They might split up the 9th circuit Court of Appeals

[La_Serpiente]

A make it into a 12 circuit. I just heard it on CSpan. Sorry, no link.

[joeybee12]

1. Is that California?

What would this mean???

[La_Serpiente]

2. it covers many states

California, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, and maybe Idaho (I'm not sure).

Anyhow, it is the largest appeals court in the nation. Perhaps Congress feels that it is just too big (it is kind of big actually). Maybe they feel that it could be more representative if it was split up. Of course, there could be another reason why. To allow Bush to appoint a whole slew of conservatives to a newly formed court.

But for some reason, the concept that they want to decrease the liberal influence on the court pops in my head and I am not sure why?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

3. Disaster...

The 9th consistantly puts forth some of the finest rulings in our country -- rulings the RW can't tolerate. THAT is why they want to break it up.

Grrrrrr.

[24HRrnr]

4. The 9th consistantly puts forth some of the finest rulings in our country

and is the most consistantly overturned. They also have a record of overturning initiatives voted upon by the populace - a very undemocratic process.

[drscm]

9. Please provide the source for this information...

The last time I read anything on the matter of having judgments overturned, the 9th circuit had no higher percentage of overturns than any other federal court...

[24HRrnr]

13. This might be a place to start...

http://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlstud/v29y2000i2p711-19.html

or here...

http://writ.corporate.findlaw.com/lazarus/20020711.html

...wherein the author suggests the fact that the Ninth Circuit is overturned more frequently is a good thing, as it shows that the Court is capable of free and independent thinking.

p.s. Sorry for the late reply, but I had to get to work...a major bummer!

[sandnsea]

11. More cases

More cases overturned.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

12. THANK GOD for CUT AND PASTE!!!! Not compared to the total number of cases

they hear:

1. Reversals
There have been more cases from the Ninth Circuit to the Supreme Court than any other circuit in recent years. There have also been more cases decided by the Ninth Circuit in recent years than any other circuit. As set forth in the study by the Honorable Jerome Farris, a Ninth Circuit judge recently senior, in 1995 the Ninth Circuit decided 7,955 matters, in 1996 7,813, and in 1997 8,701. The percentage of reversals as against the total number of cases decided was 3/10 of 1%.

http://www.abanet.org/govaffairs/testimony/garvey9th.html

Most rumors about the 9th circuit are created by Repubs who have been trying to break it up for years in order to further stack the courts to their liking.
During the last several years, Supreme Court reversal rates of Ninth Circuit decisions have been consistent with that of other circuits. For example, during this past term, on a percentage basis, there were seven other circuits whose reversal rates exceeded ours. Perhaps more importantly, the number of petitions for certiorari granted by the Supreme Court arising out of decisions of the Ninth Circuit has declined significantly in recent years.

Even in the year most frequently cited by critics, 1996, our circuit was not the most reversed circuit on a percentage basis. That year, five circuits had all of their decisions reversed: the First, Second, Seventh, D.C., and Federal circuits. And since that time, we've had 14 new members added to our court.

All of this indicates that our opinions are receiving an appropriate amount of internal examination, and the consistency of our opinions does not vary from that of other circuits.


http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju80880.000/hju80880_0.HTM

[SoCalDem]

15. not true..

the PERCENTAGE of overturned vs number heard is not the highest..

just more "fun with numbers" from our flying monkey friends :)

[snippy]

17. "overturning initiatives voted upon by the populace"

may be "a very undemocratic process" but it is a very Constitutional process. The authors of the Constitution rightly feared the tyranny of the majority.

[livinontheedge]

5. We need the courts on our side.

If we can't have the legislature, at least we can have the judiciary to press our agenda.

[24HRrnr]

6. Since when

does the judiciary have the authority to initiate legislation, even by fiat. That is a very dangerous road that leads to totalitarianism.

There was a reason for the separation of powers and the purpose of the judiciary was to act as a check to the other branches by defining the constitutionality of their actions. If they instead engage in activism, the entire system will be harmed.

Politically, if we rely on regal announcements (which is what an activist judge utilizes) instead of bashing in the brains of the opposition with facts and ideas, we'll lose and lose and lose. The other side will simply run against our "allies" in the courts and win in public opinion and elections. Who will appoint the next round of judges? Winning elections is paramount.

Also,what happens if our "allies" in the courts turn against us? there tends to be a lot of "what goes around comes around" in this world.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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[HawkerHurricane]

7. "Court Packing"

is the operative term.

Split it half, then appoint conservatives to the new seats.

End result: most liberal court becomes two moderate to conservative courts.

[jiacinto]

10. It's been talked about for years

They've wanted to make California its own circuit and leave the rest in another.

[w4rma]

14. I'm sure alot of Republicans would like to see California float out into

the middle of the ocean and sink, also.

[snippy]

16. Correct. Decades actually. It is a huge Circuit not only geographically

but also by number of judges and cases heard. Dividing it in two probably is sensible. The arguments against it always revolve around which states go into which Circuit and where the new Circuit would be based. Some of these arguments have pork as their basis.

[scipan]

18. Maybe they could split the DC Court too

a conservative court and probably the most powerful appeals court.

This will all take some time -- Nominations can start around, oh, January 2005.