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36-619: Founded in 1975, by former National Wildlife Refuge System managers and employees, the NWRA is the only national advocacy organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the National Wildlife Refuge System. NWRA is the chair of the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), a coalition of 24 wildlife, sporting, science and conservation organizations. NWRA led efforts to stop construction of

72-627: A House Appropriations subcommittee that the consensus among the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States was that the Ninth Circuit was too large and unwieldy and should be split. Congressional officials, legislative commissions, and interest groups have all submitted proposals to divide the Ninth Circuit such as: The more recent proposals have aimed to redefine the Ninth Circuit to cover California, Hawaii, Guam, and

108-549: A Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention . In 2001, Izembek Refuge was also designated as a Globally Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society . Attempts have been made to build a road through the refuge connecting the towns of King Cove to Cold Bay . One such attempt proposed a land transfer of 43,000 acres (170 km ) of land owned by the state of Alaska and

144-441: A circuit judge. When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status , or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982. The court has 29 seats for active judges, numbered in

180-601: A road through federally designated wilderness in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska , publishing its "Road to Nowhere" report in 2008. In 2024, the NWRA sued to block the construction of clean-energy transmission lines through a Mississippi River wildlife refuge that would have connected more than 160 renewable energy projects to the Midwestern energy grid. The energy company behind

216-645: A statement of support for the motion for the rehearing, saying the swap violated the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). The act "may be the most significant domestic achievement of my political life", Carter said at the time of his filing. Izembek Wilderness hosts a quarter-million migratory birds every fall, including the entire world's population of black brants and thousands of Canada and emperor geese , Steller's eiders , and various species of duck and shorebird. Izembek Lagoon contains one of

252-452: A term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. If no judge qualifies to be chief, the youngest judge over the age of 65 who has served on the court for at least one year shall act as chief until another judge qualifies. If no judge has served on the court for more than a year, the most senior judge shall act as chief. Judges can forfeit or resign their chief judgeship or acting chief judgeship while retaining their active status as

288-523: Is a relatively rare occurrence in all circuits and Ninth Circuit rules provide for full en banc review in limited circumstances. All recently proposed splits would leave at least one circuit with 21 judges, only two fewer than the 23 that the Ninth Circuit had when the limited en banc procedure was first adopted. In other words, after a split at least one of the circuits would still be using limited en banc courts. In March 2007, Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas testified before

324-462: Is due to the dramatic increases in both the population of the western states and the court's geographic jurisdiction that have occurred since the U.S. Congress created the Ninth Circuit in 1891. The court was originally granted appellate jurisdiction over federal district courts in California , Idaho , Montana , Nevada , Oregon , and Washington . As new states and territories were added to

360-540: Is not national in scope....It is easy to make a mistake construing these laws when unfamiliar with them, as we often are, or not interpreting them regularly, as we never do." From 1999 to 2008, of the Ninth Circuit Court rulings that were reviewed by the Supreme Court, 20% were affirmed, 19% were vacated, and 61% were reversed; the median reversal rate for all federal appellate courts was 68.29% for

396-511: The Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska . Within the heart of the refuge is Izembek Lagoon, a 30-mile (48 km) long and 5-mile (8.0 km) wide coastal ecosystem that contains one of the world's largest eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds. More than 200 species of wildlife and nine species of fish can be found on the refuge. Millions of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds find food and shelter in

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432-713: The U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts : The Ninth Circuit also has appellate jurisdiction over the territorial courts for the District of Guam and the District of the Northern Mariana Islands . Additionally, it sometimes handles appeals that originate from American Samoa , which has no district court and partially relies on the District of Hawaii for its federal cases. Headquartered in San Francisco, California ,

468-619: The United States Court for China during the existence of that court from 1906 through 1943. However, the Philippines was never under the Ninth Circuit's jurisdiction. Congress never created a federal district court in the Philippines from which the Ninth Circuit could hear appeals. Instead, appeals from the Supreme Court of the Philippines were taken directly to the Supreme Court of the United States . In 1979,

504-576: The Court of Appeals for the Hollywood Circuit." Judges from more remote parts of the circuit note the contrast between legal issues confronted by populous states such as California and those confronted by rural states such as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada. Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld , who maintains his judicial chambers in Fairbanks, Alaska , wrote in a letter in 1998: "Much federal law

540-705: The King Cove Corporation in exchange for construction of a single-lane 17-mile (27 km) road which would pass through Izembek NWR. Environmentalists contended the road threatens the population of the migratory black brant and other species. This attempted land transfer was ultimately blocked by the Department of the Interior in 2013. In January 2018 the Trump administration proposed a different land transfer agreement. Nine environmental groups sued

576-598: The Ninth Circuit became the first federal judicial circuit to set up a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel as authorized by the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 . The cultural and political jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit is just as varied as the land within its geographical borders. In a dissenting opinion in a rights of publicity case involving the Wheel of Fortune star Vanna White , Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski sardonically noted that "[f]or better or worse, we are

612-410: The Ninth Circuit faces several adverse consequences of its large size, such as "unwieldly size, procedural inefficiencies, jurisprudential unpredictability, and unusual en banc process." Chief among these is the Ninth Circuit's unique rules concerning the composition of an en banc court. In other circuits, en banc courts are composed of all active circuit judges, plus (depending on the rules of

648-736: The Ninth Circuit is by far the largest of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, covering a total of nine states and two territories and with 29 active judgeships. The court's regular meeting places are Seattle at the William Kenzo Nakamura United States Courthouse , Portland at the Pioneer Courthouse , San Francisco at the James R. Browning U.S. Court of Appeals Building , and Pasadena at the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals . Panels of

684-478: The Ninth Circuit's decisions were reversed at a rate of 2.50 cases per thousand, which was by far the highest rate in the country, with the Sixth Circuit second as 1.73 cases per thousand. Fitzpatrick also noted that the 9th Circuit was unanimously reversed more than three times as often as the least reversed circuits and over 20% more often than the next closest circuit. Many commentators have argued that

720-409: The Northern Mariana Islands, and to create a new Twelfth Circuit to cover Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. As of November 15, 2023 : Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve, unless the circuit justice (the Supreme Court justice responsible for the circuit) is also on

756-573: The administration one week later, arguing that the four-year environmental impact statement commissioned by the Department of the Interior had already determined that the road was unnecessary and would irreversibly damage the refuge. A ruling on March 29, 2019 by the United States District Court for the District of Alaska once again blocked the land transfer, finding that the Trump administration's attempts to remove acreage from

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792-410: The coastal lagoons and freshwater wetlands on their way to and from their subarctic and arctic breeding grounds. This extraordinary abundance and diversity of waterfowl has attracted international attention. In 1986, Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and Izembek State Game Refuge, which encompasses the submerged land of Izembek Lagoon, was the first wetland area in the United States to be recognized as

828-722: The court holds yearly sittings in Anchorage and Honolulu . For lawyers who must come and present their cases to the court in person, this administrative grouping of cases helps to reduce the time and cost of travel. Ninth Circuit judges are also appointed by the United States Secretary of the Interior to serve as temporary acting Associate Justices for non-federal appellate sessions at the High Court of American Samoa in Fagatogo . The Ninth Circuit's large size

864-672: The court occasionally travel to hear cases in other locations within the circuit. Although the judges travel around the circuit, the court arranges its hearings so that cases from the northern region of the circuit are heard in Seattle or Portland, cases from southern California and Arizona are heard in Pasadena, and cases from northern California, Nevada , Hawaii , and the Pacific territories are heard in San Francisco. Additionally,

900-853: The federal judicial hierarchy in the twentieth century, many of those in the West were placed in the Ninth Circuit: the newly acquired Territory of Hawaii in 1900, Arizona upon its admission to the Union in 1912, the Territory of Alaska in 1948, Guam in 1951, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 1977. The Ninth Circuit also had jurisdiction over certain American interests in China , in that it had jurisdiction over appeals from

936-510: The lagoons and along the coast. Orcas , gray whales , and minke whales can sometimes be seen as they migrate along the shoreline and occasionally inside of Izembek Lagoon. United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations , 9th Cir. ) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over

972-440: The largest eelgrass beds in the world, providing food and shelter for the birds. Izembek NWR is also host to many resident bird species, such as Tundra swans , which live on the refuge year-round. Raptors which prey on the many species of rodents, birds, and fish in this area include bald and golden eagles , rough-legged hawks , gyrfalcons , and Peale's peregrine falcons . Hundreds of thousands of salmon return to streams in

1008-476: The northwest ( Bering Sea ) coastal side of central Aleutians East Borough . Almost all of the refuge (307,982 acres (124,636 ha) out of 315,000 acres (1,270 km )) was designated as wilderness in 1980 under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (Anilca). The refuge is administered from offices in Cold Bay . Izembek National Wildlife Refuge lies between the highly productive waters of

1044-418: The other circuits. This results in the Supreme Court reviewing a smaller proportion of its cases, letting stand the vast majority of its cases. However, a detailed study in 2018 reported by Brian T. Fitzpatrick , a law professor at Vanderbilt University , looked at how often a federal circuit court was reversed for every thousand cases it terminated on the merits between 1994 and 2015. The study found that

1080-500: The panel. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the circuit judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges, with seniority determined first by commission date, then by age. The chief judge serves for

1116-475: The particular court) any senior judges who took part in the original panel decision. By contrast, in the Ninth Circuit it is impractical for 29 or more judges to take part in a single oral argument and deliberate on a decision en masse. The court thus provides for a limited en banc review by the Chief Judge and a panel of 10 randomly selected judges. This means that en banc reviews may not actually reflect

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1152-490: The refuge contradicted the existing environmental impact statement and made no attempt to explain why the statement was no longer applicable. A second judge rejected a revised plan in June 2020. In November 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth District , overruled a 3-judge panel of the court and scheduled a rehearing of the case against the Trump administration proposal. In an unusual action, former President Jimmy Carter filed

1188-481: The refuge each year. Land mammals that roam this refuge include brown bears , red foxes , wolves , and caribou from the Southern Alaska Peninsula herd. Marine mammals are common in the productive waters surrounding this refuge. Harbor seals , Steller's sea lions , and sea otters and even walrus inhabit nearby coastal waters and lagoons. Harbor seals frequently haul out on sandbars in

1224-416: The same period. From 2010 to 2015, of the cases it accepted to review, the Supreme Court reversed around 79% of the cases from the Ninth Circuit, ranking its reversal rate third among the circuits; the median reversal rate for all federal circuits for the same time period was around 70 percent. Some argue the court's high percentage of reversals is illusory, resulting from the circuit hearing more cases than

1260-504: The transmission line had made an agreement with the U.S. Interior Department and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to add 35 acres of land to the refuge in exchange for using the 20 acres of refuge land in the path of the transmission line. Izembek National Wildlife Refuge The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is the smallest of the National Wildlife Refuges located in the U.S. state of Alaska . It lies on

1296-417: The views of the majority of the court and indeed may not include any of the three judges involved in the decision being reviewed in the first place. The result, according to detractors, is a high risk of intracircuit conflicts of law where different groupings of judges end up delivering contradictory opinions. That is said to cause uncertainty in the district courts and within the bar. However, en banc review

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