The Trump administration’s takeover of law enforcement in Washington, D.C., has spurred criticism from local officials, one of whom pointed to an overwhelmed D.C. court that handles local criminal cases in the district.
D.C. Councilwoman Christina Henderson pointed on Tuesday to the high number of vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court on CNN’s CNN This Morning as something the federal government can work to fix, as President Donald Trump declares a crime emergency in the District.
“When I hear from our federal partners that we need to do more on crime, I also want to say to them, I need you to do more on crime. I have a 21% vacancy in my D.C. Superior Court. That’s criminal, family, juvenile. All of these cases,” Henderson said on CNN.
“And when you don’t have swift justice, I believe that is a bigger deterrent than having thousands of police officers and the National Guard on our streets,” Henderson added.
Henderson’s complaints about the high number of vacancies have been echoed by other D.C. officials in recent years, as the problem has persisted due to the city’s unique status as a federal district.
What is the D.C. Superior Court?
The Superior Court for the District of Columbia handles all local trial matters for Washington, D.C., including civil, criminal, traffic, and family court matters, and was established by Congress in 1970. The court has one chief judge and 61 associate judges.
Cases appealed from the D.C. Superior Court go to the D.C. Court of Appeals, which, per the D.C. Courts, serves as the equivalent of a state Supreme Court for local matters in the federal district. The D.C. Court of Appeals has one chief judge and eight associate judges.
The courts are separate from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which deal with federal legal cases in D.C., rather than local cases.
How many vacancies are there on the court?
The D.C. Superior Court currently has 13 vacancies, and the D.C. Court of Appeals has two vacancies, a spokesperson for D.C. Courts told the Washington Examiner. The spokesperson added that two judges on the superior court are on extended medical leave, which has effectively left the court down 15 judges, effectively operating without nearly a quarter of judges able to hear cases.
The vacancies could grow by two more by January 2026, with a pair of judges scheduled to retire from the bench at that time.
How can vacancies be filled?
The judges on the D.C. local courts are placed on the bench through a process that ends with nomination by the president and confirmation by the Senate in a similar fashion to other federal judges, but with one key difference regarding the people the president may nominate.
The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission recommends three candidates to the president for each vacancy he may pick from when nominating a D.C. Superior Court judge for confirmation by the Senate. The commission comprises seven members, including one appointed by the president, two by the D.C. Bar, two by the mayor of D.C., one by the D.C. Council, and one by the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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Of the 13 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, only one nominee, Edward O’Connell, has been appointed by Trump, and he is awaiting a confirmation vote by the Senate. The commission has sent four sets of candidates from which the president could choose to nominate to fill four more vacancies.
With the Senate in recess until September, the president needs to nominate more candidates to fill vacancies, and the commission needs to issue more recommendations, so the spots are unlikely to be filled in the near future.