Reminder: the 9th Cir. isn't the "most overturned circuit" any way you slice it, but that won't stop people from repeating this because notable legal mind Sean Hannity makes this false claim repeatedly.
Trump is repeating it (again), so a brief explanation of this dumb claim:
Whether a circuit court is the "most overturned" depends on the time frame and whether we're talking percentages or absolute numbers.
For example, in 2014, the 2d Cir. had a SCOTUS reversal rate of 100 percent. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT REVERSAL!!! Of course, SCOTUS only took two cases from the 2d Cir. that year. You see the problem.
Because SCOTUS chooses its cases and it's more likely to overturn ANY case it chooses to take (average 70% reversal rate for all circuits), whether circuits are overturned changes depending on how many cases it takes from each circuit.
As for the 79% overturned rate for the 9th Cir. claimed by Trump, that number comes from SCOTUS decisions between 2010 and 2015. So it's already out of date. But more importantly, in that same time frame the 6th Cir. was overturned 87% of the time and the 11th 85%!
So Trump's claim (uncritically repeated on Fox News this morning) that the 9th Cir. has, for Trump's presidency, "swerved outside its lane" is doubly false. Old stat, and false claim combined. (Surprise, surprise, Fox News morning crew.)
To circle back: no, the 9th Cir. isn't the "most overturned" circuit. That wasn't true when conservatives claimed it during the Bush years. It wasn't during the Obama years. It wasn't true last year (that honor goes to a tie bw 1st, 3d, 6th Cirs.).
Oh, and Trump's claim that he always loses in the 9th Circuit?
Also complete bullshit, as I noted week before last:
Also complete bullshit, as I noted week before last:
In short: Trump is either ignorant or lying, the Fox News hosts who are repeating his 79% claim all morning are also ignorant or lying.
And with that, I have to go back to Walmart on Thanksgiving bc we didn't remember everything we needed yesterday. In my defense it wasn't on the list!!!!
