Ralph Erickson
2017 - Present
6
Ralph R. Erickson is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. He was nominated by President Donald Trump (R) June 7, 2017, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 28, 2017, on a 95-1 vote.[1] To see a full list of judges appointed by Donald Trump, click here.
Before joining the 8th Circuit, Erickson was a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota. He was nominated by President George W. Bush (R) on January 7, 2003, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 12, 2003.[2]
The United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit is one of 13 U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal courts. The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota is one of 94 U.S. district courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the courts, click here.
Judicial nominations and appointments
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit (2017-present)
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump
President Donald Trump (R) nominated Erickson to the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit on June 7, 2017. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 28, 2017, on a 95-1 vote.[1] Erickson received commission on October 12, 2017.[2] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Ralph R. Erickson |
| Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 113 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: June 7, 2017
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| ABA Rating: Substantial Majority Well Qualified, Minority Qualified
|
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: July 25, 2017
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| QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: September 14, 2017
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| Confirmed: September 28, 2017
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| Vote: 95-1
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Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Erickson on September 28, 2017, on a vote of 95-1. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was the lone senator to vote against Erickson's confirmation.[1] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.
| Erickson confirmation vote (September 28, 2017) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Yea | Nay | No vote | ||||||
 Democratic |
44 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
 Republican |
49 | 0 | 3 | ||||||
 Independent |
2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 95 | 1 | 4 | ||||||
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
Hearings on Erickson's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 25, 2017, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on September 14, 2017.[1]
Nomination
President Donald Trump (R) nominated Erickson to the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit on June 7, 2017. Erickson was nominated to replace Judge Kermit Bye, who assumed senior status on April 22, 2015, and retired from judicial service on September 1, 2016.[1]
The American Bar Association rated Erickson well qualified by a substantial majority and qualified by a minority for the position.[3] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.
U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota (2003-2017)
President George W. Bush (R) nominated Erickson to the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota on September 12, 2002. The U.S. Senate confirmed Erickson on March 12, 2003, by voice vote. He received commission on March 14, 2003. From 2009 to 2016, Erickson served as the district court's chief judge.[2][4][5] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Erickson on March 12, 2003, by voice vote.[5]
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
Hearings on Erickson's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 5, 2003, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on February 27, 2003.[5]
Nomination
President George W. Bush (R) nominated Erickson to the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota on September 12, 2002. Under provisions of Rule XXXI, paragraph six of the standing rules of the Senate, Erickson's nomination was returned to the president on November 20, 2002.[4] President Bush resubmitted the nomination on January 7, 2003.[5]
Erickson was nominated to replace Judge Rodney Webb, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2001, and ended his service when he died on August 9, 2009.[5][6]
The American Bar Association rated Erickson 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
Born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, Erickson graduated from Jamestown College with a bachelor's degree in 1980 and from the University of North Dakota School of law with his J.D. in 1984.[2]
Professional career
- 2017 - Present: Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit
- 2003-2017: Judge, United States District Court for the District of North Dakota
- 2009-2016: Chief judge
- 1995-2003: Judge, East Central Judicial District Court
- 1994: Judge, Traill, Steele, Nelson, and Griggs Counties Court
- 1993-1994: Magistrate judge, Cass County (N.D.) Court
- 1984-1994: Private practice, West Fargo, N.D.[2]
Noteworthy cases
Eighth Circuit upholds death sentence in first N.D. capital case in 100 years (2009)
On September 22, 2009, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit upheld a capital sentence imposed by a jury in North Dakota in the first capital case in the state in 100 years. Judge Ralph Erickson presided over the trial, which was held in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota. Rodriguez alleged that the district court erred in denying him a change of venue from North Dakota to Minnesota, claiming pretrial publicity unconstitutionally prejudiced the potential jury pool, among various other claims. The panel upheld Judge Erickson's judgments and the jury's sentence in the case.[8]
About the court
8th Circuit Court of Appeals
| Eighth Circuit |
|---|
| Court of Appeals |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 11 |
| Judges: 11 |
| Vacancies: 0 |
| Judges |
| Chief: Steven Colloton |
| Active judges: William D. Benton, Steven Colloton, Ralph Erickson, L. Steven Grasz, Raymond Gruender, Jane Kelly, Jonathan Kobes, James Loken, Bobby Shepherd, Lavenski Smith, David Stras Senior judges: |
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Eighth Circuit has 11 authorized judicial posts. The chief judge of the court is Lavenski Smith, who was appointed by President George W. Bush (R). Four of the judges on the court were appointed by Donald Trump (R).
Appeals are heard in the Thomas Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri.
Three judges of the Eighth Circuit went on to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Willis Van Devanter was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1910 by William Howard Taft, Charles Evans Whittaker was appointed in 1957 by Dwight Eisenhower, and Harry Blackmun was appointed in 1970 by Richard Nixon. The Eighth Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. Appeals of rulings by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Neil Gorsuch is the circuit justice for the Eighth Circuit.
The United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit has jurisdiction over the United States district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
To read opinions published by this court, click here.
District of North Dakota
| District of North Dakota |
|---|
| Eighth Circuit |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 2 |
| Judges: 2 |
| Vacancies: 0 |
| Judges |
| Chief: Peter Welte |
| Active judges: Daniel Traynor, Peter Welte Senior judges: |
The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota is one of 94 United States district courts. The court is headquartered in Fargo and has additional locations at Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot. The district was created in 1889, when the Dakota Territory was divided into North Dakota and South Dakota. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, based in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, at the Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse and Building.
The jurisdiction of the District of North Dakota consists of all the counties in the state of North Dakota. The District of North Dakota has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.
The court is headquartered in Fargo and has additional locations at Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot.
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
- United States District Court for the District of North Dakota
- United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Judge Erickson's biography from the Federal Judicial Center
- United States District Court for the District of North Dakota
- United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 United States Congress, "PN 586 — Ralph R. Erickson — The Judiciary," accessed September 14, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Judge Ralph R. Erickson," accessed January 30, 2019
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III and Article IV judicial nominees, 115th Congress," accessed July 12, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 United States Congress, "PN 2151 — Ralph R. Erickson — The Judiciary," accessed June 2, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 United States Congress, "PN 21 — Ralph R. Erickson — The Judiciary," accessed June 2, 2017
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Webb, Rodney Scott," accessed July 20, 2020
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 108th Congress," accessed June 2, 2017
- ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, United States of America v. Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., September 22, 2009
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
United States Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit 2017-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
United States District Court for the District of North Dakota 2003-2017 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Active judges | |||
| Senior judges | |||
| Magistrate judges | Alice Senechal • Clare Hochhalter • | ||
| Former Article III judges |
Rodney Webb • Ralph Erickson • Bruce Marion Van Sickle • Paul Benson • Charles Fremont Amidon • Alfred Delavan Thomas • Andrew Miller (North Dakota) • Charles Joseph Vogel • Ronald Norwood Davies • George Register • | ||
| Former Chief judges |
Daniel Hovland • Patrick Conmy • Rodney Webb • Ralph Erickson • Paul Benson • Charles Joseph Vogel • George Register • | ||
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 |
Armijo • Bates • Beistline • Blackburn • Bowdre • Bunning • Bury • Caldwell • Camp • Cassell • Cebull • Clement • Clifton • Crane • Eagan • Engelhardt • Friot • Gibbons • Granade • Gregory • Gritzner • Haddon • Hartz • Heaton • Hicks • Howard • Johnson • Jorgenson • Krieger • Land • Leon • Mahan • Martinez • Martone • McConnell • Melloy • Mills • O'Brien • Parker • Payne • Prost • Reeves • Riley • Robinson • Rogers • Royal • Shedd • B. Smith • L. Smith • Walton • Wooten • Zainey | ||
| 2002 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2004 |
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| 2005 |
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| 2006 |
Besosa • Bumb • Chagares • Cogan • Gelpi • Golden • Gordon • Gorsuch • Guilford • Hillman • Holmes • Ikuta • D. Jordan • K. Jordan • Kavanaugh • Miller • Moore • Shepherd • Sheridan • Smith • Whitney • Wigenton | ||
| 2007 |
Anderson • Aycock • Bailey • Bryant • Davis • DeGiusti • Dow • Elrod • Fairbank • Fischer • Frizzell • Gutierrez • Hall • Hardiman • Haynes • Howard • Jarvey • Jones • Jonker • Kapala • Kays • Laplante • Limbaugh • Lioi • Livingston • Maloney • Mauskopf • Mendez • Miller • Neff • O'Connor • O'Grady • O'Neill • Osteen • Ozerden • Reidinger • Sammartino • Schroeder • Settle • Smith • Snow • Southwick • Suddaby • Sullivan • Thapar • Tinder • Van Bokkelen • Wood • Wright • Wu | ||
| 2008 |
Agee • Anello • Arguello • Brimmer • Gardephe • Goldberg • Jones • Kethledge • Lawrence • Matsumoto • Melgren • Murphy • Scriven • Seibel • Slomsky • Trenga • Waddoups • White | ||
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 |
Thomas Parker • Elizabeth Branch • Neil Gorsuch • Amul Thapar • David C. Nye • John K. Bush • Kevin Newsom • Timothy J. Kelly • Ralph Erickson • Scott Palk • Trevor McFadden • Joan Larsen • Amy Coney Barrett • Allison Eid • Stephanos Bibas • Donald Coggins Jr. • Dabney Friedrich • Greg Katsas • Steven Grasz • Don Willett • James Ho • William L. Campbell Jr. • David Stras • Tilman E. Self III • Karen Gren Scholer • Terry A. Doughty • Claria Horn Boom • John Broomes • Rebecca Grady Jennings • Kyle Duncan • Kurt Engelhardt • Michael B. Brennan • Joel Carson • Robert Wier • Fernando Rodriguez Jr. • Annemarie Carney Axon • | ||
| 2018 |
Andrew Oldham • Amy St. Eve • Michael Scudder • John Nalbandian • Mark Bennett • Andrew Oldham • Britt Grant • Colm Connolly • Maryellen Noreika • Jill Otake • Jeffrey Beaverstock • Emily Coody Marks • Holly Lou Teeter • Julius Richardson • Charles B. Goodwin • Barry Ashe • Stan Baker • A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. • Terry F. Moorer • Susan Baxter • William Jung • Alan Albright • Dominic Lanza • Eric Tostrud • Charles Williams • Nancy E. Brasel • James Sweeney • Kari A. Dooley • Marilyn J. Horan • Robert Summerhays • Brett Kavanaugh • David Porter • Liles Burke • Michael Juneau • Peter Phipps • Lance Walker • Richard Sullivan • Eli Richardson • Ryan Nelson • Chad F. Kenney, Sr. • Susan Brnovich • William M. Ray, II • Jeremy Kernodle • Thomas Kleeh • J.P. Hanlon • Mark Norris • Jonathan Kobes • Michael Brown • David Counts | ||
| 2019 |
Eric Miller • Chad Readler • Eric Murphy • Neomi Rao • Paul Matey • Allison Jones Rushing • Bridget S. Bade • Roy Altman • Patrick Wyrick • Holly Brady • David Morales • Andrew Brasher • J. Campbell Barker • Rodolfo Ruiz • Daniel Domenico • Michael Truncale • Michael Park • Joseph Bianco • Raúl Arias-Marxuach • Daniel Collins • Joshua Wolson • Wendy Vitter • Kenneth Kiyul Lee • Kenneth Bell • Stephen Clark • Howard Nielson • Rodney Smith • Jean-Paul Boulee • Sarah Daggett Morrison • Rossie Alston • Pamela A. Barker • Corey Maze • Greg Guidry • Matthew Kacsmaryk • Allen Winsor • Carl Nichols • James Cain, Jr. • Tom Barber • J. Nicholas Ranjan • Clifton L. Corker • Peter Phipps • Daniel Bress • Damon Leichty • Wendy W. Berger • Peter Welte • Michael Liburdi • William Shaw Stickman • Mark Pittman • Karin J. Immergut • Jason Pulliam • Brantley Starr • Brian Buescher • James Wesley Hendrix • Timothy Reif • Martha Pacold • Sean Jordan • Mary Rowland • John M. Younge • Jeff Brown • Ada Brown • Steven Grimberg • Stephanie A. Gallagher • Steven Seeger • Stephanie Haines • Mary McElroy • David J. Novak • Frank W. Volk • Charles Eskridge • Rachel Kovner • Justin Walker • T. Kent Wetherell • Danielle Hunsaker • Lee Rudofsky • Jennifer Philpott Wilson • William Nardini • Steven Menashi • Robert J. Luck • Eric Komitee • Douglas Cole • John Sinatra • Sarah Pitlyk • Barbara Lagoa • Richard Myers II • Sherri Lydon • Patrick Bumatay • R. Austin Huffaker • Miller Baker • Anuraag Singhal • Karen Marston • Jodi Dishman • Mary Kay Vyskocil • Matthew McFarland • John Gallagher • Bernard Jones • Kea Riggs • Robert J. Colville • Stephanie Dawkins Davis • Gary R. Brown • David Barlow • Lewis Liman | ||
| 2020 |
Lawrence VanDyke • Daniel Traynor • John Kness • Joshua Kindred • Philip Halpern • Silvia Carreno-Coll • Scott Rash • John Heil • Anna Manasco • John L. Badalamenti • Drew Tipton • Andrew Brasher • Cory Wilson • Scott Hardy • David Joseph • Matthew Schelp • John Cronan • Justin Walker • Brett H. Ludwig • Christy Wiegand • Thomas Cullen • Diane Gujarati • Stanley Blumenfeld • Mark Scarsi • John Holcomb • Stephen P. McGlynn • Todd Robinson • Hala Jarbou • David Dugan • Iain D. Johnston • Franklin U. Valderrama • John Hinderaker • Roderick Young • Michael Newman • Aileen Cannon • James Knepp • Kathryn Kimball Mizelle • Benjamin Beaton • Kristi Johnson • Toby Crouse • Philip Calabrese • Taylor McNeel • Thomas Kirsch • Stephen Vaden • Katherine Crytzer • Fernando Aenlle-Rocha • Charles Atchley • Joseph Dawson | ||
