Trump Attacks on 9th Circuit Spark Debate at Breakup Hearing

By Patrick L. Gregory, Bloomberg BNA

President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of the Ninth Circuit featured at a congressional hearing on whether it should be divided today.

His comments cast a new light on an issue Congress has considered for decades: whether the circuit is too large to function properly.

The Ninth Circuit functions better than it would if divided due to economies of scale, Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Sidney R. Thomas and fellow Ninth Circuit Judges Alex Kozinski and Carlos T. Bea testified.

But the large number of judges in the circuit are mathematically certain to produce a greater ...