United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
(9th Cir.)
LocationJames R. Browning U.S. Court of Appeals Building
(San Francisco, California)
More locations
Appeals from
EstablishedMarch 3, 1891
Judges29
Circuit JusticeElena Kagan
Chief JudgeMary H. Murguia
www.ca9.uscourts.gov

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts:

The Ninth Circuit also has appellate jurisdiction over the territorial courts for the District of Guam and the District of the Northern Mariana Islands. Additionally, it sometimes handles appeals that originate from American Samoa, which has no district court and partially relies on the District of Hawaii for its federal cases.[1]

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the Ninth Circuit is by far the largest of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, covering a total of nine states and two territories and with 29 active judgeships. The court's regular meeting places are Seattle at the William Kenzo Nakamura United States Courthouse, Portland at the Pioneer Courthouse, San Francisco at the James R. Browning U.S. Court of Appeals Building, and Pasadena at the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals.

Panels of the court occasionally travel to hear cases in other locations within the circuit. Although the judges travel around the circuit, the court arranges its hearings so that cases from the northern region of the circuit are heard in Seattle or Portland, cases from southern California and Arizona are heard in Pasadena, and cases from northern California, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific territories are heard in San Francisco. Additionally, the court holds yearly sittings in Anchorage and Honolulu. For lawyers who must come and present their cases to the court in person, this administrative grouping of cases helps to reduce the time and cost of travel. Ninth Circuit judges are also appointed by the United States Secretary of the Interior to serve as temporary acting Associate Justices for non-federal appellate sessions at the High Court of American Samoa in Fagatogo.[1]

History

[edit]
Ninth Circuit Court House in 1905
Year Jurisdiction Total population Pop. as % of nat'l pop. Number of active judgeships
1891 California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington 2,087,000 3.3% 2
1900 Territory of Hawaii added 2,798,000 3.7% 3
1912 Arizona added 7,415,000[a] 6.7% 3
1940 11,881,000[a] 9.0% 7
1960 Alaska and Guam added 22,607,000 12.6% 9
1980 Northern Mariana Islands added 37,170,000 16.4% 23
2000 54,575,000 19.3% 28
2007 60,400,000 19.9% 28
2009 61,403,307 19.72% 29
2010 61,742,858 19.99% 29
2020 66,848,869 20.17% 29

The Ninth Circuit's large size is due to the dramatic increases in both the population of the western states and the court's geographic jurisdiction that have occurred since the U.S. Congress created the Ninth Circuit in 1891.[2] The court was originally granted appellate jurisdiction over federal district courts in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. As new states and territories were added to the federal judicial hierarchy in the twentieth century, many of those in the West were placed in the Ninth Circuit: the newly acquired Territory of Hawaii in 1900, Arizona upon its admission to the Union in 1912, the Territory of Alaska in 1948, Guam in 1951, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 1977.

The Ninth Circuit also had jurisdiction over certain American interests in China, in that it had jurisdiction over appeals from the United States Court for China during the existence of that court from 1906 through 1943.[3][a]

However, the Philippines was never under the Ninth Circuit's jurisdiction. Congress never created a federal district court in the Philippines from which the Ninth Circuit could hear appeals.[4] Instead, appeals from the Supreme Court of the Philippines were taken directly to the Supreme Court of the United States.[5]

In 1979, the Ninth Circuit became the first federal judicial circuit to set up a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel as authorized by the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978.

The Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals, Pasadena, California

The cultural and political jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit is just as varied as the land within its geographical borders. In a dissenting opinion in a rights of publicity case involving the Wheel of Fortune star Vanna White, Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski sardonically noted that "[f]or better or worse, we are the Court of Appeals for the Hollywood Circuit."[6] Judges from more remote parts of the circuit note the contrast between legal issues confronted by populous states such as California and those confronted by rural states such as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada.

Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld, who maintains his judicial chambers in Fairbanks, Alaska, wrote in a letter in 1998: "Much federal law is not national in scope....It is easy to make a mistake construing these laws when unfamiliar with them, as we often are, or not interpreting them regularly, as we never do."[7]

Criticism

[edit]

Rate of overturned decisions

[edit]

From 1999 to 2008, of the Ninth Circuit Court rulings that were reviewed by the Supreme Court, 20% were affirmed, 19% were vacated, and 61% were reversed; the median reversal rate for all federal appellate courts was 68.29% for the same period.[8] From 2010 to 2015, of the cases it accepted to review, the Supreme Court reversed around 79% of the cases from the Ninth Circuit, ranking its reversal rate third among the circuits; the median reversal rate for all federal circuits for the same time period was around 70 percent.[9]

Some argue the court's high percentage of reversals is illusory, resulting from the circuit hearing more cases than the other circuits. This results in the Supreme Court reviewing a smaller proportion of its cases, letting stand the vast majority of its cases.[10][11]

However, a detailed study in 2018 reported by Brian T. Fitzpatrick, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, looked at how often a federal circuit court was reversed for every thousand cases it terminated on the merits between 1994 and 2015.[12] The study found that the Ninth Circuit's decisions were reversed at a rate of 2.50 cases per thousand, which was by far the highest rate in the country, with the Sixth Circuit second as 1.73 cases per thousand.[13][12] Fitzpatrick also noted that the 9th Circuit was unanimously reversed more than three times as often as the least reversed circuits and over 20% more often than the next closest circuit.[12]

Size of the court

[edit]
Mary M. Schroeder, when appointed (Nov. 2000) Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit, with her predecessor, Procter Ralph Hug Jr.

Many commentators have argued that the Ninth Circuit faces several adverse consequences of its large size,[14] such as "unwieldly size, procedural inefficiencies, jurisprudential unpredictability, and unusual en banc process."[15]

Chief among these is the Ninth Circuit's unique rules concerning the composition of an en banc court. In other circuits, en banc courts are composed of all active circuit judges, plus (depending on the rules of the particular court) any senior judges who took part in the original panel decision. By contrast, in the Ninth Circuit it is impractical for 29 or more judges to take part in a single oral argument and deliberate on a decision en masse. The court thus provides for a limited en banc review by the Chief Judge and a panel of 10 randomly selected judges.[16] This means that en banc reviews may not actually reflect the views of the majority of the court and indeed may not include any of the three judges involved in the decision being reviewed in the first place. The result, according to detractors, is a high risk of intracircuit conflicts of law where different groupings of judges end up delivering contradictory opinions. That is said to cause uncertainty in the district courts and within the bar. However, en banc review is a relatively rare occurrence in all circuits and Ninth Circuit rules provide for full en banc review in limited circumstances.[17]

All recently proposed splits would leave at least one circuit with 21 judges, only two fewer than the 23 that the Ninth Circuit had when the limited en banc procedure was first adopted. In other words, after a split at least one of the circuits would still be using limited en banc courts.[18]

In March 2007, Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee that the consensus among the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States was that the Ninth Circuit was too large and unwieldy and should be split.[19]

Congressional officials, legislative commissions, and interest groups have all submitted proposals to divide the Ninth Circuit such as:

  • Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Reorganization Act of 1993, H.R. 3654[20]
  • Final Report of the Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals[21]
  • Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of Reorganization Act of 2003, S. 562
  • Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judgeship and Reorganization Act of 2003, H.R. 2723
  • Ninth Circuit Judgeship and Reorganization Act of 2004, S. 878 (reintroduced as the Ninth Circuit Judgeship and Reorganization Act of 2005, H.R. 211, and co-sponsored by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay)
  • Circuit Court of Appeals Restructuring and Modernization Act of 2005, S. 1845[22]
  • Circuit Court of Appeals Restructuring and Modernization Act of 2007, S. 525[23]
  • Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judgeship and Reorganization Act of 2017, H.R. 196[24]

The more recent proposals have aimed to redefine the Ninth Circuit to cover California, Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and to create a new Twelfth Circuit to cover Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Current composition of the court

[edit]

As of November 15, 2023:

# Title Judge Duty station Born Term of service Appointed by
Active Chief Senior
94 Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia Phoenix, AZ 1960 2011–present 2021–present — Obama
79 Circuit Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw Pasadena, CA 1954 1998–present — — Clinton
82 Circuit Judge Ronald M. Gould Seattle, WA 1946 1999–present — — Clinton
86 Circuit Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson Las Vegas, NV 1952 2000–present — — Clinton
89 Circuit Judge Consuelo Callahan Sacramento, CA 1950 2003–present — — G.W. Bush
91 Circuit Judge Milan Smith El Segundo, CA 1942 2006–present — — G.W. Bush
92 Circuit Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta Pasadena, CA 1954 2006–present — — G.W. Bush
95 Circuit Judge Morgan Christen Anchorage, AK 1961 2012–present — — Obama
96 Circuit Judge Jacqueline Nguyen Pasadena, CA 1965 2012–present — — Obama
99 Circuit Judge John B. Owens San Diego, CA 1971 2014–present — — Obama
100 Circuit Judge Michelle Friedland San Jose, CA 1972 2014–present — — Obama
101 Circuit Judge Mark J. Bennett Honolulu, HI 1953 2018–present — — Trump
102 Circuit Judge Ryan D. Nelson Idaho Falls, ID 1973 2018–present — — Trump
103 Circuit Judge Eric D. Miller Seattle, WA 1975 2019–present — — Trump
104 Circuit Judge Bridget S. Bade Phoenix, AZ 1965 2019–present — — Trump
105 Circuit Judge Daniel P. Collins Pasadena, CA 1963 2019–present — — Trump
106 Circuit Judge Kenneth K. Lee San Diego, CA 1975 2019–present — — Trump
107 Circuit Judge Daniel Bress San Francisco, CA 1979 2019–present — — Trump
108 Circuit Judge Danielle J. Forrest Portland, OR 1977 2019–present — — Trump
109 Circuit Judge Patrick J. Bumatay San Diego, CA 1978 2019–present — — Trump
110 Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke Reno, NV 1972 2020–present — — Trump
111 Circuit Judge Lucy Koh San Francisco, CA 1968 2021–present — — Biden
112 Circuit Judge Jennifer Sung Portland, OR 1972 2021–present — — Biden
113 Circuit Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez San Francisco, CA 1976 2022–present — — Biden
114 Circuit Judge Holly A. Thomas Pasadena, CA 1979 2022–present — — Biden
115 Circuit Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. Richland, WA 1971 2022–present — — Biden
116 Circuit Judge Roopali Desai Phoenix, AZ 1978 2022–present — — Biden
117 Circuit Judge Anthony Johnstone Missoula, MT 1973 2023–present — — Biden
118 Circuit Judge Ana de Alba Fresno, CA 1979 2023–present — — Biden
40 Senior Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace San Diego, CA 1928 1972–1996 1991–1996 1996–present Nixon
47 Senior Circuit Judge Mary M. Schroeder Phoenix, AZ 1940 1979–2011 2000–2007 2011–present Carter
54 Senior Circuit Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson Pasadena, CA 1928 1979–1995 — 1995–present Carter
55 Senior Circuit Judge William Canby Phoenix, AZ 1931 1980–1996 — 1996–present Carter
66 Senior Circuit Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain Portland, OR 1937 1986–2016 — 2016–present Reagan
68 Senior Circuit Judge Stephen S. Trott inactive 1939 1988–2004 — 2004–present Reagan
69 Senior Circuit Judge Ferdinand Fernandez Pasadena, CA 1937 1989–2002 — 2002–present G.H.W. Bush
72 Senior Circuit Judge Andrew Kleinfeld Fairbanks, AK 1945 1991–2010 — 2010–present G.H.W. Bush
73 Senior Circuit Judge Michael Daly Hawkins Phoenix, AZ 1945 1994–2010 — 2010–present Clinton
74 Senior Circuit Judge A. Wallace Tashima Pasadena, CA 1934 1996–2004 — 2004–present Clinton
75 Senior Circuit Judge Sidney R. Thomas Billings, MT 1953 1996–2023 2014–2021 2023–present Clinton
76 Senior Circuit Judge Barry G. Silverman Phoenix, AZ 1951 1998–2016 — 2016–present Clinton
77 Senior Circuit Judge Susan P. Graber Portland, OR 1949 1998–2021 — 2021–present Clinton
78 Senior Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown San Diego, CA 1951 1998–2022 — 2022–present Clinton
80 Senior Circuit Judge William A. Fletcher San Francisco, CA 1945 1998–2022 — 2022–present Clinton
83 Senior Circuit Judge Richard Paez Pasadena, CA 1947 2000–2021 — 2021–present Clinton
84 Senior Circuit Judge Marsha Berzon San Francisco, CA 1945 2000–2022 — 2022–present Clinton
85 Senior Circuit Judge Richard C. Tallman Coeur d'Alene, ID 1953 2000–2018 — 2018–present Clinton
87 Senior Circuit Judge Richard Clifton Honolulu, HI 1950 2002–2016 — 2016–present G.W. Bush
88 Senior Circuit Judge Jay Bybee Las Vegas, NV 1953 2003–2019 — 2019–present G.W. Bush
90 Senior Circuit Judge Carlos Bea San Francisco, CA 1934 2003–2019 — 2019–present G.W. Bush
93 Senior Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith Pocatello, ID 1949 2007–2018 — 2018–present G.W. Bush
98 Senior Circuit Judge Andrew D. Hurwitz Phoenix, AZ 1947 2012–2022 — 2022–present Obama


List of former judges

[edit]
# Judge State Born–died Active service Chief Judge Senior status Appointed by Reason for
termination
1 Lorenzo Sawyer CA 1820–1891 1891 — — Grant / Operation of law[b] death
2 Joseph McKenna CA 1843–1926 1892–1897 — — B. Harrison resignation
3 William Ball Gilbert OR 1847–1931 1892–1931 — — B. Harrison death
4 Erskine Mayo Ross CA 1845–1928 1895–1925 — 1925–1928 Cleveland death
5 William W. Morrow CA 1843–1929 1897–1923 — 1923–1929 McKinley resignation
6 William Henry Hunt MT 1857–1949 1911–1928 — 1928 [c] resignation
7 Frank H. Rudkin WA 1864–1931 1923–1931 — — Harding death
8 Wallace McCamant OR 1867–1944 1925[d]–1926 — — Coolidge not confirmed
9 Frank Sigel Dietrich ID 1863–1930 1927–1930 — — Coolidge death
10 Curtis D. Wilbur CA 1867–1954 1929–1945 — 1945–1954 Hoover[e] death
11 William Henry Sawtelle AZ 1868–1934 1931–1934 — — Hoover death
12 Francis Arthur Garrecht WA 1870–1948 1933–1948 — — F. Roosevelt death
13 William Denman CA 1872–1959 1935–1957 1948–1957 1957–1959 F. Roosevelt death
14 Clifton Mathews AZ 1880–1962 1935–1953 — 1953–1962 F. Roosevelt death
15 Bert E. Haney OR 1879–1943 1935–1943 — — F. Roosevelt death
16 Albert Lee Stephens Sr. CA 1874–1965 1937–1961 1957–1959 1961–1965 F. Roosevelt death
17 William Healy ID 1881–1962 1937–1958 — 1958–1962 F. Roosevelt death
18 Homer Bone WA 1883–1970 1944–1956 — 1956–1970 F. Roosevelt death
19 William Edwin Orr NV 1881–1965 1945–1956 — 1956–1965 Truman death
20 Walter Lyndon Pope MT 1889–1969 1949–1961 1959 1961–1969 Truman death
21 Dal Millington Lemmon CA 1887–1958 1954–1958 — — Eisenhower death
22 Richard Harvey Chambers AZ 1906–1994 1954–1976 1959–1976 1976–1994 Eisenhower death
23 James Alger Fee OR 1888–1959 1954–1959 — — Eisenhower death
24 Stanley Barnes CA 1900–1990 1956–1970 — 1970–1990 Eisenhower death
25 Frederick George Hamley WA 1903–1975 1956–1971 — 1971–1975 Eisenhower death
26 Oliver Deveta Hamlin Jr. CA 1892–1973 1958–1963 — 1963–1973 Eisenhower death
27 Gilbert H. Jertberg CA 1897–1973 1958–1967 — 1967–1973 Eisenhower death
28 Charles Merton Merrill NV 1907–1996 1959–1974 — 1974–1996 Eisenhower death
29 Montgomery Oliver Koelsch ID 1912–1992 1959–1976 — 1976–1992 Eisenhower death
30 James R. Browning CA 1918–2012 1961–2000 1976–1988 2000–2012 Kennedy death
31 Benjamin C. Duniway CA 1907–1986 1961–1976 — 1976–1986 Kennedy death
32 Walter Raleigh Ely Jr. CA 1913–1984 1964–1979 — 1979–1984 L. Johnson death
33 James Marshall Carter CA 1904–1979 1967–1971 — 1971–1979 L. Johnson death
34 Shirley Hufstedler CA 1925–2016 1968–1979 — — L. Johnson resignation
35 Eugene Allen Wright WA 1913–2002 1969–1983 — 1983–2002 Nixon death
36 John Kilkenny OR 1901–1995 1969–1971 — 1971–1995 Nixon death
37 Ozell Miller Trask AZ 1909–1984 1969–1979 — 1979–1984 Nixon death
38 Herbert Choy HI 1916–2004 1971–1984 — 1984–2004 Nixon death
39 Alfred Goodwin CA 1923–2022 1971–1991 1988–1991 1991–2022 Nixon death
41 Joseph Tyree Sneed III CA 1920–2008 1973–1987 — 1987–2008 Nixon death
42 Anthony Kennedy CA 1936–present 1975–1988 — — Ford elevation to Supreme Court
43 J. Blaine Anderson ID 1922–1988 1976–1988 — — Ford death
44 Procter Ralph Hug Jr. NV 1931–2019 1977–2002 1996–2000 2002–2017 Carter retirement
45 Thomas Tang AZ 1922–1995 1977–1993 — 1993–1995 Carter death
46 Betty Binns Fletcher WA 1923–2012 1979–1998 — 1998–2012 Carter death
48 Otto Richard Skopil Jr. OR 1919–2012 1979–1986 — 1986–2012 Carter death
49 Jerome Farris WA 1930–2020 1979–1995 — 1995–2020 Carter death
50 Arthur Alarcón CA 1925–2015 1979–1992 — 1992–2015 Carter death
51 Harry Pregerson CA 1923–2017 1979–2015 — 2015–2017 Carter death
52 Warren J. Ferguson CA 1920–2008 1979–1986 — 1986–2008 Carter death
53 Cecil F. Poole CA 1914–1997 1979–1996 — 1996–1997 Carter death
56 Robert Boochever AK 1917–2011 1980–1986 — 1986–2011 Carter death
57 William Albert Norris CA 1927–2017 1980–1994 — 1994–1997 Carter retirement
58 Stephen Reinhardt CA 1931–2018 1980–2018 — — Carter death
59 Robert R. Beezer WA 1928–2012 1984–1996 — 1996–2012 Reagan death
60 Cynthia Holcomb Hall CA 1929–2011 1984–1997 — 1997–2011 Reagan death
61 Charles E. Wiggins CA 1927–2000 1984–1996 — 1996–2000 Reagan death
62 Melvin T. Brunetti NV 1933–2009 1985–1999 — 1999–2009 Reagan death
63 Alex Kozinski CA 1950–present 1985–2017 2007–2014 — Reagan retirement
64 John T. Noonan Jr. CA 1926–2017 1985–1996 — 1996–2017 Reagan death
65 David R. Thompson CA 1930–2011 1985–1998 — 1998–2011 Reagan death
67 Edward Leavy OR 1929–2023 1987–1997 — 1997–2023 Reagan death
70 Pamela Ann Rymer CA 1941–2011 1989–2011 — — G.H.W. Bush death
71 Thomas G. Nelson ID 1936–2011 1990–2003 — 2003–2011 G.H.W. Bush death
81 Raymond C. Fisher CA 1939–2020 1999–2013 — 2013–2020 Clinton death
97 Paul J. Watford CA 1967–present 2012–2023 — — Obama resignation

Chief judges

[edit]
Chief Judge
Denman 1948–1957
Stephens, Sr. 1957–1959
Pope 1959
Chambers 1959–1976
Browning 1976–1988
Goodwin 1988–1991
Wallace 1991–1996
Hug, Jr. 1996–2000
Schroeder 2000–2007
Kozinski 2007–2014
S.R. Thomas 2014–2021
Murguia 2021–present

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve, unless the circuit justice (the Supreme Court justice responsible for the circuit) is also on the panel. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the circuit judges.

To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges, with seniority determined first by commission date, then by age. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. If no judge qualifies to be chief, the youngest judge over the age of 65 who has served on the court for at least one year shall act as chief until another judge qualifies. If no judge has served on the court for more than a year, the most senior judge shall act as chief. Judges can forfeit or resign their chief judgeship or acting chief judgeship while retaining their active status as a circuit judge.[27]

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.[28]


Succession of seats

[edit]

The court has 29 seats for active judges, numbered in the order in which they were initially filled. Judges who assume senior status enter a kind of retirement in which they remain on the bench but vacate their seats, thus allowing the U.S. President to appoint new judges to fill their seats.

Seat 1
Established on December 10, 1869, by the Judiciary Act of 1869 as a circuit judgeship for the Ninth Circuit
Reassigned to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by the Judiciary Act of 1891
Sawyer CA 1891
McKenna CA 1892–1897
Morrow CA 1897–1923
Rudkin WA 1923–1931
Garrecht WA 1933–1948
Pope MT 1949–1961
Browning MT 1961–2000
Ikuta CA 2006–present
Seat 2
Established on June 16, 1891, by the Judiciary Act of 1891
Gilbert OR 1892–1931
Denman CA 1935–1957
Hamlin Jr. CA 1958–1963
Ely Jr. CA 1964–1979
Norris CA 1980–1994
W. Fletcher CA 1998–2022
H.A. Thomas CA 2022–present
Seat 3
Established on February 18, 1895, by 28 Stat. 665
Ross CA 1895–1925
McCamant OR 1925–1926
Dietrich ID 1927–1930
Sawtelle AZ 1931–1934
Mathews AZ 1935–1953
Fee OR 1954–1959
Koelsch ID 1959–1976
Anderson ID 1976–1988
T. Nelson ID 1990–2003
N.R. Smith ID 2007–2018
R. Nelson ID 2018–present
Seat 4
Established as a temporary judgeship on March 1, 1929, by 45 Stat. 1414
Made permanent on June 16, 1933, by 48 Stat. 310
Wilbur CA 1929–1945
Orr NV 1945–1956
Barnes CA 1956–1970
Choy HI 1971–1984
Brunetti NV 1985–1999
Rawlinson NV 2000–present
Seat 5
Established on August 2, 1935, by 49 Stat. 508
Haney OR 1935–1943
Bone WA 1944–1956
Hamley WA 1956–1971
Sneed III CA 1973–1987
Trott CA/ID 1988–2004
Owens CA 2014–present
Seat 6
Established on April 14, 1937, by 50 Stat. 64
Stephens Sr. CA 1937–1961
Duniway CA 1961–1976
Hug Jr. NV 1977–2002
Bybee NV 2003–2019
VanDyke NV 2020–present
Seat 7
Established on April 14, 1937, by 50 Stat. 64
Healy ID 1937–1958
Merrill NV 1959–1974
Kennedy CA 1975–1988
Rymer CA 1989–2011
Watford CA 2012–2023
de Alba CA 2023–present
Seat 8
Established on February 10, 1954, by 68 Stat. 871
Lemmon CA 1954–1958
Jertberg CA 1958–1967
Carter CA 1967–1971
Wallace CA 1972–1996
Wardlaw CA 1998–present
Seat 9
Established on February 10, 1954, by 68 Stat. 871
Chambers AZ 1954–1976
Tang AZ 1977–1993
Hawkins AZ 1994–2010
Murguia AZ 2011–present
Seat 10
Established on June 18, 1968, by 82 Stat. 184
Hufstedler CA 1968–1979
Boochever AK 1980–1986
O'Scannlain OR 1986–2016
Forrest OR 2019–present
Seat 11
Established on June 18, 1968, by 82 Stat. 184
Wright WA 1969–1983
Beezer WA 1984–1996
Gould WA 1999–present
Seat 12
Established on June 18, 1968, by 82 Stat. 184
Kilkenny OR 1969–1971
Goodwin OR 1971–1991
Kleinfeld AK 1991–2010
Christen AK 2011–present
Seat 13
Established on June 18, 1968, by 82 Stat. 184
Trask AZ 1969–1979
Canby AZ 1980–1996
Silverman AZ 1998–2016
Bade AZ 2019–present
Seat 14
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
Schroeder AZ 1979–2011
Hurwitz AZ 2012–2022
Desai AZ 2022–present
Seat 15
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
Skopil Jr. OR 1979–1986
Leavy OR 1987–1997
Graber OR 1998–2021
Sung OR 2021–present
Seat 16
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
B. Fletcher WA 1979–1998
Tallman WA 2000–2018
Miller WA 2019–present
Seat 17
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
Farris WA 1979–1995
McKeown WA/CA 1998–2022
Mendoza Jr. WA 2022–present
Seat 18
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
Alarcón CA 1979–1992
Tashima CA 1996–2004
M.D. Smith CA 2006–present
Seat 19
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
Pregerson CA 1979–2015
Collins CA 2019–present
Seat 20
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
Ferguson CA 1979–1986
Fernandez CA 1989–2002
Callahan CA 2003–present
Seat 21
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
Poole CA 1979–1996
Paez CA 2000–2021
Koh CA 2021–present
Seat 22
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
D. Nelson CA 1979–1995
S.R. Thomas MT 1996–2023
Johnstone MT 2023–present
Seat 23
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
Reinhardt CA 1980–2018
Lee CA 2019–present
Seat 24
Established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333
Wiggins CA 1984–1996
Bea CA 2003–2019
Bumatay CA 2019–present
Seat 25
Established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333
Hall CA 1984–1997
Clifton HI 2002–2016
Bennett HI 2018–present
Seat 26
Established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333
Kozinski CA 1985–2017
Bress CA 2019–present
Seat 27
Established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333
Thompson CA 1985–1998
Fisher CA 1999–2013
Friedland CA 2014–present
Seat 28
Established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333
Noonan Jr. CA 1985–1996
Berzon CA 2000–2022
Sanchez CA 2022–present
Seat 29
Established on January 21, 2009, by 121 Stat. 2543[29]
Nguyen CA 2012–present

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c The population of China is not included in the chart for 1912 or 1940, since the Court for China lacked plenary jurisdiction over China's domestic population, then numbering about 430 million people; the court exercised only extraterritorial jurisdiction over the relatively small number of American citizens in China.
  2. ^ Sawyer was appointed as a circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit in 1869 by Ulysses S. Grant. The Judiciary Act of 1891 reassigned his seat to what is now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
  3. ^ Hunt did not have a permanent seat on this court. Instead, he was appointed to the ill-fated United States Commerce Court in 1911 by William Howard Taft. Aside from their duties on the Commerce Court, the judges of the Commerce Court also acted as at-large appellate judges, able to be assigned by the Chief Justice of the United States to whichever circuit most needed help. Hunt was assigned to the Ninth Circuit upon his commission.
  4. ^ Recess appointment not confirmed
  5. ^ President Coolidge first nominated Wilbur for the judgeship in the final days of his presidency, but the Senate failed to act on it before the 70tb Congress ended on March 3, 1929.[25][26] Hoover then resubmitted the nomination to the Senate in the 71st Congress, which approved it.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Jenkins, Jr., William O. (September 18, 2008). American Samoa: Issues Associated with Some Federal Court Options (Report). United States Government Accountability Office. GAO-08-1124T. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  2. ^ Frederick, David C. (1994). Rugged justice: the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the American West, 1891–1941. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520083813.
  3. ^ See, e.g., Republic of China v. Merchants' Fire Ass'n of N.Y., 49 F.2d 862 (9th Cir. 1931). As the court noted, this bizarre insurance claim dispute arose directly from the "perplexing" civil war during China's warlord era, in which various groups of military officers claimed to be the representatives of the Republic's legitimate government.
  4. ^ Go, Julian (2003). "Introduction". In Go, Julian; Foster, Anne L. (eds.). The American Colonial State in the Philippines: Global Perspectives. Durham: Duke University Press. pp. 1–42. ISBN 9780822384519. (At p. 7.)
  5. ^ Kepner v. United States, 195 U.S. 100 (1904).
  6. ^ White v. Samsung Elec. Am., Inc., 989 F.2d 1512, 1521 (9th Cir. 1993) (Kozinski, J., dissenting).
  7. ^ Kleinfeld, Andrew J. (May 22, 1998). "RE: Splitting the Ninth Circuit". Retrieved June 21, 2005.
  8. ^ Hofer, Roy E. (January–February 2010). "Supreme Court Reversal Rates: Evaluating the Federal Courts of Appeals" (PDF). Landslide. Vol. 2, no. 3. American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section. ISSN 1942-7239. LCCN 2008213101. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 10, 2023.
  9. ^ Carroll, Lauren (February 10, 2017). "No, the 9th Circuit isn't the 'most overturned court in the country,' as Hannity says". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023.
  10. ^ Farris, Jerome, The Ninth Circuit—Most Maligned Circuit in the Country Fact or Fiction? 58 Ohio St. L.J. 1465 (1997) (noting that, in 1996, the Supreme Court let stand 99.7 percent of the Ninth Circuit's cases).
  11. ^ Williams, Carol J. (July 18, 2011). "U.S. Supreme Court again rejects most decisions by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  12. ^ a b c Fitzpatrick, Brian (July 31, 2018). "Written Testimony at Hearing on Oversight of the Structure of the Federal Courts" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  13. ^ Qiu, Linda (November 26, 2018). "Does the Ninth Circuit Have the Highest Reversal Rate in the Country?". New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  14. ^ O'Scannlain, Diarmuid (October 2005). "Ten Reasons Why the Ninth Circuit Should Be Split" (PDF). Engage. 6 (2): 58–64. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2006.
  15. ^ Shapiro, Ilya; Harvey, Nathan (2019). "Break Up the Ninth Circuit". George Mason Law Review. 26 (4): 1299–1329.
  16. ^ Rule 35–3 http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/uploads/rules/frap.pdf
  17. ^ "Statement of Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts". U.S. House of Representatives. October 21, 2003. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  18. ^ Schroeder, Mary M.; et al. (April 2006). "A Court United: A Statement of a Number of Ninth Circuit Judges" (PDF). Engage. 7 (1): 63–66. Retrieved June 6, 2006.
  19. ^ America and the Courts. C-SPAN. March 17, 2007. Event occurs at 48:30. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  20. ^ Gribbin, Eric J. "47 Duke L.J. 351". law.duke.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
  21. ^ Final Report, Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals, December 18, 1998
  22. ^ Testimony of Circuit Judge Richard Tallman: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Archived November 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, United States Senate: Committee on the Judiciary, October 26, 2005; retrieved November 19, 2007.
  23. ^ Govtrack.us S. 525—110th Congress (2007): Circuit Court of Appeals Restructuring and Modernization Act of 2007 (database of federal legislation): govtrack.us; retrieved February 18, 2008.
  24. ^ Govtrack.us; retrieved February 27, 2021,
  25. ^ "Wilbur Nominated for Judge Post", Woodland Daily Democrat, March 1, 1929 at p. 1 (noting, as the Coolidge Administration ended, that Coolidge nominated Wilbur for the new judgeship).
  26. ^ "Sentence Cut Out by Hoover", Oakland Tribune, 1929-03-04, Section D, p. 1 (noting that the Wilbur nomination was not acted upon before the 70th Congress ended).
  27. ^ 28 U.S.C. § 45
  28. ^ 62 Stat. 871, 72 Stat. 497, 96 Stat. 51
  29. ^ Court Security Improvement Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110–177 § 509(a)(2), 121 Stat. 2534, 2543, January 7, 2008
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