II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 956

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 22 (legislative day, JUNE 19), 1995

Mr. GORTON (for himself, Mr. BURNS, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. STEVENS, Mr.

KEMPTHORNE, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. PACKWOOD, and Mr. HATFIELD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 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 1995’’.

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 ........................................... Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada,

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, Idaho, Montana, Oregon,

Washington.’’.

10 SEC. 3. NUMBER OF CIRCUIT JUDGES.

11 The table in section 44(a) of title 28, United States

12 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 ....................................................................................................... 19’’;

16 and

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

18 end thereof the following new item:

‘‘Twelfth .................................................................................................... 9’’.

19 SEC. 4. PLACES OF CIRCUIT COURT.

20 The table in section 48 of title 28, United States

21 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.’’.

7 SEC. 5. ASSIGNMENT OF CIRCUIT JUDGES.

8 Each circuit judge in regular active service of the

9 former ninth circuit whose official station on the day be10 fore the effective date of this Act—

11 (1) is in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada,

12 Guam, or the Northern Mariana Islands is assigned

13 as a circuit judge of the new ninth circuit; and

14 (2) is in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or

15 Washington is assigned as a circuit judge of the

16 twelfth circuit.

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

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

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

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

21 twelfth circuit and shall notify the Director of the Admin22 istrative Office of the United States Courts of such elec23 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 of this Act;

4 or

5 (2) who elects to be assigned under section 6 of

6 this Act;

7 shall run from the date of commission of such judge as

8 a judge of the former ninth circuit.

9 SEC. 8. APPLICATION TO CASES.

10 The provisions of the following paragraphs of this

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

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

13 has been filed with the former ninth circuit:

14 (1) If the matter has been submitted for deci15 sion, further proceedings in respect of the matter

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

17 effect as if this Act had not been enacted.

18 (2) If the matter has not been submitted for de19 cision, the appeal or proceeding, together with the

20 original papers, printed records, and record entries

21 duly certified, shall, by appropriate orders, be trans22 ferred to the court to which it would have gone had

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

24 such appeal was taken or other proceeding com25 menced, and further proceedings in respect of the

26 case shall be had in the same manner and with the
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1 same effect as if the appeal or other proceeding had

2 been filed in such court.

3 (3) A petition for rehearing or a petition for re4 hearing en banc in a matter decided before the effec5 tive date of this Act, or submitted before the effec6 tive date of this Act and decided on or after the ef7 fective date as provided in paragraph (1) of this sec8 tion, shall be treated in the same manner and with

9 the same effect as though this Act had not been en10 acted. If a petition for rehearing en banc is granted,

11 the matter shall be reheard by a court comprised as

12 though this Act had not been enacted.

13 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

14 For purposes of this Act, the term—

15 (1) ‘‘former ninth circuit’’ means the ninth ju16 dicial circuit of the United States as in existence on

17 the day before the effective date of this Act;

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

19 circuit of the United States established by the

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

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

22 circuit of the United States established by the

23 amendment made by section 2(3) of this Act.
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1 SEC. 10. ADMINISTRATION.

2 The court of appeals for the ninth circuit as con3 stituted on the day before the effective date of this Act

4 may take such administrative action as may be required

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

6 administrative purposes on July 1, 1997.

7 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.

8 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

9 become effective on October 1, 1995.

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