Stephen Vaden

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Stephen Vaden
Image of Stephen Vaden

Nonpartisan

United States Court of International Trade
Tenure

2020 - Present

Years in position

3

Predecessor

Education

Bachelor's

Vanderbilt University, 2004

Law

Yale Law School, 2008

Personal
Birthplace
Memphis, Tenn.
Profession
Attorney

float:right;
border:1px solid #FFB81F;
background-color: white;
width: 250px;
font-size: .9em;
margin-bottom:0px;

} .infobox p { margin-bottom: 0; } .widget-row { display: inline-block; width: 100%; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; } .widget-row.heading { font-size: 1.2em; } .widget-row.value-only { text-align: center; background-color: grey; color: white; font-weight: bold; } .widget-row.value-only.white { background-color: #f9f9f9; } .widget-row.value-only.black { background-color: #f9f9f9; color: black; } .widget-row.Democratic { background-color: #003388; color: white; font-weight: bold; } .widget-row.Republican { background-color: red; color: white; font-weight: bold; } .widget-row.Independent, .widget-row.Nonpartisan, .widget-row.Constitution { background-color: grey; color: white; font-weight: bold; } .widget-row.Libertarian { background-color: #f9d334; color: black; font-weight: bold; } .widget-row.Green { background-color: green; color: white; font-weight: bold; } .widget-key { width: 43%; display: inline-block; padding-left: 10px; vertical-align: top; font-weight: bold; } .widget-value { width: 57%; float: right; display: inline-block; padding-left: 10px; word-wrap: break-word; } .widget-img { width: 150px; display: block; margin: auto; } .clearfix { clear: both; }

Stephen Alexander Vaden is a judge on the United States Court of International Trade. He was nominated by President Donald Trump (R) on October 17, 2019, and confirmed by a 49-43 vote of the U.S. Senate on November 18, 2020. To see a full list of judges appointed by Donald Trump, click here.

The United States Court of International Trade is an Article III federal court. It hears only cases involving particular international trade and customs law questions. To learn more about the court, click here.

Vaden was the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2018 to 2020.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Court of International Trade (2020-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

On October 17, 2019, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Vaden to a seat on the United States Court of International Trade.[1] The U.S. Senate confirmed Vaden by a 49-43 vote on November 18, 2020.[2] He received commission on December 21, 2020.[3] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: Stephen Vaden
Court: United States Court of International Trade
Progress
Confirmed 398 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: October 17, 2019
ApprovedAABA Rating: Substantial majority qualified/Minority not qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
ApprovedAHearing: November 13, 2019
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: January 16, 2020 
ApprovedAConfirmed: November 18, 2020
ApprovedAVote: 49-43

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Vaden by a vote of 49-43 on November 18, 2020.[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Vaden confirmation vote (November 18, 2020)
Party Yea Nay No vote
Electiondot.png Democratic 0 42 3
Ends.png Republican 49 0 4
Grey.png Independent 0 1 1
Total 49 43 8

Senate Judicial Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Vaden's nomination on November 13, 2019.[4] Vaden was reported to the full Senate on January 16, 2020, after a 12-10 committee vote.[5]

Nomination

On October 2, 2019, President Donald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Vaden to a seat on the United States Court of International Trade.[6] The president officially nominated Vaden on October 17, 2019.[1]

The nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2020.[1] The president officially renominated Vaden the same day.[2]

Vaden was nominated to replace Judge Delissa Ridgway, who assumed senior status on January 31, 2019.[1]

The American Bar Association rated Vaden qualified by a substantial majority and not qualified by a minority for the position.[7] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Early life and education

Vaden was born in 1982 in Memphis, Tennessee. He earned his B.A., summa cum laude, in history from Vanderbilt University in 2004 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 2008. During his legal studies, Vaden was a senior editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation.[8][9]

Professional career

Assocations

Noteworthy events

Federal judges sign letter regarding hiring Columbia University students (2024)

On May 6, 2024, Vaden and 12 other federal judges signed a letter to Columbia University saying they would not hire undergraduates or law students from the university, beginning with the entering class of 2024.[10]

In the letter, the judges said, "As judges who hire law clerks every year to serve in the federal judiciary, we have lost confidence in Columbia as an institution of higher education."[11]

They signed the letter in the context of student demonstrations at Columbia University over the Israel-Hamas War. The students who participated in the demonstrations demanded that the university divest all of its finances from "companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine."[12]

The judges said they believed the university should institute consequences for faculty and students who participated in the demonstrations. They also called on the university to practice "neutrality and nondiscrimination in the protection of freedom of speech" and "viewpoint diversity on the faculty and across the administration."[11]

The Washington Post reported that Dean of Columbia Law School Gillian Lester said in a statement that graduates are "consistently sought out by leading employers in the private and public sectors, including the judiciary." Lester did not directly address the letter.[10]


About the court

Court of International Trade
Federal Circuit
Cseal.jpg
Judgeships
Posts: 9
Judges: 9
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Mark A. Barnett
Active judges: Miller Baker, Mark A. Barnett, Jennifer Choe Groves, Gary S. Katzmann, Claire R. Kelly, Joseph Laroski, Timothy Reif, Stephen Vaden, Lisa Wang

Senior judges:
Thomas Aquilino, Judith Barzilay, Richard Eaton, Richard Goldberg, Leo Gordon, Jane Restani, Delissa Ridgway, Timothy Stanceu


The United States Court of International Trade is an Article III federal court. The Customs Court Act of 1980 replaced the former United States Customs Court with the United States Court of International Trade. The court sits in New York City, although it is authorized to sit elsewhere, including in foreign nations.

Appeals from the Court of International Trade are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which normally sits in Washington, D.C. Further appeals from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit are heard by the Supreme Court of the United States.[13]

The Court of International Trade has 9 authorized judicial posts. The chief judge of the court is Mark A. Barnett, who was appointed by President Barack Obama (D). Three of the judges on the court were appointed by Donald Trump (R).

The court possesses limited subject matter jurisdiction across the United States. It may hear only cases involving particular international trade and customs law questions. The court hears disputes, such as those involving protests filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, decisions regarding Trade Adjustment Assistance by the U.S. Department of Labor or U.S. Department of Agriculture, customs broker licensing, and disputes relating to determinations made by the United States International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration regarding anti-dumping and countervailing duties.

Most cases are heard by a single judge. If a case challenges the constitutionality of a U.S. law or has important implications regarding the administration or interpretation of the customs laws, then it may be heard by a three-judge panel.

Although the court maintains its own rules of procedure, they are patterned for the most part on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court has held that decisions interpreting the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are "instructive" in interpreting its own rules.[13]

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

  • The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
  • The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.
  • As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.
  • After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.
  • If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
  • If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.
  • The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
  • If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
  • If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Congress.gov, "PN1244 — Stephen A. Vaden — The Judiciary," accessed October 21, 2019
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Congress.gov, "PN1328 — Stephen A. Vaden — The Judiciary," accessed January 10, 2020
  3. ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Vaden, Stephen Alexander," accessed December 22, 2020
  4. ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee, "Nominations," November 13, 2019
  5. ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee, "Results of the Executive Business Meeting," January 16, 2020
  6. ↑ WhiteHouse.gov, "President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees," October 2, 2019
  7. ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III and Article IV judicial nominees: 116th Congress," accessed November 13, 2019
  8. ↑ Document Cloud, "Stephen A. Vaden resume," accessed October 4, 2019
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Senate Judiciary Committee, "Questionnaire for judicial nominees: Stephen Alexander Vaden," accessed November 13, 2019
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Washington Post, "Conservative judges say they will boycott Columbia University students," May 7, 2024
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Washington Post, "Letter to Columbia University," May 6, 2024
  12. ↑ Columbia University Apartheid Divest, "Demands," accessed May 14, 2024
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Court of International Trade, "About the Court," accessed May 2, 2021 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "history" defined multiple times with different content


Tennessee courts

Federal courts:

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Tennessee, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Tennessee, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee

State courts:

Tennessee Supreme Court • Tennessee Court of Appeals • Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals • Tennessee Circuit Court • Tennessee Chancery Courts • Tennessee Criminal Court • Tennessee Probate Court • Tennessee General Sessions Court • Tennessee Juvenile Court • Tennessee Municipal Court

State resources:

Courts in Tennessee • Tennessee judicial elections • Judicial selection in Tennessee

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Stephen_Vaden&oldid=9871599"