Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) is joining forces on the Senate floor with Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in efforts to improve the federal circuit court system as a whole and expedite the justice process for the people within the overburdened Ninth Circuit.
An excerpt of Daines’ remarks from the presentation are below:
“At 64.4 million people served, the current Ninth Circuit is the largest circuit by population, as well as the largest land area. It includes Montana and Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, California, and Hawaii – not to mention several U.S. territories (Guam and Northern Mariana Islands). That amounts to 20 percent of the nation’s population. To put it in context, that’s 85 percent larger than the next largest circuit, which serves just 34.8 million people.”
Daines’ and Sullivan’s bills plan to apportion some of the massive Ninth Circuit into a new Twelfth Circuit, which would make the Ninth still the largest, and would put the Twelfth at the 7th largest. Montana would be within jurisdiction of the new Twelfth Circuit, along with Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
To conclude, Daines said:
“We need to ensure all Americans have access to the justice they deserve. It’s time to split the Ninth.”