Obama judicial recommendations to start the 112th congress

[longwinded]

There were quite a few judicial confirmations during the last few months of the 111th congress, but Obama still finished his first two years with far fewer confirmations than Bush or Clinton did during their first two years. However, there has been a fair amount of discussion/vetting going on behind the scenes (some of it for years) to fill the current judicial vacancies. Hopefully, we will see some of these people nominated shortly.

Alaska:
o 9th Cir: Heather Kendall-Miller (would be first Native American appeals court judge), Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen (she's a Sarah Palin appointee...)
o D Alaska: Peter Maassen, Judge Joel Bolger, Judge Sharon Gleason, U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler
o http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202463876409 ; http://alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/news/7097-bar-poll-rates-federal-judge-candidates

Arkansas:
o ED Ark: Christopher J. Heller, Denise Reid Hoggard, Amelia Mosley Russell
o WD Ark: Susan O. Hickey (being vetted), Caroline M. Craven (dropped out of consideration)
o http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2010/09/19/judicial-candidate-still-alive

Arizona:
o D Ariz:
o D Ariz:
o D Ariz:

California:
o 9th Cir ("California seat" vacated by Stephen Trott, although Sens. Michael Crapo and Jim Risch are trying to claim this seat for Idaho): Professor Christopher David Ruiz Cameron
o CD Cal:
o ND Cal:
o SD Cal:
o SD Cal:
o http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202463876409

Connecticut
o 2nd Cir: District Judge Christopher Droney
o http://www.dailyructions.com/exit-chatigny-enter-droney/

Delaware:
o D. Del: Linda L. Ammons (57 yo), Richard G. Andrews (54 yo), Collins J. Seitz Jr. (52 yo)
o http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110110/OPINION03/101100304/Member-of-local-legal-family-in-line-for-high-profile-appointment

District of Columbia:
o DC Cir:

Florida:
o SD Fl: Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan, Judge Jerald Bagley, Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr.
o SD Fl:
o http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/PubArticleDBR.jsp?id=1202475537675&hbxlogin=1

Georgia:
o 11th Cir:
o ND Ga:
o ND Ga:

Illinois:
o ND Ill: Susan Cox, Thomas Durkin, Mary Rowland, Maria Valdez; recs might change with Mark Kirk's election
o ND Ill:
o ND Ill:
o http://durbin.senate.gov/showRelease.cfm?releaseId=317001

Kansas:
o D Kan:

Louisiana:
o 5th Cir: Alston Johnson (64 yo, former Clinton nominee), district court judges Sarah Vance (60 yo) and Ivan Lemelle (60 yo), Stephen Higginson (49 yo)
o ED La: New Orleans City Attorney Nannette Jolivette-Brown, state Judge Jane Triche-Milazzo, attorney Stephen J. Herman
o ED La:
o ED La:
o http://www.lapolitics.com/showresults.php?id=8443 ; http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/11/city_attorney_nanette_jolivett.html

Maine:
o D Me: Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy (54 yo)
o http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/141036.html

Michigan:
o ED Mich:
o ED Mich:

Nebraska:
o D Neb: Nebraska Supreme Court Justice John M. Gerrard
o http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/article_6e3545de-107d-552e-9477-61597288a02d.html

New York:
o EDNY: William F. Kuntz II
o SDNY: Paul A. Engelmayer
o SDNY: J. Paul Oetken
o SDNY:
o SDNY:
o SDNY:
o SDNY:
o WDNY: Monroe County District Attorney Michael C. Green (48 yo)
o http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/record.cfm?id=327898 ; http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/record.cfm?id=328259 ; http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/record.cfm?id=325931 ; http://nydailyrecord.com/blog/2010/07/13/schumer-to-recommend-green-for-judgeship/

North Carolina:
o EDNC: Allen Cobb, Jennifer May-Parker, Quentin Sumner
o http://hagan.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=229

Ohio:
o ND Ohio: Jeffrey Helmick
o http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20100826/NEWS09/8250404

Oklahoma:
o 10th Cir: Janet K. Levit, Miles Tolbert
o ND Okla: Arvo Mikkanen
o http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20110109_16_A15_ULNSbv759183 ; http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleid=20100523_16_A1_WASHIN822076

Pennsylvania:
o ED Pa:
o ED Pa:
o MD Pa: Judge Terrence R. Nealon (51 yo)
o MD Pa: Judge Carmen D. Minora (57 yo Republican; friend of Specter's)
o http://citizensvoice.com/news/sources-nealon-minora-mariani-to-be-submitted-for-nomination-to-federal-bench-1.881276

South Carolina:
o 4th Circuit:
o DSC:

Texas:
o ED Tex: Eric M. Albritton (Democratic recommendation), Magistrate Judge Chad Everingham (Democratic recommendation), J. Rodney Gilstrap (Democratic recommendation)
o SD Tex: Justice Dori Contreras Garza (52 yo; Democratic recommendation), Judge Nanette Hassette (49 yo; Democratic recommendation), Judge Nelva Gonzalez Ramos (43 yo; Democratic recommendation)
o SD Tex:
o WD Tex: Javier Alvarez (bipartisan support)
o WD Tex: Catherine Torres-Stahl (Democratic recommendation w/ Republican opposition), Robert Valdez (Republican suggestion)
o http://www.caller.com/news/2010/jun/09/democrats-select-three-finalists-federal-judgeship/ ; http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/texas_lawyer_blog/2010/06/democrats-send-white-house-a-list-of-judicial-candidates-for-edtx-and-sdtx.html ; http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/6988308.html

Utah:
o D Utah:
o D Utah:

Washington:
o ED Wash: Stanley A. Bastian (52 yo), Thomas O. Rice, Leslie R. "Les" Weatherhead
o http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sirens/tags/robert-whaley/

West Virginia:
o ND W Va:

Wyoming:
o D Wyo: Wyoming: Scott Skavdahl (43 yo), Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven K. Sharpe (51 yo), Mark W. Gifford (53 yo).
o http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_7ff1af6c-e89e-11df-8711-001cc4c03286.html

[DarthDem]

1. Great Summary

Thanks for posting it. Time to get some of these judges approved, THE SENATE!