House Committee to Debate Fate of Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

The House Judiciary Committee will meet Thursday morning to discuss the fate of the controversial Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Up for discussion will be proposals to form a new appeals court by splitting off part of the Ninth Circuit, which claims most of the Western U.S. as its jurisdiction and Republicans have wanted to break up for years.

The hearing comes just a day after a federal district court judge in Hawaii temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s revised travel ban, setting up the possibility that the Ninth Circuit would again deal with the administration’s appeal of a travel ban-related ruling after rejecting its attempt to lift the court’s restraining order on Trump’s initial travel ban.

In the hearing, three of the Ninth Circuit’s justices offer testimony opposing the division of the circuit, which conservatives believe is too large — its jurisdiction includes roughly one-fifth of Americans — relative to the nation’s 12 other federal appeals courts.

You can watch the hearing, which is scheduled to begin at 10:30am ET, below:

There’s a bill in Congress right now that would split off part of the 9th Circuit into a new appeals court. Learn more and tell your reps what you think by following the link below:

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: U.S. Gov’t / Public Domain)