A Deeper Dive Into The Article III Courts: The Fifth Circuit; Eastern District of Texas

As the year comes to a close, the nominees awaiting confirmation by the United States Senate will reset.  On December 31, 2023 at midnight all the nominees will be returned to the President for reconsideration.  At present this involves about 135 individuals.  Of those, 29 are awaiting confirmation to various Article III courts.  In the New Year, most will be renominated and their confirmation process will continue.  One, Scott Colom, who has been nominated to a seat on the Federal District Court of Northern Mississippi, won't be.  You see, he was nominated with the presumptive blue cards of both of Mississippi's Republican Senators. Then one of them, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, changed her mind.  One wonders if she was simply unaware that Mr. Colom is Black.  Goodness knows she's said her share of racist shit.  Instead her reasoning is the post nod discovery that Scott Colom believes Transexuals have rights.  Get the fainting couch ready!

Nevertheless, at the end of three years of triage by the Biden administration, it's a good time to take stock and explore the condition and dispersion of judges.  After all, Federal judges are appointed for life, and so change is rarely quick.  Power in the courts generally builds up over time.  Occasionally it is effected by chance.  More often it's raw power, but no matter, most people know little of the reality and less of the process.  

There has never been a President who didn't appoint more men than women.  There has never been a president who has appointed more minorities than White people.  There has never been a president who has done either of these things until President Biden--who has done both to a degree that is nothing short of radical.  Of the 39 Federal Appellate Judges nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate, 77% were non-White, 74% were woman, and only 3 were White men or 8%.  At the Federal District level 125 judges have been confirmed.  Of these, by comparison, 67% were non-white, 65% were women, and only 11 were White men or 8% again.  No President has ever even come close to only appointing 8% White men.  Did I mention that this is...radical?  Wonderfully, diversely, well over-due radical!

Let's look at one District in one Circuit.  The Fifth Circuit, or should I say, the infamous 5th Circuit.  Known as the most conservative of all the Circuits (there are 11, plus the District of Columbia, and a non-geocentric Federal Circuit), the Fifth covers the states of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.  These states, as indicated by the map below, have been sub-divided into 9 Districts.  Not all states are subdivided.  Some that are even relatively populous like New Jersey, Maryland and South Carolina are a District on their own.

Each District is assigned a set number of "seats" by the U.S. Congress.  Judges who hold these seats are considered to be "Active," and one of these Judges is assigned the role of Chief Justice.  The assignment is based upon the proximity of the justices to the age of 65.  Once assigned, the term of service lasts for seven years, an then is passed on to the next qualifying Justice.  It is possible for a Chief Justice to serve more than one term.

Along with Active Justices, Judges are allowed to take Senior status upon turning 65 or older.  The decision is theirs alone to make, there are no forced retirements.  Senior Judges work a far reduced schedule with as few as 12 weeks of hearing cases per year.  Nearly every District has a mix of Active and Senior Justices.  There are Senior Justices who were appointed by Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter who are still serving.

Now, let's hone in on the specifics of one District.  I have chosen the Eastern District of Texas.  It is in geographic size and apportionment of judges the smallest of Texas' four Districts, shown on the map above in yellow.  It holds a couple of interesting distinctions.  One is its notoriety for hearing more copyright cases than any other District; more, in fact, than the next four Districts combined.  There are reasons why this situation has evolved, but suffice it to say, it's certainly an interesting factoid.  The other is the fact that within the Eastern District of Texas there are no Appellate Justices seated.  

The Appellate Judges hear appeals from cases decided by the District Courts and are generally spread out with seats established in all of the Circuit's Districts.  The Fifth Circuit seats 17 Active Appellate Justices and currently has another 8 Senior Appellate Justices.  Yet of the 25 currently serving, none are seated within the Eastern District of Texas.  This doesn't mean that cases decided by the Judges in the Eastern District are final, rather, it means that appeals must be heard outside of the boundaries of the Eastern District.

Studying the illustration above, you can see that there are six Courthouses in the District of Eastern Texas.  The tables indicate which Judges are seated at which Courthouses.  Senior Judges who are part-time as indicated.  The number after the Judge's name represents there age, and the date is the year of their confirmation by the Senate signifying the start of their tenure.  The colors behind the names indicates the President who appointed them. 

Buff Red - President Ronald Reagan

Dusty Rose - President George W. Bush

Dark Sage - President Barack Obama

Pumpkin Orange - President Donald Trump

It's is interesting to me that three of the Courthouses are in the hands of Republican appointed Judges and three in Democrat appointed Judges. The current Chief Justice is James Rodney Gilstrap appointed by President Obama and seated in Marshall, Texas.  Judge Gilstrap will continue to serve into 2025, at which time he will be succeeded in the role of Chief Justice by Judge Amos L. Mazzarant III, who was also appointed by President Obama, in Sherman.  In 2032, the Chief Justice role would move to Judge Jeremy Kernodle who was appointed by President Trump, and the seat would then be located in Tyler.  This assumes that no other Judge would appointed before then to fill a vacancy whose age would qualify him over Judge Kernodle.  

Justice Marcia A. Crone who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003, is the only woman serving in this District.  All of the Judges are White.  This in spite of a significant percentage of the general population that is Hispanic, with pockets of African American and Asian citizens.  I've always thought in one fell swoop the writers of the Constitution were brilliant and blind.  Brilliant in crafting the idea that citizens are judges by a jury of their peers; yet judges need meet no such social expectation.