RAMADAN v. KEISLER
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an order in RAMADAN v. KEISLER, No. 03-74351, an administrative appeal. The panel consisted of Harry Pregerson, Michael Daly Hawkins, and Sidney R. Thomas, Circuit Judges.
The panel has voted to deny the petition for rehearing and the petition for rehearing en banc. The full court has been advised of the petition for rehearing en banc. A judge of the court requested a vote on whether to rehear the case en banc. However, the en banc call failed to receive a majority of votes of the nonrecused active judges in favor of en banc consideration. Fed. R. App. P. 35. *Peter D. Keisler is substituted for his predecessor, Alberto R. Gonzales, as Acting Attorney General of the United States, pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2). 13329 . . .
O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge, joined by KOZINSKI, KLEINFELD, TALLMAN, BYBEE, BEA, CALLAHAN, M. SMITH, JR., and IKUTA Circuit Judges, dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc:
In a feat of interpretive creativity, the Court in this case has transformed a discretionary determination of an Immigration Judge (”IJ”) into a question of law, thereby claiming jurisdiction over a swath of immigration cases hitherto beyond our purview. Were such jurisdiction in fact given to us by Congress, we would be obligated to accept the task. But Congress has expressly withdrawn our power to review such discretionary determinations, and by reviewing the merits of the IJ’s ruling, the panel has transgressed the clear limits of our constitutional jurisdiction. For this reason, and because the panel’s opinion conflicts with the decisions of the seven other circuits that have considered this issue, I must dissent from our order declining to rehear this very significant case en banc. I Here, the panel addressed whether asylum claims based on changed circumstances raise “questions of law” giving rise to appellate jurisdiction under the REAL ID Act. . . .