Roundup of 9th Circuit Court of Appeals News

Ninth Circuit practitioners want to stay current with what's moving and shaking down at the courthouse. In the past month, there has been much 9th Circuit news. There have been new judges nominated, calls for comments on the performance of defenders and even bomb scares.

Here's a roundup of some court news out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals from the past month.

• The 9th Circuit is calling for public comment on the reappointment of two Federal Public Defenders: Mr. Jon M. Sands for the District of Arizona and Mr. Peter C. Wolff for the District of Hawaii. As noted on the Court’s website, these evaluations are conducted in order to determine whether the incumbent Public Defender should be appointed again, for a four year term, without competitive recruitment. As such, the 9th Circuit is gathering information from any person who may have knowledge on the performance of either of these two individuals or their staff. The comments must be received no later than June 14, 2011 and the identity of all respondents will be kept confidential. You can submit any comments online by clicking on the following links: Mr. Wolff ; Mr. Sands. All responses and respondents will be kept confidential.
• In a May 19th press release, the 9th Circuit announced that President Barack Obama nominated Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen to the post of U.S. Court of Appeals Judge for the Ninth Circuit. She will be filling a spot that has been vacant since June 12, 2010, when Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld of Fairbanks, Alaska, took senior status. Judge Christen received her J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law in 1986. Prior to being nominated for the 9th Circuit, she served on the Alaska Superior Court from 2001 to 2009 and was the presiding judge on Alaska’s Third Judicial District from 2005 to 2009. She had also worked at the Alaska firm of Preston Thorgrimson Ellis & Holman, which subsequently became K&L Gates, LLP.
• A bomb scare in the San Francisco building housing the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal turned out to be an electronic item ordered by an employee in the building. Nevertheless, the court building was closed as police searched the premises. No injuries were reported.

Related Resources:

• Recent 9th Circuit Opinion Summaries (FindLaw)
• Browse all 9th Circuit Decisions by Year (FindLaw)
• RSS Feed for 9th Circuit (FindLaw)