Victor Fazio: “I implore the House Conferees on the Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 1998 to…”

“I implore the House Conferees on the Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 1998 to maintain the House silence on the issue of splitting the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate made a hasty decision to include a provision in their version of the bill which would split the Ninth Circuit without the appropriate and necessary study, and the Senate language would mandate that the split occur immediately, with only two years to wind up the circuit's administrative matters. The proposed split would not solve the backlog of cases, as some proponents argue; in fact, it would serve only to delay the cases currently on the docket even more. There is overwhelming opposition to splitting the Ninth Circuit, both among the legal community in the Ninth circuit and national organizations, such the Federal Bar Association. The Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit, the circuit's governing body, has repeatedly voted in opposition to division of the circuit. H.R. 908, which was passed on a voice vote by the House on June 3, 1997, calls for a commission to investigate structural alternatives for the Federal Court of Appeals. It is crucial that a costly and precedent-setting move such as splitting the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals be carefully considered prior to implementation. No circuit has ever been divided without careful study and the support of the judges and lawyers within the circuit.”