The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

[wacki]

Just saw on the news that the 9th circuit in San Francisco overturned a decision in favor of a terrorist. They basically said it's ok for a terrorist to carry massive amounts of explosives while committing a felony. Yet in 1996 they ruled:

"The right to keep an bear arms is meant solely to protect the rights of the states to keep and maintain armed militia...."
http://www.secondamendmentdocumentary.com/

Which is only slightly conflicting. Apparently the 9th is by far the most overturned appeals court in the US. Just about all of the pundits on Fox were making fun of the 9th Circuit. Does anyone else know of any 'odd' decisions made by this court?

 

[Buck Nekkid]

If I'm not mistaken, this is the same court that ruled "under God" unconstitutional in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

[DesertShooter]

The way that the news media legal experts are examining this case, the 9th Circuit sent it back to the lower courts with a "suggestion" that the sentence be surveyed. From what I've gathered, the maximum sentence for the total crimes COULD have been 65 years, but the defendant was given 22 years.

It's entirely possible that the lower court would divert the case to the Supreme Court, for an "emergency" review. Since the 9th Circuit was merely "nit picking", the Supreme Court COULD throw out the reversal, order a re-trial on any/all criminal counts that weren't originally addressed, and the defendant COULD end up being sentenced for the maximum 65 years!

 

[Richmond]

the 9th

The 9th is huge and handles a huge caseload covering California,Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Alaska, and Hawaii. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, as well. The 9th also has more judges than any other federal appellate court.

The 9th is viewed by many as representing, overall, the philosophy of judicial activism over established precedent. IIRC, usually about 25% or more of the Supreme Courts term come out of the 9th Circuit. These cases account for many of the reversals each term.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Actually, this term I would bet the 5th Circuit gets a lot of attention since they are interpreting SCOTUS rulings on the death penalty very, very narrowly and SCOTUS has granted cert to at least three death penalty cases from the 5th.

Have you got a link or a case name for the 9th Circuit opinion you mention? After having read several past news reports purporting to "interpret" a court decision, I've reached the opinion that the newspapers know as much about the law as they do about firearms.

 

[glummer]

I believe this may be a ‘good’ call. From what I read, the charge (1 of 9 – the others stand) was for felony lying to the customs/border people, with a mandatory extra sentence for felony committed involving terrorist acts, or something. Rather like ‘aggravated mopery’ with a pistol in your car can get you extra time, even if the gun was not used in the crime. The appeal court vacated the sentence on the basis that that conviction was wrong:

…the evidence, according to the court’s written opinion, did not “show that the explosives ‘facilitated or played a role in the crime’ of lying on the customs declaration.” Further, the court said, “it is not enough for the government to prove that Ressam lied because he was smuggling explosives in the trunk of his car. Rather, the government must demonstrate that the explosives aided the commission of the underlying felony in some way.”

Now, if they would apply that logic to “gun crimes”, it might be a good thing.

 

[easy]

Fixed it for ya

The 9th Circus Court of Appeals

 

[Kim]

I think this is the guy Clinton raves about that was caught coming into the USA in 2000 to bomb LAX. Gawd our legal system sucks. This is another reason that terrorists should not be tried in our legal system but in military courts. Oh yea. I remember way back when at the start of the war right after 911 the MSM was raving that military trials made such good sense. Who would want these people in the jails in the USA in their back yards and who in their right mind would think our legal system should be used for terrorists. My, My how the MSM has propagandized the citizens to a complete reversal. Gitmo was the greatest idea of the day ------long, long ago. SIGH. But hey Just wait. I have NO doubt another attack is on the way and we will replay this all again but with more citizens killed and a bigger war next time. SIGH. I am very glad in live in the boonies.