Fifth Circuit

The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which sits in New Orleans, Louisiana, presides over all appeals from federal district courts in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Its active judges are (as of Sept. 15, 2007):

• Edith Jones (appointed by President Ronald Reagan)
• Carolyn Dineen King (appointed by President Jimmy Carter)
• E. Grady Jolly (appointed by President Ronald Reagan)
• W. Eugene Davis (appointed by President Ronald Reagan)
• Jerry Edwin Smith (appointed by President Ronald Reagan)
• Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale (appointed by President George H. W. Bush)
• Jacques L. Wiener, Jr. (appointed by President George H. W. Bush)
• Emilio M. Garza (appointed by President George H. W. Bush)
• Fortunato Benavides (appointed by President Bill Clinton)
• Carl E. Stewart (appointed by President Bill Clinton)
• James L. Dennis (appointed by President Bill Clinton)
• Edith Brown Clement (appointed by President George W. Bush)
• Edward C. Prado (appointed by President George W. Bush)
• Priscilla Owen (appointed by President George W. Bush)

The Republican appointments have a 10-4 advantage among active judges, who are the only ones allowed to vote for a rehearing en banc. Three seats are vacant.

The judges having senior status on the Fifth Circuit participate in panel decisions but may not participate in the voting or hearing of a decision en banc. The senior judges are (as of Sept. 15, 2007):

• Thomas Morrow Reavley (appointed by President Jimmy Carter)
• William Lockhart Garwood (appointed by President Ronald Reagan)
• Patrick Higginbotham (appointed by President Ronald Reagan)
• John Malcolm Duhé, Jr. (appointed by President Ronald Reagan)
• Harold R. DeMoss, Jr. (appointed by President George H. W. Bush)