Washington – Conservatives this week could come a crucial step closer to splitting up the nation’s most talked-about bunch of appellate judges.
Carving up the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals excites lawmakers who consider the San Francisco-based court too liberal and too big.
Conservatives may have their best opportunity in years, by including the measure to divide the court’s West Coast district in a budget bill set for House approval as early as Thursday.
“If other states don’t want to be affiliated with radical judges in California, I don’t blame them,” Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said Monday. “California has put itself way to the left.”
At the same time, Nunes acknowledged that “we’re a long way” from finishing the bill, and he suggested the courts provision could end up being traded away. The budget bill could be delayed for several weeks.
The courts legislation in question would separate federal appellate judges in California and Hawaii. Seven other Western states would become a new district. The judicial region in which 15,685 appeals were filed over the past year would become two separate circuits.
Appeals arising from the likes of Montana and Idaho would be heard in the newly created 12th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Colorado, seat of the 10th Circuit, would not be affected.
