The "liberal" 3-judge panel in San Francisco is worst in the nation....

[kentuck]

According to all the pundits/Republicans that are on the cable networks. Think about it. Of all the 3-judge panels in the nation, this is the worst? Does that mean there are no other "liberal" 3-judge panels in the nation? Does this mean that all other judges are either moderate or conservative? And we know that "moderate" today means conservative. Where does this put all the other judges in the nation that are acceptable to the conservatives? If they can pick out that one circuit of judges as worse than all others, it tells me they have almost complete control of the appeal judges in this nation. Now if they can just get "conservative" judges in California...???

[Zorro]

1. It's just a manifestation

of their general hatred of California and what it represents in the minds of people worldwide, and specifically a manifestation of their hatred of any and all things associated with San Francisco, the Sodom of the western world.

[Jacobin]

2. It's actually what used to be considered "conservative"

Staunch support of separation of church and state.
Jealously guard the right to vote.
Resolve doubts in criminal cases in favor of the defendant rather than the state (which must always be distrusted as the power of the state is always to be feared above all).

Just goes to show how whacked out this country and the media have become

[spooky3]

4. and sticking closely to stare decisis

as in following the precedent in Gore v. Bush. See a recent EJ Dionne column in the WPost for details.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Always a relativistic assessment.

They'll be worst until the next court decision goes against them...then that judge(s)will be the worst.

[DrBB]

5. This is incorrect

The assertion is based on absolute numbers of cases overturned by the superior court. But absolute numbers are meaningless. The 9th gets far more cases than the other districts. By percentage of cases, they are no more frequently overturned than the others.

Dis iz krap.

[Oilwellian]

6. Here's more Info

This was recently posted on DU:

1. Reversals
There have been more cases from the Ninth Circuit to the Supreme Court than any other circuit in recent years. There have also been more cases decided by the Ninth Circuit in recent years than any other circuit. As set forth in the study by the Honorable Jerome Farris, a Ninth Circuit judge recently senior, in 1995 the Ninth Circuit decided 7,955 matters, in 1996 7,813, and in 1997 8,701. The percentage of reversals as against the total number of cases decided was 3/10 of 1%.

http://www.abanet.org/govaffairs/testimony/garvey9th.html

Most rumors about the 9th circuit are created by Repubs who have been trying to break it up for years in order to further stack the courts to their liking.
During the last several years, Supreme Court reversal rates of Ninth Circuit decisions have been consistent with that of other circuits. For example, during this past term, on a percentage basis, there were seven other circuits whose reversal rates exceeded ours. Perhaps more importantly, the number of petitions for certiorari granted by the Supreme Court arising out of decisions of the Ninth Circuit has declined significantly in recent years.

Even in the year most frequently cited by critics, 1996, our circuit was not the most reversed circuit on a percentage basis. That year, five circuits had all of their decisions reversed: the First, Second, Seventh, D.C., and Federal circuits. And since that time, we've had 14 new members added to our court.

All of this indicates that our opinions are receiving an appropriate amount of internal examination, and the consistency of our opinions does not vary from that of other circuits.


http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju80880.000/hju80880_0.HTM

[dsc]

7. Clearly they are being silly

but there is some truth to the idea that appellate courts are quite Republican. On only two circuits do Democratic appointees out number Republican ones. On the 9th it is currently 11 to 7 and on the 2nd it is currently 7 to 5. The 9th is much more Democratic than any other circuit due to the fact 10 judgeships were created out there during Carter's term. (source NPR All Things considered Thursday)

[camero]

8. The repubs just had thier hats handed to them

The 9th used Bush v Gore as precedent. Which means that if the USSC rules to overturn the 9th's decision, it means they either don't care about the 14th amendment or they just wanted a technicality to install Bush because the 9th is not stopping a recount. They are only postponing an election until the state can comply.

Which is what should have been done in FL.

Edit: for typo