Did 9th Circuit deviate from random panels in gay marriage cases? Group seizes on Kozinski remarks
A Nevada group supporting a ban on gay marriages is seizing on remarks by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to support its claim that panels hearing gay-rights cases are not selected in a neutral way.
The Coalition for Protection of Marriage sent a letter to Kozinski on Tuesday that cites new information—Kozinski’s remarks in a New York Times article published on Tuesday, the Recorder reports. The coalition is seeking an en banc rehearing in a Nevada gay-marriage case based on its statistical claim that liberal judges on the San Francisco-based appeals court are getting gay-rights cases in disproportionate numbers.
Kozinski told the New York Times that, until recently, expedited cases were assigned to the available panel with the most senior presiding judge. Judge Stephen Reinhardt, appointed by President Jimmy Carter, is one of the most senior active judges, making him disproportionately likely to be the presiding judge, the Times says. The gay marriage case was on the fast track.
Reinhardt was on the panel that struck down Nevada’s gay marriage ban, along with Judge Marsha Berzon, appointed by President Bill Clinton.
