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9th Circuit Court to be divided?
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, March 11, 2003

Posted on 03/10/2003 11:19:02 PM PST by JohnHuang2

Legislation has been introduced in Congress to break up the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – known as the federal panel with the most left-leaning decisions and which often is overturned by the Supreme Court.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced S. 562 last week. The bill would divide the 28-judge court into two, keeping California and Nevada in the 9th Circuit and creating a 12th Circuit made up of Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, as well as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

A companion bill in the House was introduced Feb. 27 by Rep. Michael Simpson, R-Idaho. According to a report in the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, Simpson's bill differs from Murkowski's by putting Arizona in the Denver-based 10th Circuit.

The 9th Circuit Court's most recent controversial decision came Feb. 28 when the court rejected the Bush administration's request to reconsider its previous ruling that the Pledge of Allegiance – due to the phrase "under God" – is unconstitutional in public schools.

Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary M. Schroeder said in a speech last year that the circuit was doing well because "[t]here are no moves to divide it, knock on wood," reports the Metropolitan News-Enterprise.

In condemning the Pledge decision on the Senate floor last week, Murkowski said, "The recent history of the 9th Circuit suggests a judicial activism that is close to the fringe of legal reasoning."

She noted that during the 1990s, the Supreme Court overturned almost 90 percent of the 9th Circuit cases it reviewed: "In 1997, 27 of the 28 cases brought to the Supreme Court were reversed – two-thirds by a unanimous vote."

Defenders of the Ninth Circuit say it has a reversal rate that is comparable to other circuits. Ninth Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas, from Montana, told a congressional panel last year that in the 1996-97 court term – the one the critics usually cite – five of the other circuits had all of their decisions reversed, reports the Metropolitan News-Enterprise.

Republican lawmakers from the states proposed to be split off have been trying to divide the circuit for years. Murkowski's father, now-Gov. Frank Murkowski, introduced a bill to do so three times and was a co-sponsor in other years.




TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
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Tuesday, March 11, 2003

Quote of the Day by AmishDude

1 posted on 03/10/2003 11:19:02 PM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
Let Kalifornistan enjoy the Nine Circus wackos and leave the rest of the West alone. Its about time.
2 posted on 03/10/2003 11:21:21 PM PST by goldstategop
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To: JohnHuang2
NOOOoooooo!!!!

Do not leave SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA in the 9th Circuit!

Please take us with you Arizona!!!!

3 posted on 03/10/2003 11:30:55 PM PST by bonesmccoy (Defeat the terrorists... Vaccinate!)
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To: JohnHuang2
How about abolished.
Or repacked ala Roosevelt.
4 posted on 03/10/2003 11:34:01 PM PST by polemikos
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To: JohnHuang2
This would be a welcome change to those of us in Oregon!
5 posted on 03/10/2003 11:35:35 PM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: JohnHuang2
Great strategy. I love it!

6 posted on 03/10/2003 11:40:14 PM PST by EternalVigilance (Slice and Dice the Ninth!)
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To: JohnHuang2
Where would the rest of the states go? OK needs out of the 9th.
7 posted on 03/11/2003 12:04:57 AM PST by MigrantOkie
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To: JohnHuang2
I am all for it.
8 posted on 03/11/2003 12:07:17 AM PST by MigrantOkie
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To: JohnHuang2
Simpson is my rep. I'm happy to see him finally introduce the bill.
9 posted on 03/11/2003 12:12:48 AM PST by Myrddin
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To: bonesmccoy
Poor Nevada.
10 posted on 03/11/2003 12:41:37 AM PST by Iwo Jima (Frist is one smart operator.)
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To: MigrantOkie
OK, here's the plan. The Berkley, SF, Oakland area stays in the 9th, everybody else goes somewhere else.
11 posted on 03/11/2003 12:50:15 AM PST by chuckles
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Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: JohnHuang2
WOOHOO!!!!!!! Hope it goes through!
13 posted on 03/11/2003 1:05:16 AM PST by Tamzee (There are 10 types of people... those who read binary, and those who don't.)
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To: JohnHuang2
Why stop at 12? Why not a cirucit court for each and every state? And while we are at it move all the Clinton judges over to the bankruptcy courts or better yet create a special court that handles animal cases so all the Clinton pods get to make up law on is for dog bites or stuff like that.
14 posted on 03/11/2003 1:23:49 AM PST by Nateman
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To: MigrantOkie
OK is not in the Ninth Circuit now, so what's your beef?
15 posted on 03/11/2003 1:30:24 AM PST by connectthedots
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To: JohnHuang2
"And The Washington Times reported that the 9th Circuit Court has been reversed nearly 90 percent of the time over the last six years by the U.S. Supreme Court, including 16 cases in 1996 that were overturned unanimously."

http://www.headwatersnews.org/pr.ninthcircuit.html
16 posted on 03/11/2003 1:43:54 AM PST by Roscoe
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To: JohnHuang2
What is the point of dividing the 9th? Won't that just give us two bolshevik courts? Why does not Congress impeach some of these "judges" and fix the problem?
17 posted on 03/11/2003 1:48:13 AM PST by arthurus
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To: JohnHuang2
Oh, man, they had to propose leaving my home state of Nevada in the 9th Circus!!! Grrrrr.....
18 posted on 03/11/2003 2:22:27 AM PST by GOP_Raider (OAKLAND RAIDERS AFC CHAMPIONS!!!!)
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To: MigrantOkie
OK is in the 10th Circuit, not the 9th. The 10th is presently compsoed of Colorado, Kansas, New mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.
19 posted on 03/11/2003 6:14:22 AM PST by ought-six
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To: JohnHuang2

20 posted on 03/11/2003 6:26:17 AM PST by Consort
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