ARIZONA'S LEGAL SHORTS: An LA Times Explainer On History, Changing Makeup Of The Ninth-No-Longer-"Nutty" Circuit

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting explainer on how the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals got its liberal reputation, and the changing makeup of the court. (President Carter appointed 15 judges, President Trump now has confirmed 8*.)

Here's a key section:

That was a long time ago. Is the “nutty 9th” reputation still true?

Not for a while. The court still leans liberal, but without the fervency of its past.

Feuer posits that this is, at least in part, due to a general trend of the judges appointed by Democratic presidents shifting more toward the center over the last few administrations, while Republicans have continued to appoint judges who are consistently, if not increasingly, conservative. And the Carter-era liberal lions are no longer on the court.

But even with all that said, the makeup of the court has still changed drastically during the Trump years.

As recently as April 2017, judges appointed by Democratic presidents outnumbered Republican appointees on the court by about 2 to 1 (that number probably also includes semi-retired senior-status judges). The court is now edging toward a more even split, with a ratio of 16 Democrat-appointed active judges to 13 Republican-appointed ones.

It is worth noting that Arizona's Republican politicians have become much quieter about splitting up the Ninth Circuit. Senator McSally (R-AZ) is a co-sponsor of one bill in the Senate, and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-CD5) is the sponsor in the House (Gosar is a co-sponsor).  However, none of the bills in the current Congress (House and Senate) have received a hearing.

*One of those eight new Judges is Arizona's Hon. Bridget Bade.

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