Vol. 37, Number 2 —February 2005

Bills Introduced to Split Ninth Circuit

The first session of the 109th Congress had just begun when two bills to reorganize the Ninth Circuit were introduced in the House by Representative Mike Simpson (R-ID). Simpson has stated that House leadership will hold up the creation of any new judgeships until the Ninth Circuit is split.

H.R. 211, the Ninth Circuit Judgeship and Reorganization Act of 2005, was introduced by Simpson with Representative Tom Delay (R-TX). The bill would divide the Ninth Circuit, creating a new Twelfth Circuit with Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Montana, and a new Thirteenth Circuit, with Alaska, Oregon and Washington. The new Ninth Circuit would encompass California, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

H.R. 212, also introduced by Simpson and identical to legislation introduced in the 108 th Congress, would divide the Ninth Circuit into two circuits, the Ninth and the Twelfth. The new Twelfth Circuit would be Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, and Washington. The Ninth Circuit would retain only California and Nevada. Arizona would be added to the Tenth Circuit with Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming.

Bills to create Article III judgeships failed in the 108th Congress. Although a handful of judges have been included in prior appropriations bills, no omnibus judgeship bill reflecting the total judgeship recommendations of the Judicial Conference has passed Congress since 1990.