. . .
K “For two score years, I have followed the Ninth Circuit as closely as some friends follow Major League Baseball or the price of Bitcoin. The first guiding principle is clear: The Niners exult sexy and surreal culture war issues while disregarding the cases and concerns of ordinary citizens.”
. . .
K “The court’s job is to review legislation to ascertain whether it is unconstitutional. A court using a Constitutional Amendment to legislate on questions of public policy is beyond the jurisdiction of the court.”
. . .
J “Talk to a woman in any city who is approached by increasingly aggressive homeless citizens. The treat presented almost always by men against woman from birth is unrelenting. For a woman or other possibly vulnerable person finding a parking spot in the winter at night near a store is often a twenty-minute search. A second-tier of parking spaces beside the handicapped parking spaces may be necessary.”
K “There is a disquieting tableau of individuals wandering around aimlessly all night with an old blanket as a bed roll and no place to unroll it.”
J “I hear you. I see it. Everywhere. All the time.”
. . .
K “They allege that a rising tide lifts all boats. For tens and tens and twenties of millions of Americans who are boatless, a rising tide only drowns them.”
J “If they had a houseboat, they have been foreclosed from it. If they had a life raft, they have been evicted out of it. This situation hits close to home. Even living modestly requires swift and steady paddling. I looked at the credit card statements and the bank statements for just one month and wondered how anyone can afford to stay off the streets.”
. . .
J “A little mental health counseling might help.”
K “Or a lot.”
. . .
K “I have cataloged the cases brought for persons who can be considered ‘individual homeless persons’ or ‘helpless villagers’ in our society. The Ninth Circuit treats a case brought by an ‘individual homeless person’ with indifference or disdain. There is no publicity or acclaim in it.”
. . .
K “One final decision looked like some hen doodles and fundamentally confused ‘personal jurisdiction’ with ‘subject matter jurisdiction’ in a simple case. Three judges and twelve law clerks from profitable law schools did not get it. The explanation is simple. They did not have any interest or incentive to get it right. An above average first year law student at a fifth-tier law school would discern that there is some difference.”
J “I recall that one. Time to appoint non-lawyers to the courts. Lawyers are not capable of handling the task. A new team is our only salvation.”
. . .
J “Another failed institution?”
K “They do not fail to disappoint. The two-tiered review is an essential element of their institutional DNA and explains decades of dubious decisions.”
. . .
K “The Niners are all about show biz and public relations. Smoke and mirrors. Shuck and jive. They should move their headquarters to Hollywood. They really are a profound disappointment.”
J “And then you have the current Fifth Circus Court in NOLA. I’ll take the Niners any day.”
. . .
[See the e-commentary at The Ninth Circuit: Two-Tiered “Just-Us” Review (February 13, 2017) and Revisiting “Does Any Institution In America Function? Oh, And Happy Friday The 13th! (December 9, 2019)” Four Years Later (December 11, 2023).]
Bumper stickers of the week:
We live in a country with many, many, many rules and many, many, many laws, but we do not live in a country that believes in or adheres to the rule of law.
There is no law. There is only ideology.
e-commentary 