Now that the election is over, we can turn to more important matters, like judicial administration history. A quick thread on one of my favorite moments in the history of the federal courts – the late 1970s (cue the music). (1/10)

You might be thinking, what’s possibly so interesting about the late 1970s (aside from Fleetwood Mac releasing Rumours). Well, the late 1970s brought us 2 amazing things for the federal courts of appeals: the 1978 Omnibus Judgeship Bill and the Circuit Judge Nominating Commission

I want to take a moment to set the stage. From 1968 to 1978, filings in the federal courts of appeals more than doubled. The number of judgeships, though, remained the same. It is no wonder that judges and academics alike began referring to the "crisis in volume" at the COAs.) 3

But there is more to our story than a rising caseload. There was also a clear need to diversify the bench. Before Jimmy Carter took office, previous presidents had appointed 1,824 life-tenured federal judges. *Only 23 were African American, and just 10 were women.* (4/10)

So what did Carter do? He pledged in his 1976 campaign that, if elected, he would create an independent nominating commission made up of citizens to select appellate judges – something he created by executive order on Valentine’s Day (aww, ) in 1976. (5/10)

The commission had 2 main goals: to select appellate judges on the basis of merit and to affirmatively seek out women and underrepresented minorities. It did so by creating panels that reached out to potential candidates, accepted applications (!), and conducted interviews.(6/10)