Charles Eskridge
2019 - Present
4
Charles R. Eskridge III is a judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. On May 13, 2019, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Eskridge to a seat on this court.[1] The United States Senate confirmed Eskridge October 16, 2019, by a vote of 61-31.[2] He received commission on October 17, 2019. To see a full list of judges appointed by Donald Trump, click here.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas 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 court, click here.
Eskridge was a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in Houston, Texas, from 2015 to 2019.
Judicial nominations and appointments
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump
On May 13, 2019, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Eskridge as an Article III judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.[1] The United States Senate confirmed Eskridge October 16, 2019, by a vote of 61-31.[2] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Charles Eskridge |
| Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 156 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: May 13, 2019
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| ABA Rating: Unanimously well qualified
|
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: June 5, 2019
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| QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: June 27, 2019
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| Confirmed: October 16, 2019
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| Vote: 61-31
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Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Eskridge on October 16, 2019, on a vote of 61-31.[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.
| Eskridge confirmation vote (October 16, 2019) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Yea | Nay | No vote | ||||||
 Democratic |
10 | 30 | 5 | ||||||
 Republican |
51 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
 Independent |
0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 61 | 31 | 8 | ||||||
Change in Senate rules
Eskridge was confirmed to a U.S. District Court under a new precedent the Senate established.
On April 3, 2019, the U.S. Senate voted 51-48 in favor of a change to chamber precedent lowering the maximum time allowed for debate on executive nominees to posts below the Cabinet level and on nominees to district court judgeships from 30 hours after invoking cloture to two.[3]
The change was passed under a procedure, often referred to as the nuclear option, that requires 51 votes rather than 60.[4]
It was the third use of the nuclear option in Senate history. In 2013, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to confirm presidential nominees, except those to the Supreme Court. In 2017, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold required to confirm Supreme Court nominees.[5] For more, see Filibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress.
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Eskridge's nomination on June 5, 2019.[2] On June 27, 2019, the committee voted 15-7 to advance Eskridge's nomination to the full Senate.[6]
Nomination
Eskridge was nominated to succeed Judge Gray Miller, who assumed senior status on December 9, 2018.[2]
Texas Senators Ted Cruz (R) and John Cornyn (R) recommended Eskridge to President Trump and supported his nomination.[7]
The American Bar Association unanimously rated Eskridge well qualified for the position.[8] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.
Early life and education
Eskridge was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1963. He obtained a B.S., magna cum laude, from Trinity University in 1985. He received a J.D., summa cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1990. During his legal studies, Eskridge was an editor of the Pepperdine Law Review.[9][10]
Professional career
- 2019-present: Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- 2015-2019: Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in Houston, Texas
- 1994-2015: Susman Godfrey LLP in Houston
- 1997-2015: Partner
- 1994-1996: Associate
- 1992-1994: Special assistant, Hon. Howard M. Holtzmann, United States Arbitrator, Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands
- 1991-1992: Law clerk to Justice Byron White, Supreme Court of the United States
- 1990-1991: Law clerk to Judge Charles Clark, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit[10]
Awards and associations
Awards
- 2018, 2015, 2012, 2008: National Outstanding Program Award, Garland R. Walker Inn, American Inns of Court
- 2017: Innes Mackillop Outstanding Service Award, Garland R. Walker Inn, American Inns of Court
- 2016: Defender of Justice Award, Texas Fair Defense Project
- 2016: Justice in Action Award, Texas Defender Service
- 2015: First Prize, National Magna Carta Program Competition, Garland R. Walker Inn, American Inns of Court[10]
Associations
- American Bar Association
- American Law Institute
- Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit
- Federal Bar Association
- The Federalist Society
- Garland R. Walker Inn, American Inns of Court
- Houston Bar Association[10]
About the court
| Southern District of Texas |
|---|
| Fifth Circuit |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 19 |
| Judges: 17 |
| Vacancies: 2 |
| Judges |
| Chief: Randy Crane |
| Active judges: Alfred Bennett, Jeff Brown, Randy Crane, Keith Ellison, Charles R. Eskridge III, Marina Garcia Marmolejo, Andrew Hanen, George Hanks, Ricardo Hinojosa, John Kazen, David Morales, Rolando Olvera, Nelva Gonzales Ramos, Fernando Rodriguez Jr., Lee Rosenthal, Diana Saldana, Drew Barnett Tipton Senior judges: |
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas is one of 94 United States district courts. The court's headquarters are in Houston and has six additional offices in the district. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit based in downtown New Orleans at the John Minor Wisdom Federal Courthouse.
The Southern District of Texas has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.
There are seven court divisions: Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, Laredo, McAllen, and Victoria. Click here to see a list of counties in each division.
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 Southern District of Texas
- United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
- Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
- Profile from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP (archived May 2019)
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 White House, "Twelve Nominations Sent to the Senate," May 13, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Congress.gov, "PN722 — Charles R. Eskridge III — The Judiciary," accessed June 6, 2019
- ↑ The Hill, "GOP triggers 'nuclear option' to speed up Trump picks," April 3, 2019
- ↑ Axios, "Senate GOP invokes 'nuclear option' to speed up confirmations of Trump nominees," April 3, 2019
- ↑ NBC News, "McConnell to use 'nuclear option' to confirm lower-level nominees," April 2, 2019
- ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee, "Results of Executive Business Meeting," June 27, 2019
- ↑ U.S. Senator for Texas Ted Cruz, "Sens. Cruz, Cornyn on Nomination of Charles Eskridge as U.S. District Judge in Houston," May 3, 2019
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III and Article IV judicial nominees, 116th Congress," accessed June 27, 2019
- ↑ Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, "Charles Eskridge," archived May 4, 2019
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Senate Judiciary Committee, "Questionnaire for judicial nominees: Charles R. Eskridge III," accessed June 6, 2019
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas 2019-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 |
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| 2018 |
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| 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 | ||
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas
State courts:
Texas Supreme Court • Texas Court of Appeals • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals • Texas District Courts • Texas County Courts • Texas County Courts at Law • Texas Statutory Probate Courts • Texas Justice of the Peace Courts
State resources:
Courts in Texas • Texas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Texas
