Ninth Circuit judges in SoCal truck appeal revealed

Ninth Circuit judges in SoCal truck appeal revealed One mystery in the American Trucking Associations appeal before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has been solved.
   ATA lawyers learned the three judges are that will be deciding the association's appeal of a lower court denial of an injunction against the Southern California ports truck plan. Unlike the lower U.S. district courts, judges on appellate panels are typically not revealed until a decision is rendered.
   ATA has requested that the Ninth Circuit overturn the lower court denial and issue an emergency injunction against the re-regulation plan for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. ATA argues that the truck plan violates federal interstate commerce laws. The appellate panel is expected to rule on ATA's request by the end of the week.
   The judges assigned and listed in their order of seniority are:
   ' Harry Pregerson, 84, appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the Ninth Circuit Court in 1979, is widely considered a liberal judge. The conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt has criticized the judge for his “judicial activism” and that he “rules with his heart instead of his head.”
   Pregerson wrote the majority decision in the Ninth Circuit panel on Gonzales v. Raich, holding the Interstate Commerce Clause forbade the federal government to interfere with state laws that permitted the use of medical marijuana. The ruling was later overturned by the Supreme Court, which held it is within congressional power to regulate intrastate activities that are seen to influence interstate commerce.
   ' M. Margaret McKeown, 57, served in the Carter administration and was appointed to the Ninth Circuit by Bill Clinton in 1996. In her law practice before joining the bench, McKeown focused on complex litigation, intellectual property, antitrust and trade regulation. She is a frequent participant in legal seminars on litigation, computer law and intellectual property and is widely published in the computer and trade secrets legal area.
   ' N. Randy Smith, 59, was nominated three times by President George W. Bush to the court, Smith was confirmed by Congress in early 2007. Prior to accepting the bench, Smith's private practice covered insurance defense, corporate and asbestos litigation, and probate and estate planning.