9th U.S. court cancels 2013 conference NINTH U.S. CIRCUIT

Under pressure from Republican senators over its upcoming conference in Hawaii, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has canceled next year's scheduled meeting in Monterey, citing budget constraints.

The court, which covers California and eight other Western states, has held annual meetings of judges, lawyers and staff since 1944, with three of the past 10 meetings in Hawaii. Long a target of Republican criticism for its liberal rulings, the court has come under attack from Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Jeff Sessions of Alabama for scheduling next month's conference in Maui.

Citing the $1 million-plus travel cost of the last Maui conference in 2010 and the availability to conferees of such activities as sport fishing and snorkeling, the senators have repeatedly called on the court to cancel the conference or scale it back. In reply, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, has described the conference as an important educational gathering and said the accommodations cost less than many similarly sized hotels on the mainland.

But on Friday, the court announced on its website that next year's scheduled conference in Monterey is being postponed until 2014.

"We firmly believe in the importance of the conference in educating the federal bench and bar and in advancing governance of the circuit," Circuit Executive Cathy Catterson said in a statement. "But we also recognize the need to conserve financial resources during the present fiscal crisis."