About the 5th Circuit The 5th Circuit covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. It has seventeen seats, two of which are vacant. Twelve judges are male and three are female. Three are Hispanic and one is African American. Reproductive Rights in the 5th Circuit Grade: D- The states in the 5th Circuit receive an average grade of D- regarding reproductive rights. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas have all enacted laws that severely restrict a woman's reproductive rights. While over the years courts have struck down some of these onerous restrictions as unconstitutional, the vast majority remain on the books. It will be up to the judges who sit on the 5th Circuit Court to uphold or deny a woman's reproductive rights as they deliberate the constitutionality of these restrictive laws. Acknowledgment: NCJW thanks the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation for the use of data contained in the "2005 Report Card on Women’s Reproductive Rights" included in Who Decides? The Status of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States, 14th edition, 2005 In this publication, NARAL Pro-Choice America assigned each state and the District of Columbia a letter grade based on the nature of reproductive rights laws in 19 categories. These grades were averaged to offer a general overview of the status of reproductive rights in each circuit.       Pending Nominees to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Priscilla R. Owen Judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Carolyn Dineen King, Chief Judge, appointed 7/13/79 by President Jimmy Carter Patrick E. Higginbotham, appointed 7/30/82 by President Ronald Reagan W. Eugene Davis, appointed 11/16/83 by President Ronald Reagan Edith H. Jones, appointed 4/4/85 by President Ronald Reagan Jerry E. Smith, appointed 12/21/87 by President Ronald Reagan Jacques L. Wiener, Jr., appointed 3/12/90 by President George Bush Rhesa H. Barksdale, appointed 3/12/90 by President George Bush Emilio M. Garza, appointed 5/30/91 by President George Bush Harold R. DeMoss, Jr., appointed 12/2/91 by President George Bush Fortunato P. Benavides, appointed 5/9/94 by President William Clinton Carl E. Stewart, appointed 5/9/94 by President William Clinton Robert M. Parker, appointed 6/16/94 by President William Clinton James L. Dennis, appointed 10/2/95 by President William Clinton Edith Brown Clement, appointed 11/26/01 by President George W. Bush Edward C. Prado, appointed 5/5/03 by President George W. Bush