Seventh Circuit Federal Court 2023

 We're at the halfway point in our review of the state of the Federal Circuit Courts at the midway point of the Biden administration.  The Seventh Circuit is comprised of three states divided into seven Districts:  Western Wisconsin, Eastern Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Central Illinois, Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, and Northern Indiana.

The distribution of Judges to Population varies widely.  The District of Northern Illinois is the third largest in the nation after Southern New York and Central California, while nearby Western Wisconsin is among the smallest with just two seats.  It's a limited club including, Vermont, Idaho, Northern Iowa, and North Dakota.  Northern Illinois used to share the same number of judges as Eastern Pennsylvania until a couple of months ago, when it was granted a new seat, its 23rd, by act of Congress.

The variation in rations of Judges to Citizens is the most disparate of any Circuit.  Are the good folks of Green Bay twice as criminally minded as those of La Croix?  And possibly more to the point, are the people of Milwaukee?  You see this pattern in many places and it begs the question: Does to the court exist only to respond to criminal activity, or once in existence, does it participate in a complex and ever more deeply entrenched dance of generating criminal activity in order not simply to justify its size, but to maintain its capacity in order secure the economic livelihoods of all the sectors of law and order that become dependent upon it?  There's probably a better way to state that, but you get what I mean.  Further, by this reason standard of comparison, living in Southern Illinois is the most dangerous place of all!--from a Federal Law Enforcement point of view.

In terms of partisan appointments, former President Trump got 17 nominations through, and thus far, Biden has placed 7.  With open seats and pending retirements that number could rise to 13.  Assuming Biden does fill those seats, the Democratic appointments will hold a 35 to 24 advantage over Republicans, yet be a 4 to 7 minority on the Appellate Level.

42% of the Judges are Female, however, the ratio on the Appeals Court currently sits at 50% with an open seat that could make the 7th Circuit Appeals court majority female for the first time in its history depending on who President Biden nominates.

Connecting the dots, Biden has once again brought some much needed diversity to Circuit, most especially at the Appellate Level adding the only Racial Diversity to what had been an all white bench.  When it comes to the actual racial/ethnic make-up of Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana as compared to the Circuit Court: 74% of the population are white, and 72% of the Judges are; 12% of the population is Black and 18% of the Judges are; 10% of the population is Hispanic and 5% of the Judges are, and 4% of the population is Asian and 5% of the Judges are.