Associated Press By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER ADVERTISING Associated Press HONOLULU — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is postponing a conference for federal judges that was slated for next year in northern California, as controversy surrounding a similar gathering
By JENNIFER SINCO
KELLEHER
Associated Press
HONOLULU — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is postponing a conference for federal judges that was slated for next year in northern California, as controversy surrounding a similar gathering in Maui persists.
Republicans Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa have been critical of the circuit’s conferences, which they say are expensive affairs in the midst of government budget cuts.
On Friday, they called for August’s Maui conference to be canceled or at least scaled back. On the same day, the circuit announced it would push back next year’s gathering planned for Monterey, Calif., to 2014.
“We firmly believe in the importance of the conference in educating the federal bench and bar and in advancing governance of the circuit,” said Cathy A. Catterson, circuit and court of appeals executive. “But we also recognize the need to conserve financial resources during the present financial crisis.”
Sessions, ranking member of the Budget Committee, and Grassley, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, asked for the circuit to provide contracts associated with the Maui conference and are not satisfied with the argument that conferences are booked far in advance and that the Maui conference in August can’t be changed.
“After weeks of scrutiny, it’s good to see a response at last to criticism of expensive conferences,” Grassley said Monday. “However, while an encouraging sign, cancelling next year’s conference does not necessarily signal lasting change. This year’s conference is likely to be expensive, and future events could be expensive, as well.”
Former Gov. Linda Lingle asked the senators to back off on calling for the Maui conference’s cancellation. The Republican also is Maui’s former mayor and is running for Hawaii’s open U.S. Senate seat.
She said in her letter to them that canceling the event would be detrimental to Maui’s economy and defended the islands as being a place where serious business can be conducted.
The court, one step below the Supreme Court, has said the gatherings are for serious business meetings within the circuit’s jurisdiction. The court serves Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, as well as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote to the senators last month that Maui was picked for its competitive room rates and cheaper travel costs because of the number of airlines serving Hawaii.
He wrote that at $230 per night, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa compares favorably with similarly sized hotels in Anchorage, Alaska, and Sun Valley, Idaho, as well as several California destinations.
