Litigation

Supreme Court Reversals of 9th Circuit Highlighted

By Peter Hardin

The recent action of the Supreme Court in reversing a series of Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cases has attracted attention from news media analysts.

A San Francisco Chronicle commentary by Debra J. Saunders was headlined “Where judicial activism morphs into disregard.” Saunders criticized the Ninth Circuit:

“Followers of the Ninth Circuit are painfully aware of its reputation as an activist court that flouts laws it doesn’t like and bulldozes rulings that defy its left-leaning politics. The San Francisco-based judicial district serves as a textbook example of how judges should not behave.”

A Washington Post article was entitled, “Supreme Court reversals deliver a dressing-down to the liberal 9th Circuit.” The Post’s analysis of the Ninth Circuit’s work is excerpted here:

“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.”

According to the Post, a Stanford University law professor, Jeffrey L. Fisher, did not think Ninth Circuit judges were meaning to “flout” Supreme Court decisions. Instead, Fisher saw differences in approach that frequently bring reversals.

Full post as published by The Gavel on January 31, 2011 (boomark / email).