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104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2935

To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide the ninth judicial circuit

of the United States into two circuits, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 1, 1996

Mr. BUNN of Oregon (for himself, Mr. WHITE, Ms. DUNN of Washington, and

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide the ninth

judicial circuit of the United States into two circuits,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ninth Circuit Court

5 of Appeals Reorganization Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. NUMBER AND COMPOSITION OF CIRCUITS.

7 Section 41 of title 28, United States Code, is

8 amended—
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1 (1) in the matter before the table, by striking

2 out ‘‘thirteen’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘four3 teen’’;

4 (2) in the table, by striking out the item relat5 ing to the ninth circuit and inserting in lieu thereof

6 the following new item:

‘‘Ninth ........................................... California, Hawaii, Guam, Northern

Mariana Islands.’’;

7 and

8 (3) between the last 2 items of the table, by in9 serting the following new item:

‘‘Twelfth ........................................ Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington.’’.

10 SEC. 3. NUMBER OF CIRCUIT JUDGES.

11 The table contained in section 44(a) of title 28, Unit12 ed States Code, is amended—

13 (1) by striking out the item relating to the

14 ninth circuit and inserting in lieu thereof the follow15 ing new item:

‘‘Ninth ....................................................................................................... 15’’;

16 and

17 (2) by inserting between the last 2 items at the

18 end thereof the following new item:

‘‘Twelfth .................................................................................................... 13’’.

19 SEC. 4. PLACES OF CIRCUIT COURT.

20 The table contained in section 48(a) of title 28, Unit21 ed States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) by striking out the item relating to the

2 ninth circuit and inserting in lieu thereof the follow3 ing new item:

‘‘Ninth ........................................... San Francisco, Los Angeles.’’;

4 and

5 (2) by inserting between the last 2 items at the

6 end thereof the following new item:

‘‘Twelfth ........................................ Portland, Seattle, Phoenix.’’.

7 SEC. 5. ASSIGNMENT OF CIRCUIT JUDGES AND CLERK OF

8 THE COURT.

9 (a) CIRCUIT JUDGES.—No later than 60 days after

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the judicial council

11 for the former ninth circuit shall make assignments of the

12 circuit judges of the former ninth circuit to the new ninth

13 circuit and the twelfth circuit, consistent with the provi14 sions of this Act.

15 (b) CLERK OF THE COURT.—The Clerk of the Court

16 for the Twelfth Circuit United States Court of Appeals

17 shall be located in Portland, Oregon.

18 SEC. 6. ELECTION OF ASSIGNMENT BY SENIOR JUDGES.

19 Each judge who is a senior judge of the former ninth

20 circuit on the day before the effective date of this Act may

21 elect to be assigned to the new ninth circuit or to the

22 twelfth circuit and shall notify the Director of the Admin23 istrative Office of the United States Courts of such elec24 tion.
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1 SEC. 7. SENIORITY OF JUDGES.

2 The seniority of each judge—

3 (1) who is assigned under section 5, or

4 (2) who elects to be assigned under section 6,

5 shall run from the date of the commission of such judge

6 as a judge of the former ninth circuit.

7 SEC. 8. APPLICATION TO CASES.

8 The provisions of the following paragraphs of this

9 section apply to any case in which, on the day before the

10 effective date of this Act, an appeal or other proceeding

11 has been filed with the former ninth circuit:

12 (1) If the matter has been submitted for deci13 sion, further proceedings in respect of the matter

14 shall be had in the same manner and with the same

15 effect as if this Act had not been enacted.

16 (2) If the matter has not been submitted for de17 cision, the appeal or proceeding, together with the

18 original papers, printed records, and record entries

19 duly certified, shall, by appropriate orders, be trans20 ferred to the court to which it would have gone had

21 this Act been in full force and effect at the time

22 such appeal was taken or other proceeding com23 menced, and further proceedings in respect of the

24 case shall be had in the same manner and with the

25 same effect as if the appeal or other proceeding had

26 been filed in such court.
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1 (3) A petition for rehearing or a petition for re2 hearing en banc in a matter decided before the effec3 tive date of this Act, or submitted before the effec4 tive date of this Act and decided on or after the ef5 fective date as provided in paragraph (1) of this sec6 tion, shall be treated in the same manner and with

7 the same effect as though this Act had not been en8 acted. If a petition for rehearing en banc is granted,

9 the matter shall be reheard by a court comprised as

10 though this Act had not been enacted.

11 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

12 For purposes of this Act, the term—

13 (1) ‘‘former ninth circuit’’ means the ninth ju14 dicial circuit of the United States as in existence on

15 the day before the effective date of this Act;

16 (2) ‘‘new ninth circuit’’ means the ninth judicial

17 circuit of the United States established by the

18 amendment made by section 2(2) of this Act; and

19 (3) ‘‘twelfth circuit’’ means the twelfth judicial

20 circuit of the United States established by the

21 amendment made by section 2(3) of this Act.

22 SEC. 10. ADMINISTRATION.

23 The court of appeals for the ninth circuit as con24 stituted on the day before the effective date of this Act

25 may take such administrative action as may be required
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1 to carry out this Act. Such court shall cease to exist for

2 administrative purposes on July 1, 1997.

3 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

5 take effect 60 days after the date of the enactment of this

6 Act.

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