Lawmakers Trying Again to Divide Ninth Circuit -NYT

[Rose Siding]

Congressional Republicans are hoping yet again to split the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers nine Western states and has issued some rulings to the dismay of conservatives, saying a breakup is the best way to reduce the caseload of the circuit's federal judges.

Next week, Senator John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, plans to introduce a bill to split the circuit into three parts. Representative Mike Simpson, Republican of Idaho, has already introduced legislation that would create two new appellate courts for the area.
...
Judges on the Ninth Circuit decided that the federal government probably did not have authority to prohibit medical use of marijuana. They decided it was unconstitutional for schoolchildren to recite the full Pledge of Allegiance. In both cases, they were recently reversed by the Supreme Court. The Ninth Circuit also seems to be heading toward an opinion on just how schoolteachers may refer to religion in public school classrooms.

"The reason that the issue of splitting the circuit comes up repeatedly is because of dissatisfaction in some areas with some of our decisions," said Mary M. Schroeder, chief judge of the Ninth Circuit and a strong opponent of any split. "This has a long historic basis beginning with some fishing rights decisions in the 60's and going forward to the Pledge of Allegiance case and presently some of the immigration decisions."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/politics/19court.html

[MO_Dem]

1. Oh, yeah, repubs! Go ahead

and prove that you are out of touch with most Americans. There's still a few in the country who don't yet believe it.