The Federal Courts: Northern Ohio, part 1

 You know I love the Federal Courts.  I suppose on some level, I would have loved being a Judge on one of them.  Nothing too highfalutin.  A District Level seat would be fine.  To not simply be an judge presiding over opposing arguments, but to necessarily be a scholar of the law and the Constitution in order to fulfill the oath of the office--resonates with me.

In digging back into the demographics of the Federal Courts, I settled on Ohio.  Ohio is part of the Sixth Circuit that includes four states: Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, and nine Districts: two each in Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky and three in Tennessee.  In Ohio the districts are divided north to south with 11 seats assigned to the District of Northern Ohio and 8 seats assigned to the District of Southern Ohio.

The Sixth Circuit also has a compliment of 16 Appellate Court seats, and an additional 13 semi-retired Senior Status former Appellate Judges to support the work.  Of these 29 judges, 10 serve in Ohio!  One full- and two part- time Appellate Judges in Northern Ohio, and five full- and two part- time Appellate Judges in Southern Ohio.

The judges outlined in black are District, and those outlined in purple are Appellate

Of the eleven seats at the District level in Northern Ohio, one is vacant.  Ten are filled, and eight semi-retired Senior Status Judges still serve and support the workload.  The largest Court House is in Cleveland with six full-time seats (five of which are filled), and six part-time Senior Status Judges.  Additionally, a single full-time Appellate seat is located there, too.  Next in size is Toledo with two full-time and two Senior Status Judges.  Then Akron with two full-time and one part-time Appellate Judge.  The remaining full-time District Judge is President Obama appointee, Benita Pearson, who sits as the lone District Judge in Youngstown.  Influence on these courts tends to support Democratic ideals of Justice in most places, with Akron and Medina being the two exceptions.  

Two curiosities: One, of the three Appeals Court level Justices, all are female.  Given the overall demographics of the Six Circuit, this would not be expected. Two, all three Judges seated in Akron were appointed by President George W. Bush.  Out of office nearly 16 years, his choices still hold sway in Akron.  This sort of thing can be said of nearly every former president, 12 to 20 years after their departure from the presidency--their judicial legacy wears on, on some level or another.  If you think about it, and assign a .3 value to Senior Status judges who typically work between half and a quarter of their previous full-time status cases, you could quantify by appointing President, the possible partisan influence that the appointment process has.

In chart form for your consideration:

Conclusions:  Northern Ohio, on the whole is a balanced District that leans Moderately Democratic.  Should President Biden or another Democratic President appoint a judge to the open seat, in Cleveland, the balance would (could) decidedly tip in favor of Democratic sensibilities.