House Votes to Split Circuit Court

The Republican-led House voted Tuesday to break up the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, an action opponents said was motivated by conservatives’ ire over some of the court’s rulings.

Nine Western states are covered by the 9th Circuit, but the legislation would leave only California and Hawaii in a revamped lineup.

The proposal would split the seven other states into two new courts: one to handle appeals from Arizona, Idaho, Montana and Nevada, and the other to oversee Alaska, Oregon and Washington.

Supporters said the new lineup would reflect the need to address the region’s bulging caseload and rapid population growth.

They denied that the vote was an expression of displeasure with court rulings, including the 2002 opinion that declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional when recited in public schools.

“The need to split the 9th Circuit is undeniable. It has grown so rapidly that we will have to split this court,” Rep. Michael K. Simpson (R-Idaho) said.

But the measure, which passed by a vote of 205 to 194, was not expected to become law because of strong opposition in the Senate. It is part of a larger bill that passed by voice vote and would create 58 judgeships across the nation.

Opponents said that forwarding the legislation despite its likely defeat in the Senate was evidence that Republicans were more interested, in the words of Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-North Hollywood), in providing “campaign-season cannon fodder” to their political base than passing a bill that would relieve overburdened federal courts.

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) described 9th Circuit judges as activists who were “legislating from the bench.”