Interesting thought. Stimulated by listening to 9th Circuit oral arguments, I have been wondering whether there were patterns in appointments of senior or sitting judges to serve outside their districts/circuits. For example, the 9th Circuit seems to rotate its district judges through appellate panels, probably a good thing for getting to know each other and understand the different points of view. It also seems to call in the same judges from the 8th Circuit every year, even as they become older and deafer.

I also thought it would be interesting to look at Rehnquist’s out-of-circuit assignments to see if particular judges were favored/disfavored. I reviewed the statutes for temporary assignment and found that Administrative Office should have both the list of judges available for assignment and the assignments for out-of-circuit assignments. I found that these are maintained by the Office of Judges Programs, but have not been able to follow up due to lack of time. If you or anyone else is interested in this, please run with it.

Roger Friedman