Federal judiciary may change

The Democrats made a strong showing in the election yesterday, seizing control of the Senate as well as the presidency. Over the next four years, Democratic leadership may also influence the Supreme Court and other arms of the judiciary.

The conservative-leaning Supreme Court (of the nine members of the Supreme Court, seven were appointed by Republican presidents) is likely to see some turnover during Obama’s presidency. The oldest of the justices is 88. Since a Supreme Court justice’s term ends with death or a decision to retire, Obama could fill any vacancies with younger justices to ensure longevity of less conservative members.

Also poised for change are the federal appeals courts. Currently the 13 federal appeals courts have 100 Republican appointees and 64 Democratic. When Obama takes office, there will be 15 vacancies. Expansion of the courts and turnover will likely lead to additional vacancies during the course of Obama’s presidency, enough that Democratic appointees could assume the majority position.

For additional information, see this Bloomberg news report.

This was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 and is filed in the Legal categories.