Law Clerk Addict's Blog
In a stunning piece of news, the ABA Journal reports that Chief Judge Karen Williams (4th Cir.), who had been on former President George W. Bush's short-list for a Supreme Court appointment and often been called the most conservative judge on the most conservative circuit, retired from the bench yesterday due to an illness. Note that former Judge Williams had to retire, as opposed to taking senior status, because she had not yet attained the minimum age to assume senior status. As a result of this development, Judge William Traxler (4th Cir.) has become the new Chief Judge of the Fourth Circuit.
On a related note, this resignation, as well as the four other vacancies on the Fourth Circuit, all but guarantees that the Fourth Circuit will attain a liberal majority during the Obama presidency.
UPDATE #1: More information, including a quote from Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, is available here.
UPDATE #2: The Wall Street Journal reports that Judge Williams resigned because she was recently diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease and did not wish to have her future decisions questioned.
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