[dufekin]

My "plan" to realign the circuits. Each gets about 50 electoral votes. We move the New York circuit to Dallas to better reflect the demographic shift of the country. Each court gets approximately the same number of judges. All presently serving judges, of course, get to keep their jobs. (Note the enlargement of the Boston circuit to full-circuit size by adding Vermont and New Jersey [which, I realize, is disjoined from the rest of the circuit].)

FIRST CIRCUIT—BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (49)
Maine (4)
New Hampshire (4)
Vermont (3)
Massachusetts (12)
Rhode Island (4)
Connecticut (7)
New Jersey (15)
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Southern Ocean

THIRD CIRCUIT—PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA (52)
Pennsylvania (21)
New York (31)

FOURTH CIRCUIT—RICHMOND, VIRGINIA (49)
Virginia (13)
North Carolina (15)
Maryland (10)
South Carolina (8)
Delaware (3)

ELEVENTH CIRCUIT—ATLANTA, GEORGIA (42)
Georgia (15)
Florida (27)

FIFTH CIRCUIT—NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA (41+~5)
Louisiana (9)
Arkansas (6)
Mississippi (6)
Alabama (9)
Tennessee (11)
Puerto Rico
Gulf of Mexico
Virgin Islands

SIXTH CIRCUIT—CINCINNATI, OHIO (50)
Ohio (20)
Michigan (17)
Kentucky (8)
West Virginia (5)

SEVENTH CIRCUIT—CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (52)
Illinois (21)
Wisconsin (10)
Minnesota (10)
Indiana (11)
Great Lakes
Arctic Ocean

EIGHTH CIRCUIT—SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI (48)
Missouri (11)
Iowa (7)
Oklahoma (7)
Kansas (6)
Nebraska (5)
South Dakota (3)
North Dakota (3)
Wyoming (3)
Montana (3)

SECOND CIRCUIT—DALLAS, TEXAS (49)—
Relocated from NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Texas (34)
Arizona (10)
New Mexico (5)

TENTH CIRCUIT—DENVER, COLORADO (48)
Colorado (9)
Washington (11)
Oregon (7)
Idaho (4)
Alaska (3)
Hawaii (4)
Nevada (5)
Utah (5)

NINTH CIRCUIT—SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA (55)
California (55)
Pacific Ocean
Guam
Northern Mariana Islands

[pogo101]

Your approach, and others that draw new Circuits from scratch, is preferable to ones that merely "split the Ninth." If nothing else, they are POLITICALLY preferable, for they are somewhat insulated from the criticism that "you're just out to get the Ninth! it's all politics!"

Although there'd also be nothing wrong with "splitting the Ninth." The usual approach would put CA and the island territories into a Twelfth Circuit, not unlike the "new 9th" proposed in your list, and leave the other states in the "Old 9th."

But, again, a total redrawing is better. Why should Arizona be in there with Alaska, when it could be with New Mexico and Texas?

[TedsGarage]

That's not a bad plan, except I would put Michigan in the seventh circuit and Indiana in the sixth circuit. Michigan little in common with Kentucky and West Virginia. Indiana has more.

[alwaysconservative]

Looks good, except you should put Montana in the 10th next to Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado. St. Louis is a long distance to travel for circuit court arguments if you're from Montana, IMO.