The New President and the Courts

It is now just a few days after the election, and people are already speculating about what changes President-Elect Obama will bring to the federal judiciary with his court appointments. Of course, most lawyers are curious to see who Obama will appoint if any justices step down from the Supreme Court, but as these National Law Journal and AP articles point out, Obama will immediately have fourteen circuit court seats to fill and about four dozen total federal court openings to fill. This could move a number of courts from having more Republican-appointed judges to having more Democratic-appointed judges. Although, as people know, it can sometimes be hard to predict what a judge will do once he or she is given a lifetime appointment.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat