November 17, 2006

George Will on Ayers v. Belmontes:

There should be two U.S. Supreme Courts, one to reverse the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the other to hear all other cases. Last term, more of the Supreme Court's caseload -- 18 of 82 cases (22 percent) -- came from the liberal Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, than from any other circuit, and the Ninth was reversed in 15 of the 18. The Ninth's winning percentage (.167) was worse than that of the 1962 Mets (.250). ...

How did capital punishment jurisprudence reach its current baroque condition, in which cases live longer than did the murder victims? At the hands of judges such as Stephen Reinhardt..."

("Tidying up after the Ninth Circuit", syndicated/San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 16). Notes Kent Scheidegger (Nov. 16): "There are two vacancies on the Ninth and two stalled nominees for them."