Bloomberg Law
Exclusive: Trump Gains Fifth Circuit Seat as Bush Appointee Steps Back
By Jacqueline Thomsen, Reporter
President Donald Trump will have another opportunity to appoint a judge to the influential US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Judge Leslie Southwick, who was appointed to a Mississippi-based seat, will take senior status, he confirmed to Bloomberg Law on Monday.
The George W. Bush appointee, who had recently moved to Austin, Texas, to be closer to family, said in an email that he plans to take the form of semi-retirement for federal judges upon confirmation of a successor.
“Serving on the court has been the greatest privilege of my professional life. That made it challenging to decide to retire from active service,” Southwick said in an email. “The time has arrived, though, for me to focus more on family and life outside the court.”
He added that he’s admired his colleagues and made “marvelous friendships” while serving as a judge. “Fortunately, senior status will allow me to continue to be part of this outstanding court,” Southwick said.
This is the second seat Trump will be able to fill on the Fifth Circuit during his second term. He’s nominated Anna St. John, who currently sits on the New Orleans federal trial court, to fill the seat of Judge Kurt Engelhardt.
Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) indicated that her state, and not Southwick’s new home of Texas, would have input on the pick for the open seat. She said in a statement that whoever takes Southwick’s seat “has huge shoes to fill.”
“I look forward to working with Senator Wicker and the White House to nominate someone who is most suitable for this important judicial role,” Hyde-Smith said.
A spokesperson for Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Southwick has emerged as a more moderate voice among the Republican appointees on the court. He’s one of several Bush-nominated judges who sometimes serve as a check on their more conservative colleagues, particularly the court’s Trump appointees.
In July, he wrote the majority opinion that found detained noncitizens should be granted an opportunity to argue at a bond hearing for their release, despite the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy. That ruling was later vacated by the full Fifth Circuit, and reheard last week.