path to federal judge Forum

[Deor]

This is probably not realistic for me or most people of course. Even so, I'm just curious what it takes to become a federal judge. How good of a clerkship would you need? Could you get appointed after getting to a senior position in a federal agency? If so, which agencies could you do it from? I'm a senior in undergrad so I don't know how any of this works.

[yankees12345!]

This is probably not realistic for me or most people of course. Even so, I'm just curious what it takes to become a federal judge. How good of a clerkship would you need? Could you get appointed after getting to a senior position in a federal agency? If so, which agencies could you do it from? I'm a senior in undergrad so I don't know how any of this works.

Federal district court candidates are usually screened by a search committee consisting of prominent, politically-connected attorneys in the judge's home state. Those committees report up recommendations to the state's senators, who in turn make recommendations to the president.

If you look at the district court judges in any given jurisdiction, they are usually a combination of former federal prosecutors, big law partners, and state court appellate judges. Being an active member of the Federalist Society (for conservatives), or to a much lesser extent the American Constitution Society (for liberals), can be an important factor because it signals ideological consistency.

You can't really chart a reliable course to becoming a federal judge. If you're a prominent member of the legal community in the state where you're from, you can apply when a vacancy comes up. If you have the right political connections, you might get picked.

[Joachim2017]

Interesting. Does this mean, effectively, that if you are a moderate with no formal / paper ties to places like Fed Soc or ACS or others, that you have no chance because you don't have an ideological identity for the committees to assess?

It would be sad if true that, realistically, moderates really don't have a pathway in the way others do, however remote the chance for any given individual.

[nixy]

I don’t think that’s the case. I’m sure having a strong ideological identity can make you more appealing to certain people who’ll support you, but connections don’t have to be limited to FedSoc or ACS membership/activity. It’s going to sound naive to say that doing good work matters, but I think in a lot of circumstances doing good work still matters. I’ve seen plenty of federal judges get appointed because they’re prominent in their community and know people on all sides and do good work.

(Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely a political process, the more so the more elite a position it is. But I don’t think moderates are doomed - they will just have to work connections through other means than FedSoc/ACS.)

[Anonymous User]

Interesting. Does this mean, effectively, that if you are a moderate with no formal / paper ties to places like Fed Soc or ACS or others, that you have no chance because you don't have an ideological identity for the committees to assess?

It would be sad if true that, realistically, moderates really don't have a pathway in the way others do, however remote the chance for any given individual.

In some states, being a moderate with no formal ties to Fed Soc/ACS might be a prerequisite for becoming a *district judge.* I think this "ideological ties" answer is different for circuit and district judges, and different for district judges in states with at least one senator from a different party than the appointing president than in states where both senators align with the president. Ideological signals seem important for circuit judges, and it doesn't matter much about home-state senators because (currently) the "blue slip" veto power that senators have had in the past does not apply to circuit judges. But blue slips still apply to district judges, which give an opposite-party home-state senator veto power over any nominee. In states where one or both senators (but especially just one) are from a party opposite from the president, this makes ideological signals harmful.

[LBJ's Hair]

For district court, you need to know (or know someone that knows) the relevant Senators. That's basically that path. Deep FedSoc/liberal advocacy connections aren't a pre-requisite. Blue slip still matters a lot. (For evidence, look at the SDNY/EDNY nominees/confirmed judges these past few years---all Gillibrand/Schumer-approved, even with a GOP Senate and Trump as Prez.)

Court of appeals is a different thing of course