Beth Robinson

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Beth Robinson
Image of Beth Robinson

Nonpartisan

United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
Tenure

2021 - Present

Years in position

3

Prior offices
Vermont Supreme Court
Successor: Nancy Waples

Education

Bachelor's

Dartmouth College, 1986

Law

University of Chicago Law School, 1989


Beth Robinson is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on August 5, 2021, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 1, 2021, by a vote of 51-45.[1][2][3] Robinson was one of 235 Article III judges nominated by President Joe Biden (D) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of 13 U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the 2nd Circuit, click here.

Robinson was nominated to the Vermont Supreme Court by Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) on October 18, 2011.[4][5] Robinson was sworn in on November 28, 2011, becoming the first openly gay member of the court.[6] She was retained by the General Assembly on March 23, 2017, for a six-year term.[7] To read more about judicial selection in Vermont, click here.

Judicial nominations and appointments

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit (2021-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On August 5, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Robinson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. She was confirmed by a 51-45 vote of the U.S. Senate on November 1, 2021.[3] Robinson received commission on November 5, 2021. To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: Beth Robinson
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 88 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: August 5, 2021
ApprovedAABA Rating: Well Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
ApprovedAHearing: September 14, 2021
Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: October 21, 2021 
ApprovedAConfirmed: November 1, 2021
ApprovedAVote: 51-45


Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Robinson by a vote of 51-45 on November 1, 2021.[3] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Robinson confirmation vote (November 1, 2021)
Party Yea Nay No vote
Electiondot.png Democratic 47 0 1
Ends.png Republican 2 45 3
Grey.png Independent 2 0 0
Total 51 45 4

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Robinson's nomination on September 14, 2021. The committee voted to advance Robinson's nomination to the full U.S. Senate on October 21, 2021.

Nomination

On August 5, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Robinson to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.[1] The president officially nominated Robinson on the same day.[2]

Robinson was nominated to replace Judge Peter Hall, who assumed senior status on March 4, 2021.[2][8]

The American Bar Association rated Robinson Well Qualified with one recusal.[9] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Vermont Supreme Court (2011-2021)

Robinson was nominated by Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) in October 2011.[4] She was retained by the General Assembly on March 23, 2017, for a six-year term.[7]

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[10] Robinson received a confidence score of Strong Democrat.[11] Click here to read more about this study.

Analysis

Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship and Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters

Last updated: June 15, 2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.

The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[12]

The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:

  • Strong Democrat
  • Mild Democrat
  • Indeterminate[13]
  • Mild Republican
  • Strong Republican

This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.

Beth
Robinson

Vermont

  • Partisan Confidence Score:
    Strong Democrat
  • Judicial Selection Method:
    Assisted appointment through hybrid judicial nominating commission
  • Key Factors:
    • Worked on a campaign for a Democrat candidate
    • Donated over $2,000 to Democratic candidates 
    • Held political office as a Democrat


Partisan Profile

Details:

Robinson worked on Gov. Peter Shumlin's (D) campaign for governor. She donated $4,905 to Democratic candidates. In 2011 she was associate counsel for Gov. Shumlin. She was appointed to the Vermont State Supreme Court in 2011 by Gov. Shumlin. At the time of her appointment, Vermont was a Democratic trifecta.

Other Scores:

In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, Robinson received a campaign finance score of -1.48, indicating a liberal ideological leaning.



Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
See also: Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores of state supreme court justices, 2012

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.

Robinson received a campaign finance score of -1.48, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -0.60 that justices received in Vermont.

The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[14]


State supreme court judicial selection in Vermont

See also: Judicial selection in Vermont

The five justices of the Vermont Supreme Court are selected through assisted appointment. The governor selects a nominee from a list of recommended candidates from a judicial nominating commission. The nominee must be confirmed by the Vermont Senate.[15] Once confirmed, appointees serve six-year terms. At the end of each term, judges face retention by a vote of the Vermont General Assembly.[15]

Qualifications

To serve on the Vermont Supreme Court, a judge must:

  • be a state resident; and
  • have practiced law as an attorney or served as a judge in the state for at least 10 years, with five years preceding their application to the commission.

Chief justice

The chief justice of the supreme court is chosen through the same assisted appointment method as the other judges on the court and serves in that capacity for a full six-year term.[15]

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

When the state Senate is in session, midterm vacancies are filled by the same assisted appointment method otherwise used to select judges. If the Senate is not in session, the governor may choose to make an interim appointment until the Senate convenes and acts upon the appointment. The appointed justice will serve until the Senate consents to the appointment. If the appointment is confirmed, the appointee will serve a six-year term. If the appointment is not confirmed by the Senate, the judicial office will be vacated.[16]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The White House, "President Biden Names Sixth Round of Judicial Nominees," August 5, 2021
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The White House, "Nominations Sent to the Senate," August 5, 2021
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Congress.gov, "PN998 — Beth Robinson — The Judiciary," accessed August 6, 2021
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Vermont Bar Foundation, "Beth Robinson Appointed to Vermont Supreme Court," October 19, 2011
  5. ↑ Office of the Vermont Governor, "Updated: Get to Know Vermont's Next Supreme Court Justice Beth Robinson," October 18, 2011
  6. ↑ BurlingtonFreePress.com, "Same-sex marriage advocate joins Vermont Supreme Court," November 28, 2011
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Vermont Legislature, "Journal of the Joint Assembly," accessed June 17, 2019
  8. ↑ Bloomberg Law, "Biden Can Flip Second Circuit After Judge Hall Goes Senior (1)," March 4, 2021
  9. ↑ American Bar Association, "RATINGS OF ARTICLE III AND ARTICLE IV JUDICIAL NOMINEES 117TH CONGRESS," last updated September 13, 2021
  10. ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
  11. ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
  12. ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
  13. ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
  14. ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Vermont," accessed August 20, 2021
  16. ↑ Vermont General Assembly, "Judiciary Department - § 33. Interim judicial appointments," accessed April 18, 2023

Political offices
Preceded by
- 		United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
2021-Present		 Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
- 		Vermont Supreme Court
2011-2021		 Succeeded by
Nancy Waples



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