One of two U.S. District judges for Idaho announced seven months ago that he’d take senior status in August, but there’s still no official nominee to replace him.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill planned to continue to hear a full caseload when he took senior status on Aug. 16, but expected Idaho to have a new district judge to replace him by then — effectively giving the state the third judge it has needed for decades, the Idaho Press reported.
But there’s been no word from the White House about a nominee for the now-open second federal judgeship, though Idaho’s top Democratic elected officials interviewed candidates last winter and submitted an all-female shortlist of four nominees to the Biden administration in March: Idaho Falls attorney DeAnne Casperson, Boise attorney Keely Duke, Boise attorney Deborah Ferguson, and former U.S. Attorney for Idaho Wendy Olson.
Idaho is one of just three states with only two U.S. district judges; it hasn’t gotten an additional judgeship in 60 years, even though its caseloads have soared. Idaho’s congressional delegation has long pushed for the state to get an additional judgeship, and all four of its members are sponsoring legislation to do just that, though it hasn’t advanced.
The nonpartisan Judicial Council of the United States has been recommending a third judgeship be added for Idaho since 2003. (AP)
