Can the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals indefinitely prolong or avoid its judicial duty when a judicial process in the lower district court resulted obviously in a criminal penalty being assessed within a civil proceeding, whereby the citizens private rights would normally act as a restriction upon the government in order to affect the timely resolution of the matter before them?

Can the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals indefinitely prolong or avoid its judicial duty when a judicial process in the lower district court resulted obviously in a criminal penalty being assessed within a civil proceeding, whereby the citizens private rights would normally act as a restriction upon the government in order to affect the timely resolution of the matter before them?