10/06/2004 05:34:24 PM|||Nathan Moore|||

The House voted to split the 9th Circuit into two distinct circuits.

This move is long overdue. The Left and those who favor alternate-reality adjudication will harp that this is a move to diminish the influence of the most progressive circuit in the Union. This may be partially true. But the 9th Circuit is also the most unwieldy circuit in the federal judicial system. It's caseload is enormous, and one has to rent out PacBell to hold an en banc hearing due to the number of judges (a slight exaggeration, of course).

The effort to split the circuit goes back to the 1940's. The criticism that this is a political move instead of a move of good judgment holds little water. It's stated that the judges in the circuit oppose a split - of course they do! If you split the circuit, the judges, having been divided, will also have only half the territory to lord over than before. It's natural that the judges would oppose the split, especially in this circuit.

Of course, keep in mind that these are the kind of people opposing the split.

|||109710272484593913|||Half a Ninth Circuit