The Federal Courts: Northern Ohio, part 2

 I love making this graph.  It illustrates the seats in the Federal District Court of Northern Ohio beginning in 1979.  The years are colored to represent different presidents and the judges they appointed share the same color.  The length of the vertical bar represents the number of years the judge served in that seat.  Cutting across any year left to right will show you which judges were serving together during that year (and if there were openings, or even if a seat that exists today, existed then.)  Seats are always subject to creation and retirement by the Congress.  However, whenever a seat is created, it cannot be filled by the sitting President.  The seat must remain empty until after the next election when the winner--whomever that may be, can nominate a candidate to the new seat.

I chose to start this graphic at the end of the Carter Administration precisely because President Ronald Reagan was the first president in my lifetime be seen as Judicial activist.  Not the first President to attempt to pack the Third Branch of government to their ideological advantage.  Certainly President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wins that honor.  Next in line would be the geriatric duo of Trump/McConnell.  And it's no secret that Biden has promised to "restore balance to the Federal Judiciary".  

Interpreting the Graphic

In 1979, Jimmy Carter was President.  There were 8 seats in the District of Northern Ohio.  All were filled by his predecessors.  Both seats 1 and 2 had already been retired.  Ergo seats 3 through 10.  These judges were appointed by the following presidents:

• Lyndon B. Johnson - seats 3, 4, and 9
• Richard M. Nixon - seats 5, 6, and 10
• John F. Kennedy - seat 7
• Gerald R. Ford - seat 8

In the final year of his presidency, Jimmy Carter got to appoint 2 new judges, who's seats had been authorized by Congress during Gerald R. Ford's presidency.  Carter used the opportunity to appoint the first female judge, Ann Aldrich, and the first Black judge, George Washington White. Congress authorized an eleventh seat during President Reagan's first term, which he filled at the beginning of his second, and used this opportunity to appoint the courts second female judge, Alice M. Batchelder.  The new seat brought the court to 11 seats, and Reagan appointees held 6 of them (a majority) for a short time between 1986 and 1989. During Reagan's second term a 12th seat was authorized and first filled by his predecessor, George H. W. Bush.  Bush-the-Elder appointed the first Hispanic Judge to the court, Paul Ramon Matia.

But Reagan's second term was marked by divided government with Democrats holding the reigns in the Senate, as well as, both Senators from the Buck-eye state members of the Democratic Party.  A combination that led to no blue slips and no more judges appointed by President Reagan.

Ergo, when newly elected Democratic President, Bill Clinton, entered office, he found himself with 5 open seats out of the total of 11.  He wasted no time filling those seats, and expanding representation.  In the following 8 years, President Clinton appointed a total of 10 Judges to this District Court.  3 of whom were white women, and one a Black man to further expand the diversity that did exist in 1979.  The graph clearly indicates the width and length of Clinton appointee influence.  

Post President Clinton, Presidents have had significant, yet not overwhelming opportunities to assert their Judicial philosophy into this court.  President George W. Bush got to name 4 judges, President Obama 2 judges, President Trump 3 judges and President Biden 3 judges.  Of these 12 Justices:

• 3 White Women
• 1 Black Woman
• 1 Black Man
• 1 Hispanic Man

And all three of President Biden's appointees are among these six.  In the history of this court from it's inception in 1855 with the appoint of Hiram V. Willson by President Franklin Pierce, there have been a total of 61 Federal District Judges.  Of those 61 judges over the course of 169 years, there have been a total of:

• 49 White Men
• 6 White Women
• 3 Black Men
• 2 Hispanic Men
• 1 Black Woman

For the first 125 year, there were ONLY white men!  President Biden has replaced 30% of the current sitting Justices, and he is the first President to appoint ALL minority candidates.

Credit where Credit is due.