AK HJR13

Requests that Congress divide the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit into two separate circuit courts to address problems caused by the court's excessive size and workload.

The Ninth Circuit encompasses nine states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) plus two territories, includes one-fifth of the U.S. population, and is 85 percent larger than the next largest circuit court.

Cites the court's slow case processing (multiple months slower than other circuits), production of 557 published and 5,994 unpublished opinions in 2015 alone, and higher-than-average Supreme Court reversal rate as evidence of dysfunction caused by judicial overload.

Notes that a Byron R. White-chaired commission and four of five responding Supreme Court Justices recommended splitting the Ninth Circuit, and that Congress previously split the Eighth and Fifth Circuits when they grew too large.

Proposes that the resulting Twelfth Circuit would encompass Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, and references Senate bills S. 295 and S. 296 sponsored by Alaska Senators Murkowski and Sullivan supporting this division.