Civic Register
| 7.19.21

Know a Nominee: Tiffany Cunningham to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
Do you support or oppose Cunningham’s nomination?
UPDATE 7/19/21
- The Senate confirmed Tiffany Cunningham to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals on a bipartisan vote of 63-33. She will take her seat on the bench in the near future once she receives her judicial commission.
UPDATE 7/15/21
- The Senate on Thursday cast a bipartisan vote of 63-34 to limit debate on Cunningham’s nomination to the Federal Circuit, setting up a confirmation vote Monday evening.
The Senate is expected to consider the nomination of Tiffany Cunningham to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in the near future. Here’s what you need to know about the nominee:
Who is Tiffany Cunningham?
- Cunningham, 45, is an intellectual property attorney with the law firm Perkins Coie who specializes in complex patent and trade secret disputes and is also a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- She earned her undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her law degree from Harvard Law School. After law school, she served as a law clerk for Judge Timothy Dyk on the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals from 2001 to 2002.
- After her clerkship, Cunningham worked for Kirkland & Ellis from 2002 to 2014 and became a partner at the firm in 2007. She
- If confirmed, Cunningham would be the first African American judge to serve on the Federal Circuit.
What’s the outlook for her confirmation?
- The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Cunningham’s nomination on a bipartisan vote of 16-6. Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Mike Lee (R-UT) joined Democrats in supporting her nomination.
- The GOP senators who were opposed to her nomination cited the lack of experience as a sitting judge and her past political donations to Democrats including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
- The American Bar Association’s judicial nomination rating panel gave Cunningham a unanimous rating of “well qualified.”
What does it mean for the Federal Circuit?
- Cunningham’s confirmation would fill a position on the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals that became vacant on May 31, 2021, when Judge Evan Wallach (who was appointed by Barack Obama) took senior status.
- The Federal Circuit was created in 1982 by Congress through a merger between the U.S. customs and patent appeals court and the U.S. claims court. It is located in Washington, D.C., and is unique because it’s the only appellate court with nationwide jurisdiction over subject matter, rather than a geographic jurisdiction. Its focus includes international trade, government contracts, patents, trademarks, monetary claims against the U.S. government, federal personnel, veterans’ benefits, and public safety officers’ benefit claims.
- The Federal Circuit has 12 active judgeships. Of the 11 judges currently on the bench, one was appointed by Ronald Reagan, one by George H.W. Bush, one by Bill Clinton, two by George W. Bush, and six by Barack Obama.
— Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: iStock / imaginima)
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You rubber stamped every incompetent lunatic that Dolt 45 wanted. You no longer have any credibility. So now that there are intelligent choices being made, you have a problem with that? No credibility whatsoever.
No - political
I think the blocking of President’s nominations is a dereliction of duty that places the national security of our country, other countries, and human life at risk. Unspeakably lacking in integrity. “Six months after Biden's inauguration, just six State Department candidates have been confirmed on the Senate floor. Some 60 nominees have been awaiting confirmation for months. Now Cruz has effectively stopped the Senate from voting on senior department nominees unless Democrats take the time-consuming steps needed to overcome a filibuster for each nomination, leaving around a dozen offices without confirmed leadership. With violence in Afghanistan escalating and the risk of a Taliban takeover looming, the Bureau of Central and South Asian affairs is led by an acting assistant secretary. With twin crises in the US' backyard destabilizing Cuba and Haiti, as the administration wrestles with an increasingly aggressive China -- accusing it of devastating ransomware attacks -- and as the White House confronts a recalcitrant Iran, all the bureaus that handle those regions are also staffed by interim leaders… Republicans privately admit they are slow-walking State Department nominees to squeeze concessions from the administration… The final weeks in July will be critical in determining just how dire this situation becomes, officials at the State Department explained. If nominees don't get votes before the senators leave for their summer break, it is unlikely that any of them will be able to start their jobs until sometime in the fall. As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee processes more nominations -- holding a hearing for three more State Department candidates on Tuesday -- more nominees are piling up in the queue to go to the Senate floor, along with other nominations, including judicial appointments.“ https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/21/politics/cruz-state-department-nominations/index.html
David, equability is long gone with what McConnell and Trump did to the Supreme Court.
It is really refreshing to see Presidential nominated judges who are both qualified and experienced. As opposed to the Republican Faction’s nominees who were all nominated by the Federalist Society and rubber stamped by the Republican Senate strictly on the basis of how ‘right leaning’ their judgements or publications have been - despite being broadly opposed by the ABA based on credentials or lack of suitable experience . … … … I can’t think of anyone who voted for the Federalist Society or any of it’s shell organizations who have picked Republican Faction judicial nominees, cultivated them, supported litigants who have conservative issues make their way up to the Supreme Court, fund Republican State AG’s to write amicus briefs, and arrange for their sponsored judges to hear the ‘right’ cases. The Federalist Society is run like a mob and funded by wealthy right wing donors to tailor the courts to their liking. I consider their operations to be about as Anti-American as anything can be. … … … What they do is carefully hidden by shell organizations which are legally separate but share common administrative people and are co-located on common properties with the same mailing addresses. It may not be illegal but it is definitely unethical and immoral. If they did not realize how unethical they are, why would they need to quietly hide the shell organizations that pump funds into the system to cultivate their judicial picks and get conservative issues elevated through the system.
@Sharon TX abortion and vigilante tactics are right out of the Nazi playbook. Neighbor against neighbor
What exactly have the federal judges that were appointed and approved under Trump’s administration for the Supreme Court done for the Republican Party. Absolutely nothing. They certainly didn’t give Trump any attention or grant any favors. Are three all highly educated and intelligent,
Texas’ new abortion law is really chilling. Not only is it now the state legislature reaching into a woman’s body, but they want neighbors, co-workers - heck, even someone on a bus overhearing a conversation - to do it, too. A woman’s body is not public property. Yet, this Texas law encourages ANYBODY to inform on a woman and financially pays them for it. This is repulsive and incredibly misogynistic. Women have and continue to be treated as property and objects for centuries. On the surface, women in America have won more recognition of their value and right to self-determination, but on a deeper level not much has changed. For example, we are told that people aren’t going back to work because of extended unemployment benefits. That is an easy and simplistic explanation that disrespects further people who take government assistance. The facts are (1) women are disproportionately more of the population that is out of work related to the pandemic; (2) childcare and household responsibilities still fall most heavily on women; and (3) childcare costs are so high that they consume more than a parent can make at a job - especially the kind of low pay, no benefit service jobs that restaurants, small retail, and hotels complain they can’t fill. Maybe if our society started reducing its shallow, cosmetic support for equality and the independent value of women by equalizing pay, stepping up to support childrearing, removing the bias against women’s capabilities in STEM fields, discriminating against women of child-bearing age with respect to hiring and advancement, preferencing men in higher positions over equally-qualified women, removing barriers to work for pregnant women, among other things, our society would not tolerate laws that objectify women’s bodies or otherwise infantilize them. How would we respond if it was men who and whose decisions about their bodies were subject to monitoring and reporting on by anyone who knows nothing except that the man’s behavior went against someone’s religious beliefs? Maybe we should encourage non-drinking Baptists to report a man’s observed or discussed drinking to excess and sue bartenders, bar owners, liquor distributors, delivery companies and drivers, liquor makers, and liquor bottlers, etc, etc, as well as promising those Baptists a reward for successful lawsuits. After all, the violated their religious beliefs. And, the loss of life - killing of an innocent - is a consequence of the man’s behavior if an accident happens. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/18/texas-heartbeat-bill-abortions-law/
She has enough education and experience in court laws & procedures to be placed in this position. She has my vote 100%!!!
Seems like a very well qualified person having bipartisan support.
@Carina; ABSOLUTELY nothing intelligent or good comes out of the lies you write. Typical Trump bitch who gets a thrill listening to Trump tell how he can do anything to women, and wishing it was you! Wow, what a hero you have!!!
Still appointing?! The world is on fire and attacking climate change should be in the crosshairs of everyone.
Sounds like a great nominee given her background and experience.
Judge Cunningham checks all the boxes: Educated: MIT & Harvard ABA rating: Well Qualified Experience: especially in highly technical decisions Diverse: African American Check here to begin to compare & contrast Biden picks with that of the last administration: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/committees/federal_judiciary/ratings/
Another liberal who will legislate from the bench.
Refreshing to have educated highly qualified candidates vetted for judicial positions. Now we also have to work to recall, impeach and jail the unqualified and corrupt Drumpf paid to play appointments
Vote no on Tiffany Cunningham for federal judge. Not enough experience and a far leftist.
NO MORE COMMUNIST JUDGES!
Another partisan hack that dose not adhere to the constitution.
This woman sounds brilliant. That a single Senator could vote again her is laughable. Her obvious intellectual prowess far outweighs any perceived lack of experience.