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With just over 450 days left to elect a new President and another 70 plus to his/her inauguration; the recent turn of events can’t be all that encouraging for conservatives who care deeply about which party controls the three branches of the government.

It would seem, having control of executive branch for last six and half years and the rightward tilt of Supreme Court might ease their anxious minds. Instead the causes for worries have multiplied since Democrats took control of the congress last year.

For example, its entirely within the realm of possibilities that Democrats may still be in control of legislative branch after the next General election and election of a Democrat as the 44th President can’t be ruled out either. Add to such litany the disappointing facts such as, President’s dismal approval ratings mired in mid to lower 30s, a very unpopular war, energized Democratic base and record breaking funds raised by Democratic presidential contenders.

Although not as alarming as the possible loss of executive and legislative branches, the recent announcement by the 4th Circuit Appeals Court Judge Wilkins of taking senior-status after another such announcement not so long ago by Judge Widener and departure last year of Judge Luttig to private sector has created a sense of uncertainty.
The control of what was once a solidly conservative court of the land is now in balance between liberal and conservative judges.

Already many of Bush’s nominees are bottled up in the Judicial committee’s nomination process. A recess appointment may temporarily avert what might be an inevitable takeover by the liberal wing.

So how does the current landscape of judicial vacancies look? Below is a map showing the number of vacancies both at the Appeals and the District court levels in the lower 48. There are total of 50 vacancies, 34 in the Circuit Courts and 16 in the District Courts. The hotspot over Richmond (the 4th Circuit Appeals Court ) displays the number of vacancies. Click here for a detailed list.

Spatial distribution of Judicial Vacancies: August, 2007

Compare this with judicial vacancies at about the same time period during President Clinton’s 2nd term. There were total of 65 vacancies, (23 in Circuit courts; 41 in District Courts) and total of 41 nominations were pending. Pennsylvania’s Eastern district led the number of vacancies with 8, followed by 9th Circuit in Pasadena at 7. In fact Clinton administration faced judicial vacancies in nearly every District and Circuit Appeals Courts. That picture didn’t improve. In fact, towards the end of President Clinton’s 2nd term, on Jan 04, 2001, the total number of vacancies had gone up to 80 (Court of Appeals had 26 and 54 in District Courts) with 8 nominations still pending.

Spatial distribution of Judicial vacancies: August 1999

Will the current administration face similar fate? Its possible, however, let’s not forget that the President still has the bully pulpit! Especially in times of war, the President gets the last word!

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