The Ninth Circuit Curse Strikes Again
Remember the Ninth Circuit Curse? We wrote about it back in 2007, noting that “anyone who tries to mess with the Mighty Ninth eventually finds himself (or herself) in deep doo-doo.” Several politicians who have advocated splitting the Ninth Circuit — a sprawling court that can be challenging to administer, to be sure — have found themselves in some form of trouble or another. E.g., Senators Larry Craig, Ted Stevens, and Lisa Murkowski.
Now they’re joined by another. Although his sex scandal is being overshadowed by that of another Republican politician, Nevada Senator John Ensign (pictured) is watching his popularity plummet, after he admitted to an affair with an ex-staffer (who was once on the Ensign payroll, along with her husband). He may face an investigation into his conduct.
If anyone was going to fall victim to the Ninth Circuit Curse, it would be Senator Ensign. As noted on his website, “Senator Ensign has… taken the lead on legislation to split the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.” Not only did he push hard for splitting the circuit, but he actually testified in support of the split, at the time of the last big push for dividing the court.
The full tally of victims, after the jump.
The following politicians have fallen victim to the Ninth Circuit Curse:
All have either fallen into some sort of ethical, legal, or political trouble — e.g., defeated, prosecuted, under investigation, or resigned from high office.
Interestingly enough, the curse seems to be limited to officials elected from within the Ninth Circuit. Circuit-splitters from elsewhere, like Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner and Sen. Jeff Sessions, have suffered setbacks but no actual defeats — yet….
Update: Just a point of clarification. The Ninth Circuit is a large and unwieldy court, and there are good arguments to be made in favor of splitting it. See, e.g., here (op-ed by Professor Brian Fitzpatrick) and here (testimony of our former boss, Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain). In pointing out the curse, we’re just noting an interesting coincidence.
Further Update: For some arguments against splitting the court, as expressed by 33 (!) judges of the Ninth Circuit, see here (PDF).
P.S. Speaking of the Ninth Circuit, we’ll be attending the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference this year, where we’ll be speaking on a panel with some rather distinguished company: Linda Greenhouse (moderator), former Supreme Court correspondent for the New York Times; Judge Robert Lasnik, chief judge of the Western District of Washington; Harold W. Fuson, Jr., Executive Vice President, Copley Press; and Nina Totenberg, of NPR.
(36) Comments
Comments
People who say “first” are giant d-bags!
Ninth!!
Farrah Fawcett just died.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/FarrahFawcett/id=7464123&page=1
Comment removed by moderator.
There are sound judicial administration reasons for splitting up the 9th Circuit. If the 9th is the correct size, every other Circuit is wrong. The 9th is much larger than any of the "old Circuits" were when they were split up.
4 - i don't get it
Suzy Wilson was here.
I liked it better when the Democrats were the party of sex scandal and the Republicans were the party of corruption and greed.
5 = John Ensign
Umm ... politicians get themselves in trouble all the time. I'm not sure this list suggests that f'ing with the 9th increases the odds.
Sanford. Spitzer. Ensign. Edwards. Craig. Vitter. Clinton. Paterson. Mahoney. Foley. Villaraigoa. Newsom. Gingrich. Sherwood. West. McGreevey. Giuliani. Condit. Burton. Chenoweth. Livingston. LBJ. JFK. FDR.
WHEN WILL IT STOP
The 9th Circuit is for complete losers. The 2nd Circuit owns the 9th Circuit.
Don't forget about Sotomayor!
If you split the ninth circuit, then we can guarantee a split between any conceivable combination of circuits, thereby giving the Supreme Court more work, and helping Biglaw weather the recession.
What about Judge O'Scannlain?
You mean Rick Renzi.
#4 - I can't believe you said that. Jesus that's messed up.
Yes, it must be their mutual support for splitting up the 9th Circuit, and not because they are ALL REPUBLICANS.
Correlation != Causation, Lat.
lol - 9th circuit is not even worth writing about - damn, what am i doing??
lol - 9th circuit is not even worth writing about - damn, what am i doing??
Lat is a sopping wet sod of a woman. Tell your friends.
the rabbit done died.
Lisa Murkowski on this list? She has about a 70% approval rating within her state, pretty high if she is cursed.
A long time ago a man came from the Bureau of Livestock Pastures and informed me and my partner Blagojce that the Bureau would split our pasture in two. He said that our land was much larger than the other nearby pastures, that we had too many goats to properly care for, and consequently our goats were not of the same quality as those in the other, smaller pastures. That night the man became sick at the local tavern. He moaned wretchedly like a mother goat giving birth to a kid with six legs. Instead of returning to the big city, he left to recuperate by the sea, where he was eaten by a shark. Our pasture was never split. The bureaucrats leave us alone, whispering about the “Curse of the Goat Herd.” But really it was because Blagojce urinated on the man’s baklava.
Goat Herder you're not funny and certainly not creative. You suck more than Hope Winters.
25 - tiNtcr
Lat, replace Mystal with Goat Herder!
26= enormous jizguzzler.
24 should slaughter for Mystal a Goat.
Well done
28: it's called goat's milk
-26
When I got to the part about being on the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference panel, I thought, "Holy Shit! They're really going to let that fat 'tard Mystal sit on the same dais as these distinguished, articulate, intelligent people who can actually write?" But then I realized this was a Lat post. What a relief, but also a slight disappointment. It would have been a fun train wreck to watch.
"Update: Just a point of clarification. The Ninth Circuit is a large and unwieldy court, and there are good arguments to be made in favor of splitting it. See, e.g., here (op-ed by Professor Brian Fitzpatrick) and here (testimony of our former boss, Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain). In pointing out the curse, we're just noting an interesting coincidence."
We need to split the Ninth Circuit!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
If memory serves me right, Jon Gosselin of Jon & Kate plus Ei8ht had also advocated splitting the Ninth Circuit. It was in season 2, episode 5. Asked whether he would ever consider having a 9th child, he said he hates the number 9 so much that he would even support splitting the 9th circuit. Now look at him, his show has been put on hiatus 'til August! The curse has struck once more.
Two prominent Republican politicians who have proposed to split the Ninth Circuit but have NOT met their demise are Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
See http://www.eagleionline.com/news/2007/7/16/should-congress-split-up-the-9th-circuit.html.
It's Rick Renzi R-Arizona District 1 not Mike Renzi. He went to CUA Law School and has 12 kids all with names starting with R. Even his wife's name starts with an R.