MOST-LIBERAL APPEALS COURT USED TO REVERSALS.Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer Plunging headlong into a storm of controversy as it did in striking ``under God'' from the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance, in full, Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, oath that proclaims loyalty to the United States. and its national symbol. , the nation's most liberal and most frequently overruled federal appeals court delayed California's recall election Monday. For many who had been waiting for this last of a dozen recall lawsuits to play out, the bombshell from the three-judge panel came as no surprise. All three judges - Harry Pregerson, a long-time Woodland Hills resident, Richard A. Paez and Sidney R. Thomas - are liberal Democratic appointees accustomed to controversy. ``Knowing the 9th Circuit and knowing in particular this panel, which is an extremely liberal panel, it is not surprising,'' said Stephen R. Bennett, professor emeritus at the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). at Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law. ``There was no one there who wasn't a Democratic appointee APPOINTEE. A person who is appointed or selected for a particular purpose; as the appointee under a power, is the person who is to receive the benefit of the trust or power. who might have dissented or otherwise imposed some limit on the majority.'' Now, for the circuit court that was overruled in 75 percent of its cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002, the question is: Will this decision stand? ``Without meaning any disrespect at all, they are all three liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats, British political party Liberal Democrats, British political party created in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal party with the Social Democratic party; the party was initially called the Social and Liberal Democratic party. ,'' said Bill Mount, an attorney for the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation in Sacramento. ``This court as a whole has the highest reversal rate of any of the 11 circuits. They tend to be somewhat nonmainstream. ``In terms of this court's status before the U.S. Supreme Court, their track record suggests this ruling may well be vulnerable if review is sought.'' Pregerson is the elder statesman of the panel. A much-honored judge who was asked after he was appointed to the appeals court whether he would choose his conscience or the law if the two were conflicted, he said he would choose his conscience and has lived by his statement, analysts said. Paez, a longtime public interest attorney in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , survived a tough nomination to become what some consider one of the court's most liberal of President Bill Clinton's nominees. And Thomas wrote this summer's opinion that overturned 100 death penalty sentences in the West. The panel's decision released Monday, making the case that problematic old voting machines like the ones used in Los Angeles County could lead to voter discrimination, relied heavily on the Bush v. Gore Introduction In Bush v. Gore 531 U.S. 98, 121 S.Ct. 525, 148 L.Ed.2d 388 (U.S. 2000), the U.S Supreme Court ruled that the system devised by the Florida Supreme Court to recount the votes cast in the state during the 2000 U.S. case before the Supreme Court during the similarly circuslike 2000 presidential election. ``This is a classic voting-rights, equal-protection claim,'' the panel wrote. But critics of the 9th Circuit say the panel selected only parts of the Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore and ignored key points. ``They're trying to tweak their ruling,'' said John Eastman John Eastman (b. March 7, 1947) is an American politician from Ohio. He ran unsuccessfully as an independent in the race for Secretary of State of Ohio in 2006, the Governor's race in 2002 (3.9%), and the United States Senate in 2000 (on the Natural law Party ticket) (1. , a law professor at Chapman University Chapman University is a private, nonprofit university located in the city of Orange in Orange County, California, USA. Mission statement The mission of Chapman University is to provide personalized education of distinction that leads to inquiring, ethical and productive in Orange and director of the Claremont Institute's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, who clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist and has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991. He is the second African American to serve on the nation's highest court, after Justice Thurgood Marshall. . ``I think what they've done here is so contradictory to what the Supreme Court said in Bush v. Gore. ... I think they could well weigh in and reverse the 9th Circuit.'' Others said both sides will use the Bush v. Gore ruling to bolster their arguments, although the Supreme Court had said it applied only to that case. ``It does look like the 9th Circuit is asking the Supreme Court to decide whether Bush v. Gore is a ticket good for any other train than the 2000 election,'' David Frederick, a Washington lawyer and expert on Supreme Court procedure and the 9th Circuit, told The Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. . Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. and a lead plaintiff in the recall case, discounted the 9th Circuit's history of being overturned, saying he believes the ruling will stand. ``What's important here is if the decision is correct, and we believe it is,'' Rosenbaum said. ``This was a carefully thought-out decision and cites the Supreme Court's own decisions in making its rulings. ``This is the decision of patriots,'' he said. ``This isn't about the integrity of the 9th Circuit. It's about the integrity of our voting system.'' Staff writer Rick Orlov contributed to this story. Lisa Mascaro, (818) 713-3761 lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) PREGERSON (2) PAEZ (3) THOMAS |
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