In the upcoming weeks, two federal judges from Houston will become senior judges, leaving openings for President-elect Donald Trump to fill.
However, what precisely is senior status? And what does taking it mean?
Federal courts have three different judicial statuses: active, retired, and senior.
Professor of law Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond says that senior status is basically self-retirement. Though not often, senior judges usually handle fewer cases.
The incumbent president must fill the gap created by federal judges assuming senior status.
According to David Levi, a former federal judge and dean of Duke Law School, when a judge retires, it’s a gift to the district because it gives them another judge, which is very beneficial for the litigants as well as the court if the district is busy.
Senior judges have the authority to choose the kinds of cases they hear; they must be at least 65 years old and have been on the bench for at least 15 years.
According to Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, some senior judges only hear civil cases, while others only hear criminal cases. A one-size-fits-all strategy does not exist.
When they become senior, federal district and circuit court judges—who are appointed for life—retain full compensation and benefits, Tobias said, adding that they occasionally schedule their designation change to align with the White House.
One day after celebrating her 72nd birthday, Judge Lee Rosenthal of the Southern District of Texas, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, assumed senior status on Sunday. Andrew Hanen, a fellow Houston judge and her colleague, will celebrate his 71st birthday on December 10 and January 2. Both Rosenthal and Hanen, who were nominated by President George W. Bush, said earlier this summer that they would take on senior status; this suggests that they probably did not time their pronouncements to align with the outcome of this year’s presidential election.
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Trump will have four openings in the Texas Southern District, which runs from Houston to Laredo, when Rosenthal and Hanen are added.
In February 2023, Lynn Hughes ceased to hear cases and became an inactive senior judge. In June 2023, McAllen Judge Micaela Alvarez was promoted to senior judge. There are two openings in the Texas Western District and one in the Northern District.
Approximately 38% of federal district court judges are senior judges, according to TRAC, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a Syracuse University research group.
With the exception of Rosenthal and Hanen, five of the twelve district court judges in the Southern District of Texas’ Houston division are senior judges. They are Gray Miller, Sim Lake, Ewing Werlein, Kenneth Hoyt, and David Hittner.
While Werlein was appointed by George H.W. Bush, Miller was appointed by George W. Bush, and Hittner, Hoyt, and Lake were all appointed by Ronald Reagan. Hoyt and Miller are the youngest in the group at 76, while Werlein is the oldest at 88.
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