HJR 52: Relating to the creation of a new United States Court of Appeals for the Twelfth Circuit.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 52 01 Relating to the creation of a new United States Court of Appeals for the Twelfth 02 Circuit. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the State of Alaska is within the jurisdiction of the United States Court 05 of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and 06 WHEREAS the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit consists of the States of 07 Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington and 08 the federal territories, possessions, and protectorates in the Pacific; and 09 WHEREAS United States Senators Burns of Montana, Murkowski and Stevens of 10 Alaska, Kempthorne and Craig of Idaho, and Packwood and Hatfield of Oregon have 11 introduced S. 956, a bill that would amend Title 28 of the United States Code to divide the 12 Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit into two circuits, and that has the short title of the 13 "Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Reorganization Act of 1995"; and 14 WHEREAS S. 956 proposes to remove the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon,
01 and Washington from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and place them in a new 02 Court of Appeals for the Twelfth Circuit; and 03 WHEREAS S. 956 would make each circuit judge of the Court of Appeals for the 04 Ninth Circuit whose duty station is in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington a 05 circuit judge of the new Court of Appeals for the Twelfth Circuit; and 06 WHEREAS the membership of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is heavily 07 weighted toward the State of California and the court seems to concern itself predominately 08 with issues arising out of California and the southwestern United States; and 09 WHEREAS the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's case filings are greater than 10 any other federal circuit; and 11 WHEREAS members of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have shown a 12 surprising lack of understanding of Alaska's people and geography that has resulted in 13 decisions that have often caused the people of Alaska unnecessary hardship; and 14 WHEREAS, in the so-called "Katie John" subsistence case, which is of tremendous 15 importance to the people of the State of Alaska, even though the Court of Appeals for the 16 Ninth Circuit granted expedited consideration of that case, the court did not issue its decision 17 for over 13 months; this expedited decision is now under reconsideration by the court; and 18 WHEREAS Attorney General Bruce Botelho estimates that there are more than 200 19 Alaska cases currently pending before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and 20 WHEREAS the Attorneys General of the States of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and 21 Washington have also found that similar issues of unnecessary delay concerning, lack of 22 understanding of, and lack of consideration for cases and issues by the Court of Appeals for 23 the Ninth Circuit exist in regard to those states; and 24 WHEREAS the Attorneys General of the States of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, 25 and Washington have endorsed S. 956; and 26 WHEREAS the creation of a new Court of Appeals for the Twelfth Circuit 27 encompassing the States of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington by S. 956 would 28 benefit these similar states by providing speedier and more consistent rulings by jurists who 29 have a greater familiarity with the social, geographical, political, and economic life of the 30 region; 31 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports S. 956 and its creation
01 of a new Court of Appeals for the Twelfth Circuit for the States of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, 02 Oregon, and Washington; and be it 03 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 04 United States Congress to pass S. 956 in an expeditious manner. 05 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President 06 of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom Thurmond, 07 President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. 08 House of Representatives; the Honorable Bob Dole, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 09 Honorable Dick Armey, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable 10 Thomas Daschle, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Richard A. Gephardt, 11 Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Orrin G. Hatch, Chair 12 of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary; the Honorable Henry J. Hyde, Chair of the 13 U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable 14 Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 15 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.