IntroductionBarack Obama is set to make historic and long term changes to the federal judiciary. While novice legal observers tend to focus only on the Supreme Court the bulk of federal appeals case law is made by lower courts. In the United States there are 94 districts which are organized into 12 federal circuits. This includes the DC Circuit, which is often viewed as the most influential appeals court due to its review of agencies of the federal government (FEC, EPA, CIA, etc). There is also a federal circuit which hears specialized cases such as those involving patent law. The judges of these 13 courts are described in detail below in terms of the political affiliation of the appointing Presidents. DisclaimerThis is an analysis of the political affiliation appointing federal appeals court judges as determined by the political party of the Presidents who appointed them, it is not necessarily descriptive of the ideology of the judges. As many of you are aware the Supreme Court contains several fairly liberal justices who were appointed by Republicans. The ideological breakdown might be 5 conservatives and 4 liberal justices, whereas the political affiliation is 7 to 2. In addition, the political affiliation of the President appointing them may not necessarily indicate the political allegiance of the judge him/herself. Nevertheless, it does give us a basic idea of the composition of the federal appeals courts. MethodsI have used wikipedia articles and verified the information using the court's various websites. The number of authorized judges were verified using a 2005 Congressional Research Service Report from the University Of North Texas Libraries at the following link: http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/data/2005/meta-crs-8249.tkl
ClarificationsThe DC Circuit is losing a seat and the 9th Circuit is gaining a seat. This change was a part of the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007 and goes into effect on January 21, 2009.You might have noticed that Judge Roger Gregory on the 4th Circuit was appointed by both party’s Presidents. Clinton appointed him to the 4th Circuit in 2000, the Senate never acted on the appointment, Clinton appointed him as a recess appointment, and he was later appointed by Bush in 2001. As you can imagine, this does not happen very frequently.
Map of the Federal Appeals Circuits
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/US_Court_of_Appeals_and_District_Court_map.svg/620px-US_Court_of_Appeals_and_District_Court_map.svg.png
Supreme Court
9 Justices
No vacancies
7 Republican appointees
2 Democratic appointees
0 vacancies
Pie graph:
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United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
6 authorized judgeships
5 active judges
3 Republican appointees
1 vacancy
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United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
13 authorized judgeships
12 active judges
6 Republican appointees
6 Democratic appointees
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United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
14 authorized judgeships
2 vacancies
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United States Court of Appeals for Fourth Circuit
15 authorized judgeships
11 active judges
4 Democratic appointees
1 Dual party appointee
4 vacancies
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United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
17 authorized judgeships
17 active judges
13 Republican appointees
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United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
16 authorized judgeships
15 judges
10 Republican appointees
5 Democratic appointees
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United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
11 authorized judgeships
10 active judges
3 Democratic appointees
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United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
9 Republican appointees
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United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
28 authorized judgeships (will be 29 on Jan 21st 2009)
27 active judges
11 Republican appointees
16 Democratic appointees
2 vacancies/new seat
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United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
12 authorized judgeships
8 Republican appointees
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United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
12 active judges (1 leaving on Jan 31st 2009)
1 vacancy (on Jan 31st 2009)
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United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
12 authorized judgeships (soon to be 11)
9 active judges
2 vacancies/lost seat
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United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
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Obama did significantly better in Missouri compared to 2004 though it appears that he will lose Missouri by less than .1% or around 3,000 votes out of 2,883,610. Missouri is the only state left to not be called for either candidate. How did he do it and what does he need to do to carry the state in 2012?Southwest Missouri
Obama improved in every county in Southwest Missouri (SWMO) relative to the 2004 election. This area is considered Missouri’s most reliable Republican stronghold and the only whole part of the state Bill Clinton lost in 1992 and 1996. Most notably Obama improved significantly in Greene County, SWMO’s most populous county with 240,391 people or 356 persons per square mile (Census, 2000). Kerry lost Greene County (Springfield metro) by 25% and Obama lost by 16% an improvement of 9%. Obama improved by the same amount in SWMO’s second most populous county, Jasper County (Joplin metro) losing the county by 33% instead of 42%. Southeast Missouri
In Southeast Missouri Obama fared the worst especially in the Bootheel. However, the majority of SEMO counties still reflected the statewide improvement for the Democratic Party’s nominee. Pemiscott County along the Mississippi river and in the Missouri Bootheel experienced the greatest percentage in vote shift in favor of the Republicans than any county in Missouri. This is surprising given that this county has a significant African American population for rural Missouri (26%, the second highest concentration in the State). Obama did 13% worse there than Kerry did in 2004. In Shannon County Missouri Obama improved by 10%. Obama also did well in Iron County which Kerry lost by 7% and Obama carried by 3%, which was 1 of the 9 counties carried by the President elect. Central Missouri
Obama improved in all of central Missouri. In three counties the vote shift in favor of the Democratic nominee was in the double digits relative to 2004. In 2004 Kerry lost in every county in central Missouri. The most dramatic vote shift occurred in Boone county Missouri, home of Missouri University. This county was split basically 50-50 in 2004 and 2000. Obama won Boone by 12% gaining more than 10,000 votes. Obama even did better in this county than Bill Clinton in both 1992 and 1996. He beat Hillary Clinton there 61%-37%. Boone County has a significant educated and young population compared to state averages. A likely demographic target for the historic Obama campaign ground game. Northern Missouri
The only county Obama carried in the entire northern part of the state was Buchanan County and he only carried it by 47 votes. The only County Obama won in the Missouri primaries against Hillary Clinton was Nodaway County where he also improved relative to Kerry, likely because of the presence of Northwest Missouri State University. Kansas City
While Obama limited the damage in rural Missouri he also ran up the numbers in the urban centers. Kerry won Jackson County 58%-41%, Obama carried the county 62%-37%. While an 8% swing may not seem like a lot, in a well populated county it amounts to tens of thousands of votes. He gained approximately 85,000 votes out of Jackson County, while Kerry gained about 50,000 and Gore about 55,000. St. Louis Metro Area
In St. Louis City, Obama improved about 8% relative to 2004. In fact, he out-performed Bill Clinton in St. Louis City by 16% in 1992 and 11% in 1996. Obama gained 108,000 votes out of St. Louis City compared to the following vote gains from previous Democratic nominees: Kerry +89,000, Gore +72,000, Clinton (1996) +69,000, Clinton (1992) 77,000. St. Louis County swung massively to the President elect. He improved by 11% from 2004 and 11% in the States most populated county amounted to a staggering gain of more than 110,000 votes. Kerry only gained about 50,000 votes from this County, Gore about 25,000. Obama carried the county by 20% or 60%-40%. Obama carried three counties directly south of St. Louis County. Obama won in Washington county by 9 votes, carried Jefferson County by about 3,000 votes, and won Ste. Genevieve County by 56%. How to turn Missouri blueObama did what he needed to do to win Missouri. He limited the rural spreads and increased the urban vote impressively. Simply doing what was done but doing it .1% more would turn Missouri blue.Obama should be able to improve spreads in the Bootheel. This area is not vote rich by any means but there is no reason whatsoever that it should be trending Republican. Who was in charge of GOTV there? I recommend promoting and hiring Cecil Hinds-Riddle who was instrumental in swinging SWMO. I also believe the key to winning Missouri in 2012 will need to include the addition of a focus on suburban Missouri. For example, if Obama can win Clay and Ray counties just north of KC (counties Al Gore carried in 2000) it might be the Republican nominee with a sudden interest in provisional ballots.
This is great news....my God....I can't believe this.....
3 days before the election, Barack Obama will be here in SW Missouri.
He's going to be here in Springfield on Saturday. The news just broke in the Springfield News Leader. Here's the link:
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20081029/BLOGS09/81029062/-1/RSS
I can't wait!!!! Spread the word....
Jack
Have you heard about this?
I just saw this news story and can't believe it. Why haven't we heard this story that McCain may have been involved with this death? Here's the link to the story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/28/news-orgs-investigate-pos_n_138449.html
I'm a veteran...and can't figure this one out...
What do you think?
If McCain would spend half the time focusing on the economy as he does saying ridiculous things about Obama, he might have not needed to campaign in Missouri (or other once leaning Republican states). The most recent stunt is to try and convince folks that Obama is a “socialist.” The truth is that both candidates support regulated capitalism.
Although Obama’s health care plan does offer some new regulation, such as a requirement that insurance companies cover more pre-existing conditions, he calls for the government to work with the private health care sector, not to take it over. Obama has called for NAFTA to be amended, not repealed. He has set standards for future free trade agreements, not a general opposition and voted for others. A socialist (a real one) would not support any of these more centrist approaches.
Capitalist theorist Adam Smith one said: “It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion." Jesus once advised a rich man to give all of his possessions to the poor to have treasure in heaven.
Well...here we go....
Tryin' to get to their conservative base....have you heard this news yet?
Palin is going to be in Springfield tomorrow. Having a rally. A lot's been going on here since this was announced yesterday. She'll be having a rally in the parking lot of Bass Pro. Here's the link about the rally tomorrow:
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20081023/NEWS0601/810230307
News stated that yesterday, the rally was going to be at MSU; but they ran out of 4000 tickets for the rally in the first 90 minutes yesterday. So they had to change locations for a bigger audience. This is very fitting; going from having a presidential rally from a University to a parking lot for a hunting and fishing store! This is the mentality....
Any Obama supporters going? I'd like to go and get some of this on film; should make for an amazing couple of hours. Anyone thinking about protesting?
Lemme know if you're thinking of going....
I'll tell you....
I'm a liberal, vegan filmmaker here in the Bible belt in SW Missouri....and it never ceases to amaze me the ignorance of these redneck racists here in this area that I have grown up in and spent most of my adult life....I thank God that most of the country is not like the majority here in SW Missouri....conservative, ultra-redneck, racist, bible-thumpin' hunters....and I could go on....
However, it's looking very good that even Obama may pick up major votes down here....I have yet to see an Obama group in my hometown country down here, but there are groups nearby in Springfield and Joplin, and my conservative friends are talking more and more negative about McCain and Palin; down here, when it comes to their pocketbooks, that's what counts....and I really think it is making a difference.
I think what Bill Maher said the other night on Larry King is very true...the 'phenomenon' of the 'Anti-Bradley effect' is true, and very alive and kickin'....I think alot of the these racist rednecks that meet down here in their local Moose lodge or VFW hall, when they get in the ballot booth, they'll look around to make sure the curtain's closed, and say to themselves, 'Is anyone lookin'? Can anyone see me?' Then look at the ballot. They'll say to themselves, 'well, I can't vote for a black guy, but he's got the best health plan for my kids and grandkids. And my Social Security. And my retirement and my house. No one's lookin'? Okay....I'll mark Obama".
I truly think with all my heart this is going to happen here in the boonies. And in other redneck places around the country. Times are too tough. And Obama will win in a landslide.
Powell said things best today when he announced his endorsement of Obama too.
After the lamentable performance of Sarah Palin in the debate with Joe Biden, one thing is bound to become increasingly clear: Palin is an albatross around McCain's neck.
Even tody (10/06/08), I am reasonably sure that confidential polling is showing that John McCain is losing lots of votes simply due to the undisguisable fact that Palin is not ready to be vice-president--or president--of these United States.
As Michael Dukakis said: She may be a fairly good Governor but she's out of her depth, having virtually no national or international experience or knowledge. I personally respect her view on abortion (don't agree but respect) but that only takes a candidate so far. I am sure than many Republicans recognize Palin's ineptitude. Some may even not vote, a few may vote for Sen. Obama.
Oh yes, she's attractive and willing to learn --- but so is my dachschund. I wouldn't want him to be President.
So, I predict McCain -- who only has once chance at the Presidency -- will dump Palin by as early as October 15. They'll think of a pretext, of course. Perhaps it will be an illness of her newborn. Then, in a few days she'll be riding on old Straight Talk's plane but, by then, Joe Lieberman or (Heaven Help Us) someone ACTUALLY QUALIFIED will be the vice presidential candidate.
Has it happened before? Yes. Thomas Eagleton quit after the story about his shock treatments was revealed. So, the process can work. Anyway, my guess is that McCain will dump her.
And, if necessary HE will leave the race, rather than lose. We will see.
Even though Obama proposes to cut the taxes of the vast majority of Americans a recent Gallup poll (August 26, 2008) indicates that a majority of Americans believe he will raise their taxes. How did that happen? Truth doesn't seem to be a family value for the McCain campaign.The following web-site allows you to look up a calculation of what your tax cut would be under the candidates tax plans: http://alchemytoday.com/obamataxcut/ These calculations are based on numbers from the highly respected Tax Policy Center of the Urban Institute and theBrookings Institution.
Here are some examples. A married two earner family with two children making $50,000 a year would receive a tax cut of $970.76 from Obama, $210.42 more than under the McCain plan. A single elderly adult with no dependents making $15,000 would receive 896.21 in cuts under Obama's plan, which is $877.52 more in tax cuts than under McCain's plan. An elderly couple with no dependents making $25,000 a year would receive $128.13 in tax cuts under Obama's plan and nothing under McCain's plan.
The following web-site allows you to look up a calculation of what your tax cut would be under the candidates tax plans: http://alchemytoday.com/obamataxcut/ These calculations are based on numbers from the Tax Policy Center of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution.
As an example, a married two earner family with two children making 50,000 a year would receive a tax cut of 970.76 from Obama, 210.42 more than under the McCain plan. A single elderly adult with no dependents making 15,000 would receive 896.21 in cuts under Obama’s plan, which is 877.52 more in tax cuts than under McCain’s plan. An elderly couple with no dependents making 25,000 a year would receive 128.13 in tax cuts under Obama’s plan and nothing under McCain’s plan.
Only the very rich would pay more under Obama’s plan. As you will recall they did quite well in those tax brackets under Clinton. There was the opposite of systemic devastation, though it was a different economic context. The point is that if the impact of those brackets were really so negative, why would there be such growth under Clinton?
Every election year the nation's newspapers editorial sections overflow with scary labels and misinformation. Please double check the information in this and other editorials. If emotional eating causes you to overeat and get a stomach ache what is the social effect of emotional voting? It causes people to vote against the interest of their family and community in order to elude phantoms.
As a 55 year old woman I'm tired of being taken advantage of by the good ole boys in Washington. All of my adult life I have listened to the same old rhetoric of spending billions of dollars abroad to further corporate interests, of fighting wars to further corporate interests or to stir up ratings for presidents in opinion polls.
When do we come down to earth and put Americans first? When do we join in with other countries to combat hunger, global warming, energy issues, and healthcare?
I feel I have been sold a bad bill of goods. Why doesn't someone care and help to resolve the everyday problems of people like me?
I am single, work six days a week, can't afford to own a home, can't afford good health insurance, can barely pay my bills, can't afford a vacation, can't afford to ask for a raise and lose my job. I live modestly, am caring for my seriously ill mother, and am trying to cut corners every way possible.
I watch in amazement as people buy horrendously huge homes and complain they are not big enough. How big is enough?
People get angry if they can't buy a new gas guzzling car or truck every other year, get angry if they can't take outrageous vacations or have more than their neighbors. How much do you have to have?
I and millions like me are the working poor. We would just like to be able to go to the dentist when needed. Be able to get a checkup when needed. Not wake up in the middle of the night worrying what will happen to those who depend on us if we miss a day's work.
Women need to make sure their concerns are listened to! Will anyone listen? I'm counting on Barack O'Bama and Joe Biden because John McCain doesn't have a clue as to what my needs are. At least O'Bama and Biden come from working people like me. I am putting my trust in them to lead us into change for the better of everyone not just the few.
Things are heating up right now. Financial crises, military crisis, housing crises, and jobs are walking out the door. Folks if we don't stand up and vote for change, it is going to get much worse.
I think all politicians are a little out of touch with working America. They want all of us to work for as little as possible, forget daycare for our children, don't ask for healthcare, live beyond our means, and let the people at the top make all the decisions. This trend has to STOP!
Folks, this is OUR country, that means you and me. Barack O'Bama is a chance for changing the way the wind is blowing. We definitely have to remove the old guard out of power because they have betrayed us.
It makes me angry that John McCain picks a woman as his running mate only to try to get Hillary Clinton's votes. The more I hear about Sarah Palin the less I trust her, the same with John McCain. The so-called clean campaigner has dishonored himself and turned me completely off with his new campaign tactics. The man doesn't even know how ordinary things work for goodness sake, i.e. grocery store scanners. How much more out of touch can you get?
Let's give O'Bama and Biden a chance to make things better, it can't get much worse and all of us still be here. They are our best shot at turning this country around. We are supposed to be the richest country in the world and our people have a very low standard of living compared to so many other countries. Let's vote O'Bama/Biden and then hold them accountable to us.
In a nutshell, here's my thoughts.
In the last four years I've not gotten a raise. I've not gotten a bonus. Despite investing weekly into an investment fund, the balance is no greater now than it was four years ago. I blame this on the decisions our present administration, of which John McCain has voted with 90% of the time.
As a country we have invested heavily in a war that we had no business being in. To fund that war we have created debt like we've never seen. Debt that we can't pay for. We've done this at the expense of our country. We now have no money for schools, for roads, for things that make a difference to me and to my family. John McCain has supported and continues to support the war effort. My feeling is, under his administration, that we will continue to spend billions of dollars in Iraq.
You know as well as I do what energy prices have done in the past four years. As Americans choose to save money, either by turning off the air conditioning at home or not driving their car so much, these decisions create additional problems. When Americans chose to not drive their cars as much in June of this year, the government told us that they would have to begin suspending road construction projects because, with the lower gasoline tax revenue coming in due to American's driving less, they did not have the money to fund the projects. Even my own local utility in a newspaper article earlier this year indicated they would be having a rate increase because people were adjusting their thermostats so that the utility was not generating enough money to pay it's bills. My feeling is that having a Democrat in office will help to change this. I've heard little from John McCain that tells me things will improve with his policies.
George Bush even said in a speech during the flooding in Iowa a few months ago that the U.S. fund for catastrophic disasters was broke and that if the U.S. had any additional disasters this year, the money would have to be borrowed or taken from strategic savings plans that are not supposed to be taken from. I'm not sure how as a country we're going to pay for Gustav and Ike.
I could go on and on but these are just a few of my thoughts on why I support a Democrat, Barack Obama, for the first time in my 30 year voting life.
Full speech:Run time: 45:02http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ0gxF869NE
Pat Buchanan's opinion of what Obama had to say (Yes, I said Pat Buchanan):Run time: 02:13http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Fru4dZLGA
This new music video from Dave Stewart (formerly of the Eurythmics) will blow you away!
"American Prayer"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVi4rUzf-0Q
(paste this link to your browser)
Polls indicate that the American people are not happy with the direction of the country. Obama agrees and has inspired and invigorated our democracy with calls for such change complete with detailed plans. He has a lifetime of experience in fighting for it.
But what is the opposition to do with such a threat to their power? The answer has been recently to paint the interest and support he has generated as a product of mere celebrity. Here is what I think is really going on. John McCain is boring. He is boring because he has largely abandoned his calls for reform in order to parrot the current President and firm up his political base. Politicians who sell out so completely are so common place that the public almost views it as a requirement of office. He is boring because he supports so many of Bush’s failed plans that he may soon advocate for the invasion of Canada, hoping that Al Qaeda would arrive in order to retroactively justify what would otherwise be completely irrational, wasteful, and immoral. This is why if he were to visit Portland or Philly, there would be no sea of people inspired to take to the streets.
Compared to the interest and passion Obama has earned through his smart and well articulated ideas, McCain’s only hope is negative attacks and deception. The problem for America is that Mark Twain may have been right: “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." So when the enemies of progress try to use deception and fear to scare you into voting against the interests of your family and the interest of the people, tell them this time you know better.
During World War II, soldiers crouching in foxholes penned letters assuring their sweethearts that they'd be home soon. Now, between firefights in the Iraqi desert, some infantrymen have been sending a different kind of mail stateside: two or three hundred dollars -- or whatever they can spare -- towards a presidential election that could very well determine just how soon they come home.
According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain's haul.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/08/troops-deployed-abroad-give-61.html
As many of you know there are Hulshof signs all over SWMO. What are we going to do about it? Wait until someone brings us one? Not necessary. Just fill out the form at the link below and get one for free:
http://ga6.org/jaynixon/yardsign.html
