That formulation may sound limiting, but in practice we think it leaves too much discretion with a judge. Judges have been very active in making detailed decisions for prisons, schools and other institutions. This nominee seems to support that activism. Putting him on this circuit would violate an anti-nepotism statute. We support that statute.
Circuit judges hear cases in three-judge panels.
People who have cases before such panels have a right to have their cases heard by three independent judges. They do not want any personal relations between those judges to exist that might sway their judgment. Any decision made by a panel that had a mother and a son sitting as judges would be suspect if the mother and son voted one way and the third judge voted the other. Our final area of concern is that we are talking about the Ninth Circuit. That Circuit is much too large, which has made it difficult to develop any collegiality.