President Trump has announced a new round of 11 judicial nominations, including three nominees for high-profile federal appeals courts. Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid was tapped to fill Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s seat on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Eid was on Trump’s list of conservative potential Supreme Court nominees. She has served on Colorado’s high court since 2006, and previously was the state’s solicitor general. The president nominated U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Erickson of North Dakota for the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and intends to nominate University of Pennsylvania law Prof. Stephanos Bibas to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reports the Above the Law blog.
Above the Law’s David Lat calls Bibas, a criminal law expert, “a superstar of legal academia” and former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Conservatives praised the nominees. Carrie Severino of the Judicial Crisis Network called the slate a “fantastic list.” Five of Trump’s nine circuit court nominees announced so far are current or former law professors. “Much like the Reagan administration, this administration appears to believe that appointing academics is one way to maximize its influence on the federal judiciary,” law Prof. Jonathan Adler of Case Western Reserve University told the Washington Post.