(Photo by Howard Fischer - Capitol Media Services)

Gov. Doug Ducey delivering inaugural address in January 2015.

Gov. Doug Ducey wants his state out of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' nine-state territory. He’s asking Congress to consider realigning the court.

Citing what he called an “overburdened and unwieldy” caseload and a high rate of overturned cases, Ducey has joined U.S. Senator Jeff Flake and Representative Matt Salmon in an appeal to either split the 9th Circuit into two — or shift Arizona into the less crowded Denver-based 10th Circuit.

In a release issued Thursday morning, Ducey said Arizonans are waiting too long for justice, with turnaround times of more than 15 months for an average ruling in the ninth and caseloads almost three times bigger than the next largest circuit.

In his statement, Ducey makes no mention of the California-dominated court’s politics, only the inconvenience the backlog is causing Arizona, adding that more than three-quarters of the circuit’s cases are overturned.

It would take an act of Congress to reorganize the court, something legal experts say isn’t likely to happen.

Source: Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts