It Could Be a Long Wait to Fill Judge Allen Pepper’s District Judge Seat

By Philip Thomas on June 26, 2012

Patsy Brumfield had a good article Sunday in the NEMS Daily Journal about the U.S. District Judge seat created by the sudden death of Judge Allen Pepper in January. Here is the article.

The article reports that Judge Pepper’s case load has been absorbed by Judges Michael Mills and Sharion Aycock and Senior Judges Neal Biggers and Glen Davidson.

As for the appointment of Judge Pepper’s replacement, it’s likely to be a long wait:

A district judge can be appointed only by the president with U.S. Senate approval.
With partisanship at a fever pitch in Washington, political observers speculate it’s unlikely President Barack Obama could move a judicial nominee through the Senate vetting process toward a vote in this election-year.

Mills said he hasn’t heard any names mentioned as possible replacements for Pepper, a 26-year public defender before he came to the federal bench.

So how long might it take to fill Judge Pepper’s position? A long time.

The seat will not be filled before the November election. It was over two years after President Obama’s election before Judge Carlton Reeves took the bench in the Southern District.

My guess it that it would take Obama at least a year post-election to get the position filled and Romney a bit longer.

I have heard zero speculation on possible appointees for the position.