Ryan Bounds No Longer Bound for Ninth Circuit

Ryan Bounds wasn't the first, and won't be the last, of President Trump's controversial picks for the federal courts, especially given his hopes of reshaping the Ninth Circuit. Bounds was nominated to fill a vacancy on the Ninth, however, as his confirmation vote was set to hit the Senate floor, it was announced that the nomination was withdrawn.

Apparently, Republican Senator Tim Scott, who happens to be the only African American Republican in the Senate (and one of only three total), took issue with nominee Bounds's history of racially and ethnically charged (and insensitive) writings. Even Bounds seemed embarrassed by it. Though Scott seemed to exercise extreme decorum in his public statement, commentators didn't need to hear much more to understand that Bounds's nomination was too controversial.

Out of Bounds

Ryan Bounds's nomination and confirmation hearing were rather controversial. In addition to the seemingly extreme and insensitive views he espoused, to which he expressed regret for ever even expressing, Bounds's own home state senators refused to greenlight the nomination.

The traditional practice of home state senators approving or disapproving of nominations from their state is one that isn't likely to go anywhere, however, Bounds's nomination had pundits thinking the tradition might have been broken.

Because of Sen. Scott's refusal to support Bounds's confirmation and Sen. McCain being out for cancer treatment, the vote was anticipated to come back against him, particularly as it was rumored that Republican Sen. Marco Rubio was going to vote no with Scott.

Related Resources:

• United States Ninth Circuit Cases (FindLaw's Cases & Codes)
• ACLU Lawsuit: Get an F, Go to Jail (FindLaw's U.S. Ninth Circuit Blog)
• Senate Confirms Hawaii Attorney to Ninth Circuit (FindLaw's U.S. Ninth Circuit Blog)