[Big_Monkey]

"question: If we managed, somehow to say in law that the 9th Circuit court no longer exists, what would happen to the judges sitting on it?

Is there precedent for a circumstance like that?

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 9...

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

The constitution only spells out the Supreme Court. The rest is left to the Congress to organize, staff and fund. Don't see why they couldn't just dissolve it and have some other appellate court take over the case load. But, I'm not a lawyer.

[txnativegop]

That is what I thought, but with lawyers, one never can tell, can one?

[cartoonistx]

Judges, although appointed for life, are appointed to a particular seat on a particular court (or “bench”). If the court were to be disolved, so would be the appointment. If there were vacant seats on other courts, though, I imagine they would be filled by already-vetted judges from the disolved court. It’s all up to the congress to write the laws concerning the existence of and appointment to the lower courts. This congress would find all the loonies of the 9th a bench to warm, no doubt about that!