Bill Splits Controversial Ninth Circuit into Three Smaller Courts

By Jimmy Moore
Talon News
May 17, 2004

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) and Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) have introduced simultaneous legislation into both houses of Congress that would break down the controversial Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals into three smaller circuits.

"The Ninth Circuit Judgeship and Reorganization Act of 2004," or H.R. 4247 in the House and S. 2278 in the Senate, would create a new Ninth, Twelfth and Thirteenth Circuit Court of Appeals to minimize the size of the former Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, currently the largest in the United States.

The new Ninth Circuit would include California, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Marianas Islands and will be located in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California.

The Twelfth Circuit would be comprised of Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and Montana and reside in Las Vegas, Nevada and Phoenix, Arizona.

Finally, the Thirteenth Circuit would adjudicate cases from Alaska, Oregon, and Washington with a central location in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.

This bill gives the president the authority, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint five new circuit court judges to the Ninth Circuit after January 21, 2005.

The existing justices of the Ninth Circuit will be divided among the three new courts created by the bill.

As previously reported by Talon News, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has been responsible for extremely controversial decisions, such as removing "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and halting last year's historic California recall election.

Renzi believes his legislation is sorely needed to rein in liberal judges that have hijacked the judicial process for their own political agenda.

"For too long, Arizonans have been held hostage by activist judges out of San Francisco, who have consistently ruled against ranchers, farmers, miners and our timber industry," Renzi explained in a speech introducing the legislation. "The Ninth Circuit Court is out of touch with the traditional western values that still hold true in our communities, and the scales of justice must be balanced."

H.R. 4247 currently only has one cosponsor in the House, Rep. John Porter (R-NV), and is under consideration by the House Judiciary Committee.

At the same time, S. 2278 has six cosponsors in the Senate, including Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), Sen. Michael Crapo (R-ID), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). The bill has had hearings held last month and is under review by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts.