Recent decisions amount to a dressing down for 9th Circuit

[alp227]

Sometimes the Supreme Court simply decides cases and sometimes it seems to have something bigger in mind. In the past two weeks, it has been in scold mode, and its target has been the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

In five straight cases, the court has rejected the work of the San Francisco-based court without a single affirmative vote from a justice. The nation's largest court, stretching from Montana to Hawaii, the 9th has jurisdiction over nearly 20 percent of the nation's citizens. Not surprisingly, it routinely supplies the largest portion of the cases the court reviews each term.

As the most liberal circuit in the land, its work quite often is at odds with an increasingly conservative Supreme Court.

But some of the recent reversals have been delivered with a lash that those who closely watch the courts say reflects more than just a disagreement of law.

"They seem to do that every now and then," said University of Pittsburgh law professor Arthur D. Hellman, an authority on the federal circuits with a particular interest in the 9th. He was referring to the "combination of a cluster of decisions and language meant to send a message."

Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/30/AR2011013003407_pf.html

[villager]

1. I'm guessing there's less blatant conflict-of-interest on the 9th Circuit than the "Supreme Court"

Perhaps the wrong court is being sent a message.

[JDPriestly]

2. The Ninth Circuit is always ahead of the times. The Supreme

Court is always behind the times.

The gay marriage is very inconvenient for conservatives and moderates on the Supreme Court. They know what is right but they also know that they will get a lot of flack if they decide the issue as it really should be decided.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. 5X unamimous is telling, even for the 9th Circuit

If justices like Ginsberg are not willing to support their positions, its a clue. Some of the decisions are stinging in their words.

I would find it hard to describe the court as increasingly conservative with the recent elevation of Justice Sotomayer.

That does not mean I am happy with the court overall, and desperately hope Obama gets to appoint more justices soon, but 9-0 is telling.