Posted on 11/09/2005 7:38:27 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Republican chairman and the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced their opposition Wednesday to a House GOP move to fast-track a break-up of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
House Republicans are including a split of the San Francisco-based court, which covers nine Western states, in a budget-reduction bill that could win House approval as soon as Thursday and would be immune from Senate filibuster. The 9th circuit measure was not in the Senate's version of the budget bill, and opposition from key senators could keep it out of the final version of the bill that will be crafted by House and Senate negotiators.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., declared their opposition to the House move in a letter released by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a staunch opponent to breaking up the court.
"The reorganization of appellate circuits is a major policy initiative and would impact the system of justice for millions of Americans. The issue is squarely under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee and any budgetary issues are merely incidental," Specter and Leahy wrote to the leaders of the Senate Budget Committee.
Supporters of breaking the circuit - who have been pushing for the split for years - say the nation's largest appeals court has gotten too big to be effective. The court is also the frequent source of rulings that irritate conservatives, like the 2002 opinion that declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional when recited in public schools.
The House measure would create a 9th Circuit covering California, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, and a new 12th Circuit covering Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Arizona. It also would add new judgeships.
Feinstein has promised that if the circuit split measure comes to the Senate floor she'll block it with a procedural objection against allowing non-budgetary provisions in budget bills.
How did the people of PA reelect that sorry excuse for a Republican. Oh yea, he told a bunch of lies to narrowly avoid being defeated in the primary.
What does it take to remove him from the Judicary Committee?
When a state government screws over its citizens, we now have to go to a bank of commie ACLU lawyers wearing robes (and probably cross-dressing underneath) who rule against us and force us to go to the USSC almost every time. The 9th Circuit now has more people in it than any other district. It actually deserves to be split up just on population alone! And the non left-coast states need relief from an activist court than basically rubber stamps everything that the ACLU or the unions sue us for.
They have been kicking this around for at least 15 years. We miseed our best chance in 1995 when we took over Congress. And which a big fan of the 9th Circus like Specter as Chairman we are going to get another 4 years of humiliation and abuse from the Federal Courts. We are being held hostage by San Francisco lawyers and no amount of decisions being overturned can justify this kind of imprisonment.
We Arizonans don't want a bunch of old hippie Commies in California telling US how we should live in Arizona.
Thank you,
FWF.
FMCDH(BITS)
You just have to look at the 9th Circus as a filthy rest stop on the highway to the Supreme Court. Get in and out as quickly as you can, ignore the activity out back, do not make eye contact, and try not to touch anything.
All about ABORTIONS and ant-Christians.
Me too, but Cher is ahead of him.
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