United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is the United States' largest circuit court, with 24 judges. The court hears appeals from California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands and holds court in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Pasadena (and occasionally Alaska and Hawaii), but its headquarters are in San Francisco.The Ninth Circuit is the most overturned appeals court in the United States.
The court is considered by some to be an overly liberal court, filled with activist judges. Of the 25 active judges serving on the court in 2001, 18 were appointed by Democrat Presidents (4 by Jimmy Carter and 14 by Bill Clinton) and 7 were appointed by Republican Presidents (3 by Ronald Reagan, 4 by the George H. W. Bush), a 2-to-1 ratio of Democrat to Republican appointments.
The Ninth Circuit is also by far the largest Circuit Court in the country and it has the largest number of judges, with 28 positions currently authorized for the court, the court is not able to sit as a full en banc court of all active judges. Instead, the court provides for a "limited en banc" review of an 11-judge panel.
In 2002, it made one of its most controversial decisions to date in the case of Newdow vs. US Congress, et al. The court ruled that the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance violated the First Amendment ban on establishment of religion. The decision was penned for the majority by Nixon appointee Alfred T. Goodwin, one of the inactive (semi-retired) judges on the court. The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to review this case during the 2003-2004 term.
Current active judges on the court;
- Chief Judge Mary M. Schroeder
- Judge Marsha S. Berzon
- Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez
- Judge Raymond C. Fisher
- Judge William Fletcher
- Judge Ronald M. Gould
- Judge Susan P. Graber
- Judge Michael Daly Hawkins
- Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld
- Judge Alex Kozinski
- Judge M. Margaret McKeown
- Judge Thomas G. Nelson
- Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain
- Judge Richard Paez
- Judge Harry Pregerson
- Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson
- Judge Stephen Reinhardt
- Judge Pamela Ann Rymer
- Judge Barry G. Silverman
- Judge Richard C. Tallman
- Judge A. Wallace Tashima
- Judge Sidney R. Thomas
- Judge Stephen S. Trott
- Judge Kim M. Wardlaw
