Name: Two federal judges in Cleveland will take senior status, giving President Biden seats to fill on the Northern Ohio bench; a third jurist is considering a similar move
Brand: cleveland.com
SKU: cleveland-com-294
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Two federal judges in Cleveland will take senior status, giving President Biden seats to fill on the Northern Ohio bench; a third jurist is considering a similar move

preview

NEW!490sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio – President Biden will nominate at least two federal judges in Cleveland in the coming months, filling the seats of longtime jurists who will become senior judges next week.U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan, the chief judge for the Northern District of Ohio, said Thursday that Judge James Gwin has notified Biden’s office that he will take senior status, effective Monday.Earlier this week, Judge Dan Polster gave notice to the president’s staff, and he also will shift to senior status Monday.A third judge, Solomon Oliver, said Thursday, “I’m giving this serious consideration, and I will announce my final decision in the next few days.”The decisions of Gwin and Polster enable Biden to fill the positions with his appointees, while the judges continue to hear cases on senior status. Had the judges decided last year, then-President Trump would have had the ability to fill the seats.Gwin said he sent his letter to Biden’s office Jan. 20, the day of the inauguration. He and Polster join a growing number of federal judges across the country who have sought to retire or become senior judges.“This will enhance the bench,” Gaughan said. “We’ll have more judicial officers to handle the issues before the court. With senior status, we don’t lose the experience or the historical perspective that they bring to the bench.”On a broader scale, the issue is even more significant, legal experts said. The moves come at a time when Biden plans to explore the federal judiciary.“This is huge, and it is happening all over the country,” said J. Dean Carro, an emeritus professor of law at the University of Akron. “I suspect the numbers will continue to go up.“Judges waited to see who would win the election and who would control the Senate. It would be reasonable to assume they wanted to make sure their legacies were preserved.”As senior judges, Polster and Gwin can elect to take fewer cases. Both, however, told Gaughan that they will not seek a reduced workload.Polster said he will continue to oversee the nationwide opioid litigation, which involves more than 2,500 federal lawsuits brought by cities, counties and tribal lands involving pharmaceutical companies that manufactured and distributed painkillers.Gwin, 66, was nominated by then-President Clinton in 1997. He had served in private practice in Canton and had been a Stark County Common Pleas judge. Clinton also selected Polster, 69, that same year.Clinton appointed Oliver, 73, in 1994. He served as chief judge for the district from 2010 to 2017.Besides Oliver, Gaughan and Judge John Adams are the other judges eligible for senior status in the Northern District of Ohio. The district has 15 judges.Gaughan, as chief judge, said she would not take senior status. Her term as chief judge ends in 2023. Adams said he has “no intention of seeking senior status in the near future.”Four others in the district – Donald Nugent, James Carr, Jack Zouhary and Christopher Boyko – already are senior judges.The federal judiciary relies on the “rule of 80,” which means a judge can take senior status or retire starting at age 65 if he or she has at least 15 years on the bench. The required number of years of service decreases the older a judge gets. A judge who is 70 and has 10 years of experience also would qualify.Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, Ohio’s two U.S. senators, are expected to submit nominations for Gwin and Polster’s replacements in the coming months. Nominees could be chosen by summer.Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!490sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio – President Biden will nominate at least two federal judges in Cleveland in the coming months, filling the seats of longtime jurists who will become senior judges next week.U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan, the chief judge for the Northern District of Ohio, said Thursday that Judge James Gwin has notified Biden’s office that he will take senior status, effective Monday.Earlier this week, Judge Dan Polster gave notice to the president’s staff, and he also will shift to senior status Monday.A third judge, Solomon Oliver, said Thursday, “I’m giving this serious...

Two federal judges in Cleveland will take senior status, giving President Biden seats to fill on the Northern Ohio bench; a third jurist is considering a similar move

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS