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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3654

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

NOVEMBER 22, 1993

Mr. KOPETSKI (for himself, Mrs. UNSOELD, Mr. FARR of California, Mr.

YOUNG of Alaska, and Mr. SMITH of Oregon) 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 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. CREATION OF TWELFTH CIRCUIT.

7 (a) COMPOSITION OF FIFTH AND TWELFTH CIR8 CUITS.—Section 41 of title 28, United States Code, is

9 amended—
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1 (1) in the text before the table, by striking

2 ‘‘thirteen’’ and inserting ‘‘14’’;

3 (2) in the table, by striking the item relating to

4 the ninth circuit and inserting the following new

5 item:

‘‘Ninth ........................................... Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon,

Washington, Hawaii, Guam, the

Northern Mariana Islands, and the

Northern and Eastern Districts of

California.’’;

6 and

7 (3) by inserting after the item relating to the

8 eleventh circuit the following new item:

‘‘Twelfth ........................................ Arizona, Nevada, and the Central and

Southern Districts of California.’’.

9 (b) NUMBER OF CIRCUIT JUDGES.—The table con10 tained in section 44(a) of title 28, United States Code,

11 is amended—

12 (1) in the item relating to the ninth circuit by

13 striking ‘‘28’’ and inserting ‘‘14’’; and

14 (2) by inserting after the item relating to the

15 eleventh circuit the following:

‘‘Twelfth ........................................ ‘‘14’’.

16 (c) PLACES FOR HOLDING COURT.—The table con17 tained in section 48(a) of title 28, United States Code,

18 is amended—

19 (1) in the item relating to the ninth circuit by

20 striking ‘‘Los Angeles’’; and
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1 (2) by inserting after the item relating to the

2 eleventh circuit the following:

‘‘Twelfth ........................................ Los Angeles, Reno, and Phoenix.’’.

3 SEC. 3. RESOLUTION OF INTERCIRCUIT CONFLICTS.

4 (a) SPECIAL PANEL.—Section 46 of title 28, United

5 States Code, is amended—

6 (1) by amending the section heading to read as

7 follows:

8 ‘‘§ 46. Assignment of judges; panels; hearings;

9 Intercircuit Court; quorum’’;

10 (2) in subsection (d)—

11 (A) by redesignating such subsection as

12 subsection (e); and

13 (B) by striking ‘‘paragraph (c)’’ and in14 serting ‘‘subsections (c) and (d)’’; and

15 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the follow16 ing:

17 ‘‘(d)(1) The judges of the Courts of Appeals for the

18 Ninth and Twelfth Circuits whose official duty stations

19 are in the State of California shall constitute the

20 Intercircuit California En Banc Court. The Intercircuit

21 Court shall convene as necessary to resolve any conflict

22 between a decision of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth

23 Circuit and a decision of the Court of Appeals for the

24 Twelfth Circuit that results or is likely to result in the
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1 imposition of inconsistent or otherwise nonuniform Fed2 eral law within the State of California.

3 ‘‘(2) An appeal or other proceeding shall be reheard

4 by the Intercircuit Court upon a majority vote of the

5 judges of that court who are in regular active service. Any

6 judge of the Intercircuit Court who is in regular active

7 service may request a vote to determine whether a decision

8 of the Court of Appeals of which that judge is a member

9 should be ordered reheard by the Intercircuit Court. The

10 appropriateness of rehearing by the Intercircuit Court

11 may be suggested by a party, but a vote of the Intercircuit

12 Court to order rehearing shall not be taken unless re13 quested by a judge of the Intercircuit Court who is in reg14 ular active service and who is a member of the Court of

15 Appeals in which the appeal or other proceeding is pend16 ing.

17 ‘‘(3) Rehearing by the Intercircuit Court shall not be

18 favored and ordinarily shall be considered only when the

19 failure to resolve a conflict described in paragraph (1)

20 would be unusually burdensome to the administration of

21 Federal law within the State of California.

22 ‘‘(4) The clerk of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth

23 Circuit, and the clerk of the Court of Appeals for the

24 Twelfth Circuit, shall, during alternate 2-year periods,

25 serve as the clerk of the Intercircuit Court and shall pro-
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1 vide such services as are needed by the Intercircuit

2 Court.’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item relating

4 to section 46 in the table of sections at the beginning of

5 chapter 3 of title 28, United States Code, is amended to

6 read as follows:

‘‘46. Assignment of judges; panels; hearing; Intercircuit Court; quorum.’’.

7 SEC. 4. ASSIGNMENT AND SENIORITY OF JUDGES.

8 (a) ACTIVE SERVICE JUDGES.—

9 (1) NEW NINTH CIRCUIT.—Each circuit judge

10 in regular active service of the former ninth circuit

11 whose official duty station on the day before the ef12 fective date of this Act is in Alaska, Idaho, Mon13 tana, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Guam, the

14 Northern Mariana Islands, or the Northern or East15 ern District of California is assigned as a circuit

16 judge of the new ninth circuit as of such effective

17 date.

18 (2) TWELFTH CIRCUIT.—Each circuit judge in

19 regular active service of the former ninth circuit

20 whose official duty station on the day before the ef21 fective date of this Act is in Arizona, Nevada, or the

22 Central or Southern District of California is as23 signed as a circuit judge of the twelfth circuit as of

24 such effective date.
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1 (b) SENIOR JUDGES.—Each judge who is a senior

2 judge of the former ninth circuit on the day before the

3 effective date of this Act may elect to be assigned to the

4 new ninth circuit or to the twelfth circuit and shall notify

5 the Director of the Administrative Office of the United

6 States Courts of such election.

7 (c) SENIORITY.—The seniority of each judge—

8 (1) who is assigned under subsection (a), or

9 (2) who elects to be assigned under subsection

10 (b),

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

12 as a judge of the former ninth circuit.

13 SEC. 5. PENDING PROCEEDINGS.

14 The following applies to any case in which, on the

15 day before the effective date of this Act, an appeal or other

16 proceeding has been filed with the former ninth circuit:

17 (1) If the matter has been submitted for deci18 sion, further proceedings in respect of the matter

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

20 effect as if this Act had not been enacted.

21 (2) If the matter has not been submitted for de22 cision, the appeal or proceeding, together with the

23 original papers, printed records, and record entries

24 duly certified, shall, by appropriate orders, be trans25 ferred to the court to which it would have gone had
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1 this Act been in full force and effect at the time

2 such appeal was taken or other proceeding com3 menced, and further proceedings in respect of the

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

5 same effect as if the appeal or other proceeding had

6 been filed in such court.

7 (3) A petition for rehearing or a petition for re8 hearing en banc in a matter decided before the effec9 tive date of this Act, or submitted before the effec10 tive date of this Act and decided on or after the ef11 fective date as provided in paragraph (1) of this sec12 tion, shall be treated in the same manner and with

13 the same effect as though this Act had not been en14 acted. If a petition for rehearing en banc is granted,

15 the matter shall be reheard by a court comprised as

16 though this Act had not been enacted.

17 SEC. 6. TRANSITIONAL PROVISION.

18 The new ninth circuit and the twelfth circuit shall

19 be deemed to be a single circuit for purposes of sections

20 291(a) and 292(a) of title 28, United States Code, with

21 respect to any judge serving in the former ninth circuit

22 on the day before the effective date of this Act.

23 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

24 As used in sections 4, 5, and 6—
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1 (1) the term ‘‘former ninth circuit’’ means the

2 ninth judicial circuit of the United States as in ex3 istence on the day before the effective date of this

4 Act;

5 (2) the term ‘‘new ninth circuit’’ means the

6 ninth judicial circuit of the United States established

7 by the amendment made by section 2(a)(2); and

8 (3) the term ‘‘twelfth circuit’’ means the twelfth

9 judicial circuit of the United States established by

10 the amendment made by section 2(a)(3).

11 SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS.

12 The court of appeals for the ninth circuit as con13 stituted on the day before the effective date of this Act

14 may take such administrative action as may be required

15 to carry out this Act. Such court shall cease to exist for

16 administrative purposes on July 1, 1997.

17 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

18 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

19 take effect on October 1, 1994.

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