Patrick J. Manshardt v. Federal Judicial Qualifications Committee Gerald Parsky Dianne Feinstein Barbara Boxer

Patrick J. Manshardt appeals the dismissal of his complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to state a justiciable claim. In his complaint, Manshardt alleged that the Federal Judicial Qualifications Committee, a committee formed by private citizen Gerald Parsky and United States Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to recommend nominees to the President to fill federal district court and United States Attorney vacancies in California, had been meeting in private and without a charter in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.CApp. 2 §§ 1-14 (2004).

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We conclude that the Committee is not an advisory committee falling within the scope of FACA, and therefore we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Manshardt’s complaint.

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FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

The Federal Judicial Qualifications Committee (“the Committee”) was formed in March 2001 by Senators Diane Fein-stein and Barbara Boxer, both members of the Democratic Party, in conjunction with Gerald Parsky, a private businessman and member of the Republican Party. The Committee, which is responsible for…