Heavy Caseload to Blame for Ninth Circuit’s Bad Rap

The Ninth Circuit, based in the western U.S. and including California, has a reputation for perennially having the worst record at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court’s critics-who’ve dubbed it the “Ninth Circus"-point to its reversal record as evidence of the court’s overreaching and its liberal bent. But a Bloomberg Law analysis of court data shows that the appeals court has a better record than several of its sister circuits.

When one considers the total number of cases the Ninth Circuit hears, and focuses on the percentage of those cases that are reversed by the Supreme Court-seven circuits actually have ...