Today, the President announced that he has nominated Indianapolis attorney James R. Sweeney II to fill a judicial emergency on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. According to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, there are a total of 64 judicial emergencies in the following states: New York, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, Indiana, Iowa, North Dakota, Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.[1]

If confirmed, James R. Sweeney II of Indiana will serve as a District Judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Jim Sweeney is a partner in the Indianapolis office of Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, where he serves as co-chair of the Federal Contracting, Procurement and National Security Practice Group, co-chair of the Entrepreneurial and Emerging Companies Practice Group, and is a member of the firm’s Global Services Practice Group and its Internet and Technology Law Practice Group. Before joining Barnes & Thornburg in 1999, Mr. Sweeney served as a law clerk to Judge James L. Ryan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and as a law clerk to Judge John D. Tinder of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Prior to enrolling in law school, Mr. Sweeney accepted a commission in the United States Marine Corps, and served on active duty for 11 years, followed by active reserve duty, ultimately retiring as a combat veteran at the rank of colonel. Mr. Sweeney earned his B.S., with merit, from the United States Naval Academy, where he was selected as a Cox Scholar and a Burke Equivalent Scholar alternate, and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Notre Dame Law School, where he served as editor in chief of the Notre Dame Law Review. Mr. Sweeney currently serves as the immediate-past National President of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States.

Responding to Mr. Sweeney’s nomination, Vice President Mike Pence said, “I applaud the nomination of Jim Sweeney to the Federal bench in Indianapolis. Indiana has three Federal district court vacancies, and the seat that Mr. Sweeney has been nominated to fill is one of 64 Federal judicial vacancies designated as a ‘judicial emergency.’ It is vitally important that the Senate move swiftly to schedule a hearing and a vote on Mr. Sweeney’s nomination, as well as the President’s 50 other pending federal judicial nominees. By nominating outstanding candidates like Jim Sweeney and former Notre Dame Law Professor Amy Coney Barrett—who was confirmed to an Indiana seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit yesterday—the President is delivering on his promise to nominate outstanding judges. The American people deserve to have these judges quickly confirmed.”

http://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/judicial-vacancies/judicial-emergencies