Judge J.L. "Larry" Edmondson has told President Barack Obama he will take senior status on July 15, opening up another Georgia vacancy on the federal appeals court in Atlanta. The only question is whether there will be enough time for Obama to fill it before the November elections.
Edmondson notified the president of his plans to become a senior judge, which allows him to take a reduced caseload, in a letter sent to the White House on Wednesday. Even so, Edmondson said he planned "to continue to render substantial judicial service" as a member of the court.
Edmondson, 64, is a former private attorney in Gwinnett County, where he served as manager of President Ronald Reagan's re-election campaign. In 1986, Reagan nominated Edmondson to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He served as the 11th Circuit's chief judge from 2002 to 2009.
On Friday, Edmondson said he always considered himself lucky that Reagan called on him to be a judge.
"I have been happy to earn my living in the service of the country and to work with the dedicated people who labor in the federal courts to defend the rule of law," he said. "It has been an honor."
The 11th Circuit is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court and has jurisdiction over appeals from Georgia, Alabama and Florida. The court is allotted 12 judges and because Edmondson is from Georgia, his successor will be too.
Obama still has to fill a Georgia vacancy on the court that has stood open since August 2010 and has been declared an emergency by the U.S. Courts. In February, Obama nominated Atlanta lawyer Jill Pryor to that seat, but Georgia's two senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, have blocked her from getting a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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