9th Circuit Court to review its own decision

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled yesterday to postpone the California recall election until March, will review its own decision with a panel of 11 judges.

This doesn't mean they will overturn. Merely that they will either give the original decision added weight or overturn it. This neither cause for concern or celebration.

An 11-judge panel of the 9th reviewed its own court's decision to invalidate the words "under God" in the Pledge and affirmed the decision -- so this shouldn't be interpreted as "second guessing" by the court.

It does mean that all appeals to the Supreme Court are temporarily suspended while the 9th Circuit reviews the decision.

And remember, we only have three weeks before the October election. There isn't a lot of time to muck around. Regardless how they rule, they will be appealed. Simple legal machinations alone may ultimately force a delay in the recall vote.

The 9th should've just let the Supremes have the final say.

Update: Okay, per the comments and the updated Reuters story -- the 9th hasn't decided to review the case, it has decided to review whether it should review the case.

Posted September 16, 2003 12:34 PM | Comments (97)