CLEAR THE AIR.

Dear Editorial Staff:

APPELLATE STUDY PANEL ISSUES FINAL REPORT

Individuals and entities with concerns about public lands, the environment, and natural resources, as well as the federal judicial system in the western United States, have carefully followed the controversial debate over the possible division of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.(1) This debate has been ongoing since 1995. The Ninth Circuit's bifurcation could significantly affect these resources and the federal courts. The latest phase of this continuing debate was Congress's decision to approve a study of the appellate system that would focus on the Ninth Circuit.

The Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals (Commission) issued its final report for the President and Congress on December 18, 1998.(2) The Commission was authorized by Congress in November 1997, and the commissioners were appointed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist a month later. The Commission had ten months to study the federal appellate system, "with particular reference to the Ninth Circuit."(3) It then had two months to write a report suggesting such modifications in circuit boundaries or structure as may be appropriate for the prompt and effective resolution of the appeals courts' caseload, consistent with fundamental concepts of fairness and due process.

Throughout 1998, the commissioners sought public input on many issues that implicated their statutory mandate. During the spring, the Commission held six one-day public hearings in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. The commissioners also enlisted the assistance of the Federal Judicial Center (Center) and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the two major research arms of the federal courts. The Center helped the Commission develop surveys that the panel then circulated to federal judges and appellate practitioners seeking their views on the appeals courts. The Commission reviewed all of the relevant information that it had received and published a tentative draft report on October 7. The commissioners solicited public comment on that draft during a thirty-day period and issued a final report on December 18.(4)

The Commission determined that the courts "are operating under the pressure of caseload increases that have transformed them into different judicial entities from what they were at mid-century ... [while] pressures continue, and there is little likelihood...

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