9TH U.S. CIRCUIT LIKELY TO HOLD HEARING SOON COURT COULD ANNOUNCE INTENTIONS TODAY.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

With the election clock quickly winding down, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals likely will announce today whether it will review the three-judge panel decision delaying the Oct. 7 recall vote.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, whose office urged an overturning of the ruling, said he expects a special panel of 11 judges to be appointed.

``I think it's quite likely a larger panel will hear this,'' Lockyer said. ``That court of appeal asked for additional comment, so we believe a hearing will be held.''

UCLA law professor Daniel Lowenstein, who was the first director of the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, said he is disappointed the court has not already announced plans to establish an 11-member ``en banc'' panel to review the decision.

``The (legal) briefs aren't that long and everyone knows what is involved,'' Lowenstein said. ``I would like to see them act as quickly as possible.''

``Every day, every hour that goes by is harmful to the state in all kinds of ways,'' he said. ``I find it disappointing we haven't heard a decision yet.''

If the court does decide to create the special panel of jurists, most legal scholars believe they would schedule oral arguments for next Monday or Tuesday at the latest, with a ruling possible by the end of next week.

``I think the court recognizes the importance of this,'' Lowenstein said. ``We already are at less than three weeks before the election. Next week, it will be two weeks away.''

Most of the candidates said they want the election to be held as scheduled on Oct. 7 and have continued their appearances and campaigning as if it were going ahead.

Likewise, election officials from throughout the state have continued their preparations in the hope the decision will be overruled and the election can proceed.

Laurie Levinson, dean of the Loyola Law School, said she expects quick action by the appellate court - particularly since it asked for briefs to be filed with it.

``If the court wanted, it could hear arguments over the weekend,'' Levinson said. ``I think they will decide this quickly because they are aware of what's involved.''

If the appellate court does make a decision, that ruling is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, no matter what is decided.

``I think if the (appeals) court decides to allow the election to go ahead, there is less likelihood the Supreme Court will get involved,'' said Elizabeth Garrett, a USC law professor.

``I don't think (the Supreme Court) wants to become involved in this election after their involvement in (the 2000 presidential election),'' she said. ``I don't believe they'll see the same need to get involved.''

Also, she said, it would take the agreement of four Supreme Court justices to decide to hear the California case if an appeal is made.

Garrett said she believes the court is reluctant to become involved in another election issue because of the furor that developed around their decision in the 2000 election.

She said the Supreme Court could call a special session to hear arguments even though it is not scheduled to reconvene until early October.

Rick Orlov, [phone]

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com