @Rick sent & I think my heart did stop beating. I was legally dead for a few seconds… Lol

    He’s born c. 1986. My God this is a phenomenal nominee. I’d happily carry him to his SJC hearing if his car breaks down. He should automatically be considered for elevation for any future seat once confirmed… A+

    Melissa R. DuBose – This is a good pick. As somebody who graduated with a B.A. in History, I’m happy to see a Black woman with that background get nominated. Of course I’m not thrilled with her being 55. I’m sure there were possibilities with more of a progressive background but overall she’s good & her being LGBT makes her a history making pick for the state. I’m sure former governor Gina R. pushed hard for her to get the nod… B+

    Sunil R. Harjani (Born c. 1975) – He was in the middle of the pack out of the recommendations for me. If you throw in Nicholas Gowen & Karen Shelley who were the remaining names from the last list, he would be near the bottom of the nominees I would have wanted to see picked… B-

    Rebecca S. Kanter (Born c. 1978) – Another lackluster pick for SDCA. I was hoping for another rockstar pick now that we have senators Padilla & Butler but this could have been a Feinstein pick to be honest. And with Gaston not renominated, the district could arguably be taking a step backwards as far as how liberal it is… C+

    Robert J. White (Born c. 1985) – There were certainly more progressive possibilities for Detroit. I looked through some of the cases White has prosecuted & he certainly has gone after some back actors. It’s interesting we lose one Robert White from the judiciary when the Missouri judge with the same names retired & now get another one nominated shortly after… B

    Jasmine H. Yoon (Born c. 1981) – I wonder. If her husband will be stepping down now that she’s been nominated. She certainly will have to recuse herself early on from a number of cases. I’m happy we will eliminate one of the remaining 24 districts that have never had a person of color serve as a judge soon. I still would have gone with the Black woman that was recommended along with Yoon, but I have no complaints as she mostly prosecuted public corruption cases… A-

    Like

    • Ben's avatar

      In looking over the WD of Va, I notice almost all judges were based in Roanoke. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a push for Yoon over the other candidate so that a judge could be based in Charlottesville. It’s a fairly big district so it didn’t make sense for them all to be down in Roanoke.

      Liked by 3 people

    • keystone's avatar

      @dequan

      Regarding Yoon’s husband, US Attorney WDVA Christopher Kavanugh….

      “A report from the bar indicates that Yoon told the evaluation committee that Kavanaugh would be willing to step down, should she be appointed a federal judge for the Western District of Virginia.” Roanoke Times

      I was also surprised that there weren’t any red state noms, esp since we had that article about the potential South Dakota nom. Also, WTF is up with the EDWI nom.

      NDIL surprised me a bit. I really thought Karen Bass Ehler had it. Maybe she’ll get the Pallmeyer spot. Harjani
      wasn’t my top choice but def not my bottom. He seems solid and I like him better than some of the other people that have been appointed to NDIL. BTW- we gotta let Gowen and Shelly go. They would have been great but that ship has sadly sailed for the time being.

      For the EDMI seat, I thought it might go to someone with a Middle Eastern background since EDMI has a large Middle Eastern population and has very little representation on that court. I’m also wondering if now that we have a nom for that seat, if Mark Goldsmith will go senior.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Dequan's avatar

        Uuuggghhh… Still no EDWI nominee. Ron Johnson probably spend the holidays thinking of what excuse he was going to use to flip flop on his recommendation once announced.

        Makes sense Christopher Kavanugh will step down. Although I like him in the role & that’s just another reason I would have went with the other recommendation. Although I read @Ben’s post & if all the judges on the WDVA are in Roanoke, I can understand wanting some geographic diversity.

        The NDIL has been a bit disappointing. As you said, not the worst pic out of the recommendations but certainly not the top two. With Durbin as the chairman of the SJC, I would hope for better overall.

        Liked by 1 person

  24. Zack's avatar

    DuBose will be the second lesbian on the District Court of Rhode Island after Mary S. McElroy, whom despite being appointed by Trump was a public defender and likely would have been a 1st Circuit nominee for the Rhode Island seat if not for her age.
    All in all, a solid list of nominees, especially Ali.

    Liked by 2 people

  25. tsb1991's avatar

    Cloture vote on Crews coming up at 11:30. Depending on attendance today, the VP could be needed, I know there were issues with her flight in the DC area being diverted due to winds, but she should be in the area if needed, right?

    Liked by 1 person

  26. tsb1991's avatar

    In a call at work, but surprisingly, Collins a yes on Crews. Not sure how Manchin voted, but he’s had a lengthy but looks like friendly chat with Hickenlooper (who represents Colorado) who’s been presiding during the vote, so maybe he sweet talked into Manchin for support?

    Liked by 1 person

  30. raylodato's avatar

    So, let me see if I have this correct–if Crews and Mehalchick are confirmed this week, that means that–since SJC has been cancelled tomorrow–there won’t be any nominees who can have floor votes next week. Not IT. Not Kolar, who has GOP support. Not Kiel, who is relatively uncontroversial. Nobody.

    Is that correct?

    You know what that means? It’s time for another Schumer press release where he says how important judicial confirmations are to him and Senate Democrats.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Dequan's avatar

    @raylodato

    Haaaaaa… That’s right. Almost time for another press release… I swear, no vote-a-rama to end the year, voting on nominees that could get confirmed with a quarter of the Dems out to end the year versus confirming the party line fire when we knew a handful of Republicans would not be present & now no judges next week. Schumer should announce they will be cancelling one week of their August recess just to confirm judges but of course we know that’s out of the question.

    Like

  32. star0garnet's avatar

    This batch of nominees, with an average birthdate in April 1979, is Biden’s youngest batch of Article III nominees, apart from the batch that was just Scott Colom. Speaking relatively, however, with an average age of 44.7, they’re slightly older than the 6/15/21 (43.9) and 1/19/22 (44.0) batches were at the time of announcement.

    Liked by 2 people

  33. Dequan's avatar

    Great research @star0garnet. Honestly if it wasn’t for the San Diego nominee, I would be close to calling this the best batch Biden has sent in quite sometime in the average. One of the other bloggers mentioned they thought Judge Hood would have gotten the EDMI seat. I believe there still is another vacancy there but I wouldn’t be surprised to see that seat go to a Muslim nominee. Particularly with Biden’s numbers slipping so hard amongst that community in Michigan. There should be no shortage of possibilities if so.

    Like

    • keystone's avatar

      Some more info on Rebecca Kanter nominee for SDCA.

      She recently ran for Superior Court of San Diego County and won. For that race, her endorsements included:

      – San Diego County Public Defenders Association
      – Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association (mission is to advance political, economic, educational, social, legislative, and legal interests of the Black community in San Diego county)
      – Tom Homann LGBTQ+ Law Association (San Diego LGBT Bar)
      – San Diego Democrats for Equality
      – San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council
      – Run Women Run (inspires, recruits, trains, mentors and supports pro-choice women for elected and appointed office)

      For that race, she was rated “Well-Qualified” by the San Diego County Bar Association.

      “Rebecca is a mother and President of the San Diego Federal Daycare Board, a nonprofit ensuring quality, affordable childcare for military and federal families. Rebecca led the Lawyers Club Fund for Justice supporting vulnerable women and girls and chaired the Reproductive Rights & Women’s Advocacy Committee. She has volunteered with nonprofit organizations protecting coastal ecosystems.”

      She seems to be very involved with organizations that aim to advance the role of women. She also seems to be involved with several environmental orgs.

      There’s some good stuff there. I think we need to learn more before we write her off.

      Liked by 2 people

    • keystone's avatar

      This gets a little complicated…

      There aren’t currently any other openings on EDMI. Mark Goldsmith is eligible to go senior and I’m bullish on that happening. However, Goldsmith is VERY involved with the Jewish community in the Detroit metro area. Even though I think a Muslim or Middle Eastern judge is lacking on that court, I’m not sure the WH would welcome the optics right now of swapping a jewish justice for a muslim justice, particularly since both are large and important communities in the Detroit metro area.

      The other possibility is if Eric Clay goes senior, Jonathan J.C. Grey is a possible replacement, which would open up his seat. I’ve always liked the idea of then giving that seat to Noah Hood since belonged to his mother (credit to I think @ethan for this idea). I guess the actual seat doesn’t matter that much and Hood could replace Goldsmith.

      Liked by 1 person

  34. Joe's avatar

    I’m a little late to the party, but all of these nominees seem very good to me. Particularly Ali, Yoon, and Dubose.

    Biden has gotten a lot of criticism here for his post 2021 nominees but honestly the last 4-5 batches have been excellent work. I have to commend the WH Counsel’s Office (and home state senators).

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thomas's avatar

      Many prosecutors, but at least mostly one out of each batch had a slightly different background than being a prosecutor.
      With White’s nomination, EDMI has and will definitely get no public defender on the active bench after Drain and Borman went senior. For a relative big court in a blue state, that hurts

      Liked by 2 people

  35. Ethan's avatar

    Also a bit later than usual to the party even though I read the announcement firs thing when I woke up this morning. Robert White’s nomination is the most perplexing considering that most AUSAs who are nominated to the federal bench have either supervisory or clerkship experience. It appears he has neither. I wondered for a second if he was Helene White’s son but that does not appear to be the case since her husband’s last name is Levin and her children likely have that or a hyphenated name as their last name.

    Liked by 2 people

  39. tsb1991's avatar

    Crews cloture vote was 51-47 (Cantwell and Risch absent), confirmation vote was 51-48 (so Cantwell only absence today). After this expected failed vote on a veto override, they’re going back to consider that Labor nominee whose cloture was filed on yesterday. Sounds like 50 and possibly the VP are needed to confirm Mehalchick?

    Tomorrow will have been five days since Cantwell tested positive, but given the Senate won’t be back until Tuesday, would she really fly all the way out from Washington to DC to show up for one day?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dequan's avatar

      @Ryan J

      Haaaaaa… The Let’s Run lunatic probably stopped his car in mid traffic because of you. He could have been sky diving, he would delete those Wikipedia pages before his feet hit the ground… Lol

      I swear I use to love Wikipedia before that idiot but stopped using it when they allow a nut case like him to have any decision making. But keep me updated. I can use the laugh.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Ryan J's avatar

        I’m prepared to have a Wikipedia fight to keep the pages… this is just the first step. I’m going to do this incrementally; after all, Let’s Run started with just Tiffany Cartwright and then pushed to remove more and more. Now I’m trying to reverse engineer that.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Dequan's avatar

        I certainly wish you luck. I just thank God I didn’t send Wikipedia money. I was close to donating since I used them so much but when the Let’s Run asshole started his crap, that was it for me. I’ll happily donate to them if they reverse their policy though so keep reposted.

        Like

      • Ryan J's avatar

        So Let’s Run has just found the article. Below are his 3 grievances. I can resolve #2 and #3 but #1 is the ridiculous rule that’s how he’s gotten numerous other pages taken down.

        1. This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages). The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia’s notability guideline for biographies. (January 2024)

        2. This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2024)

        3. This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (January 2024)

        Like

      • Ryan J's avatar

        He just messaged me. He’s spied on us before so it’s fair game for me to reveal his messages to me

        T”hanks for your contributions to Melissa R. DuBose. Unfortunately, I do not think it is ready for publishing at this time because it needs more sources to establish notability. I have converted your article to a draft which you can improve, undisturbed for a while.

        Please see more information at Help:Unreviewed new page. When the article is ready for publication, please click on the “Submit your draft for review!” button at the top of the page OR move the page back.” Let’srun (talk) 21:25, 10 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

        Liked by 1 person

      • Dequan's avatar

        Haaaaaaaaa… Damn, it took that nut a full 8 minutes to take the page down. My God he’s losing his touch. Is it possible he was busy having sex & that’s why it took so long?

        Naaaaa who am I kidding. That guy hasn’t seen the inside of a woman since he came out of one. No way anybody can dedicate their life to taking down Wikipedia pages & have more friends in their phone contact then fingers on their hand… Haaaaaaaa

        Like

      • Dequan's avatar

        @Ryan J

        There’s actually a great solution to this problem. The perfect solution would be for Harsh, the creator of this blog to make a Wikipedia style link & organizational chart on this blog but solely for judges. Then he can give access to trusted bloggers like us plus many more that frequent this site to update the pages. If there are any disputes as to what’s added, Harsh can appoint whomever he likes, or himself to be the final decision maker. That would prevent a Wikipedia type repeat where a handful of idiot Trump supporters can hijack the site.

        I don’t pretend it would be an easy task & I’m certainly not good at IT or technology, but if Harsh dedicated the time to get the site set up, I certainly would be one of the most prolific volunteers to help keep it updated.

        Here’s the good news if Harsh decided to do it. I’m sure we have reached the point where Harsh has a write up for over 50% of the current federal judges & nominees. The number may be even higher than that. So we can just use his write ups in each for their page. We can also add a link for Wikipedia on each page too. For the judges that were confirmed before Harsh started this site, we can just use the link from Wikipedia since that would have been way before any of this notability nonsense started.

        I’ll be more than happy to add the pictures to each judges page since I was the main person doing it for Wikipedia before I stopped using it. I still have them all saved in my computer.

        Here’s what I think will happen. I have noticed many news outlets & magazines use the pictures from Wikipedia when covering judges. Eventually they will start coking to this site to get the pictures because Wikipedia will no longer have pictures of newer judges. Then they will start to notice there’s more content on each judges page here versus Wikipedia because there will be no nonsense to delete content or pages here like at Wikipedia, & if there ever is, Harsh or whoever he appoints will be the judge, jury & executioner unlike Wikipedia which is the wild Wild West.

        That would be the perfect solution to the Let’s Run & Wikipedia as a whole problem.

        Liked by 2 people

      • Dequan's avatar

        @Frank

        Definitely, no question about it. It would take sometime. But I bet Harsh would have no less than a dozen of us who would be willing to help him if he decided to do it.

        Oh & one thing I didn’t address in my initial suggestion is what to do prior to Harsh doing a write up for nominee. Since it usually takes Harsh a few weeks to do a write up on a nominee after they are announced, we can still use the White House bio for their page until then. Then add articles as we find them along the way like the San Diego nominee from today.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Dequan's avatar

        My only concern with that route is how do we prevent people like the Let’s Run idiot from deleting things on that platform? At least something on this blog would leave Harsh in total control of any disagreements. If that venue is just a glorified Wikipedia, could somebody who has dedicated their entire lives to removing Wikipedia pages not do the same there?

        I just want to make sure we think of the worst case scenarios before we put time into it. Normally me having fear of such a thing would be laughable but as you saw with your own two eyes yesterday, it took around 8 minutes flat for him to take down the nominees pages created yesterday. I’m convinced he is living every waking minute of his life on Wikipedia & has a Jim Jones like devotion to it.

        Maybe we can give Harsh a little time to consider doing it here on this site? Harsh loves the judiciary as much as all of us & I’m sure he would love a venue to go to like Wikipedia use to be pre-Let’s Run.

        Like

      • Dequan's avatar

        We should be good on copyright. I can post all of the pictures which would be from the SJC hearings & are public record. We can use quotations whenever putting an exact quote somewhere & of course put all the references at the bottom.

        Also once we get really good & finally get to the point all of the judges have a page, I would like to start creating pages for people we think should be on the list of possible nominees. @Ethan’s list is a perfect guide for that. Maybe not everybody but certainly some. Lets Run would have a heart attack if we dared created a page for somebody who wasn’t even nominated… Lol

        Liked by 1 person

  42. Mike's avatar

    @Dequan, every time I read about what Biden could’ve done in Texas vs what they did do it’s like a punch in the gut.

    I just can’t believe Ted Cruz is the one that got the biggest sweetheart deal out of all the Republicans.

    Liked by 1 person

  43. Mike S.'s avatar

    Thanks Ryan! You are the real MVP for creating those pages for nominees. Major props to anyone else keeping Wikipedia up to date with nominees.

    Seems like a wasted week largely. I wish Schumer had filed cloture on more nominees prior to the holidays. At the very least, Kolar would have made a lot of sense, since they could have voted on cloture tomorrow and confirm Monday. Seems like lost opportunities.

    I also can’t for the life of me figure out why we didn’t get more voice votes the last week of December (IT noms, DC Superior Court noms, Manglona (N. Mar. Islands)), or why more votes weren’t held the last week when only a dozen or so Republicans were in town. So frustrating!

    Happy to see six nominees this morning! We should be seeing six nominees for ever batch released to maximize hearing space available… I would love to see full hearings for nominees going forward. Curious to see what happens with Gaston and Edelman going forward, I haven’t seen anything else regarding their nominations.

    In D.C. Circuit news, Judge Pan proved to be a very effective questioner in the Trump immunity case yesterday. Trump’s counsel made an totally crazy argument in favor of absolute president immunity, completely off the walls. Even Henderson appeared skeptical (since this wouldn’t just apply to Trump, but to any president).

    I know Biden hasn’t been a perfect president, but the argument I always make to folks about the need to vote for him is federal judges. Judges Judges Judges! I’d rather a moderate judge in a red state any day of the week over some of the Federalist Society hacks Trump appointed to the bench. I hope people remember this come November…

    Liked by 3 people

  45. tsb1991's avatar

    Hopefully a hearing for next week will be posted on the SJC site soon, and hopefully all six nominees from the previous batch will fit into it.

    The nominees today should be good for a hearing on 2/7. Next possible hearing after that will be 2/28 following a two week Senate break, and the White House would have until 1/31 (three weeks form today) to get in nominees for that slot. When the Senate gets back from their two week break in February, they’ll be in for four weeks. You could have hearings on 2/28 and 3/13 (2/14 deadline for nominees), or if the White House misses the 1/31 deadline for whatever reason, you could still go for hearings on 3/6 and 3/20 (2/7 and 2/21 deadline for nominees, respectively).

    We’ll see if any cloture motions get sent out tomorrow, if Schumer wants to try again with the withdrawn nominees and hopefully have a better grip on attendance.

    Liked by 1 person

  46. keystone's avatar

    Do you think Sinema even wants to be a Senator next year? Her two closets allies, Manchin and Romney, arent gonna be there.She and Kelly seem to be cordial at best. She doesnt seem to be close with the other moderates (Collins, Murkowski, Tester, Brown, Toomey, etc) or the other “mavericks” (Fetterman, Tuberville). She doesn’t seem to care about serving the people of AZ. She seems to enjoy the power and attention but at this point, she could prob get that in the private sector or as a talking head or a lobbyist. I just don’t get it.

    Sorry, I realize this is off topic.

    Liked by 1 person

  47. Joe's avatar

    I do not think Sinema will run again. If that was her primary motivation I think she would’ve stayed a Democrat and sought the backing of the DNC heavily for what surely would’ve been a tough primary fight.

    I suspect she has her eye on a private sector or lobbying job, possibly one set up for her by a progressive or dem aligned group.

    Liked by 1 person

  48. Waiting for a response from Frank lol's avatar

    Given Crews had one of the most contentions hearings and had a slip up where he could not define a Brady motion, his final vote tally is sort of hilarious when you think about it.

    He somehow got Manchin to vote for him who has been on a role in voting against Biden’s judicial nominees lately. And Collins and Murkowski too while Sinema votes no for the first time. Glad Crews was confirmed but the tally of who voted yes and no made me laugh.

    Liked by 2 people

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