Research Briefing

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42 California District Attorneys Oppose Nomination Of Goodwin Liu To Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals

March 26, 2010

Sen. Patrick Leahy, Chairman

Sen. Jeff Sessions, Ranking Member

Senate Committee on the Judiciary

224 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Re: Nomination of Goodwin Liu for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Dear Chairman Leahy and Senator Sessions:

The undersigned California District Attorneys have the responsibility for prosecuting violations of the criminal law within our respective counties. For many years, our ability to enforce the law and protect the citizens of our jurisdictions has been hampered by erroneous decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. This court has been far out of the judicial mainstream, as indicated by its frequent and often summary reversal by the Supreme Court, at a rate far above the national average.

The Supreme Court cannot reverse all of the Ninth Circuit’s errors, however. Despite the efforts of Congress to rein in the federal courts with the 1996 passage and subsequent amendment of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, miscarriages of justice remain routine. This is particularly true in the most heinous of crimes, those where a jury has unanimously decided that only the death penalty is sufficient punishment.

Under no circumstances should any judicial nominee be confirmed to the Ninth Circuit who would take that court even further in the wrong direction. Regrettably, the President has sent to the Senate just such a nominee. The paper written by Goodwin Liu in opposition to the nomination of Justice Samuel Alito shows that he would vote to reverse nearly every death sentence. He exaggerates minor issues in jury instructions that no one at trial thought were problems, while simultaneously brushing off the brutal facts of heinous crimes as inconsequential.

He jumps to the conclusion that prosecutors are guilty of racism on scant evidence and despite the considered judgment of the state trial court to the contrary. The paper and its implications are discussed more fully in the letter of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation submitted to the committee in this matter.

Professor Liu’s paper demonstrates beyond serious question that his views on criminal law, capital punishment, and the role of the federal courts in second-guessing state decisions are fully aligned with the judges who have made the Ninth Circuit the extreme outlier that it presently is. We urge the Judiciary Committee and the full Senate to reject this nomination.

Sincerely,

Will Richmond: District Attorney, Alpine County

Todd D. Riebe: District Attorney, Amador County

Michael D. Riese: District Attorney, Del Norte County

John R. Poyner: District Attorney, Colusa County

Vernon Pierson: District Attorney, El Dorado County

Elizabeth Egan: District Attorney, Fresno County

Robert Holzapfel: District Attorney, Glenn County

Arthur Maillet: District Attorney, Inyo County

Edward R. Jagels: District Attorney, Kern County

Ronald L. Calhoun: District Attorney, Kings County

Jon Hopkins: District Attorney, Lake County

Robert M. Burns: District Attorney, Lassen County

Steve Cooley: District Attorney, Los Angeles County

Rod Pacheco: District Attorney, Riverside County

Jan Scully: District Attorney, Sacramento County

Candice Hooper: District Attorney, San Benito County

Michael A. Ramos: District Attorney, San Bernardino County

Bonnie Dumanis: District Attorney, San Diego County

James Willett: District Attorney, San Joaquin County

Gerald T. Shea: District Attorney, San Luis Obispo County

Ann Bramsen: Acting District Attorney, Santa Barbara County

Lawrence R. Allen: District Attorney, Sierra County

J. Kirk Andrus: District Attorney, Siskiyou County

Michael Keitz: District Attorney, Madera County

Ed Berberian: District Attorney, Marin County

Robert H. Brown: District Attorney, Mariposa County

Gary Woolverton: District Attorney, Modoc County

George Booth: District Attorney, Mono County

Dean Flippo: District Attorney, Monterey County

Clifford Newell: District Attorney, Nevada County

Tony Rackauckas: District Attorney, Orange County

Bradford R. Fenocchio: District Attorney, Placer County

Gerald Benito: District Attorney, Shasta County

David W. Paulson: District Attorney, Solano County

Birgit Fladager: District Attorney, Stanislaus County

Carl V. Adams: District Attorney, Sutter County

Gregg Cohen: District Attorney, Tehama County

Michael B. Harper: District Attorney, Trinity County

Phillip J. Cline: District Attorney, Tulare County

Gregory D. Totten: District Attorney, Ventura County

Jeffery W. Reisig: District Attorney, Yolo County

Patrick J. McGrath: District Attorney, Yuba County

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