Doc Savage Fan
Lifer
- Nov 30, 2006
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Actually...looking at the historical numbers...a 60% reversal rate is not unusual and appears to be the norm. Measuring Federal Appellate Courts' Success Before the U.S. Supreme CourtOriginally posted by: jonks
Originally posted by: Doc Savage Fan
Doesn't look like the rule of law is her strong point ---> 60 percent appeals reversal rate
You should be very careful citing to the Washington Times. They aren't good with statistics. Rather, they use very selective statistics to tell a fraction of the story. They are the ones who depicted Obama's current approval ratings as "in the basement."
Here, they cite of the 5 majority opinions she drafted which the Supreme Court heard, 3 were reversed. So there's your 60%.
Of course, she also wrote 375 opinions over 11 years which the Supreme Court didn't weigh in on, I don't know how many were appealed to them and simply denied cert. But looking at it that way, the SC tacitly affirmed her opinions 375 times out of 380. Then there's the fact that the SC reverses the overwhelming majority of cases for which it grants cert. http://www.slate.com/id/2170477/ Pretty prophetic:
In the end, the positions the lower appeals courts take and the ones the Supreme Court hands down is that the Supremes get the final say. That's why you hear constitutional law professors emphasize that the Supreme Court is right because it's last, not last because it's right. It's worth remembering that when a judge, or a court, is singled out for special criticism.
But if you want to look at 5 cases instead of 380 and make that the basis of your argument, by all means, have at it.
This is pretty academic anyway, the Reps will not oppose this nomination in any numbers. I'm still waiting for some of them to have to respond to Rush calling Sotomayer and Obama racists.
But...then again...there's a fly in the ointment.
Let's play with the numbers:
- 687 federal courts of appeals judges (approximate number...constant state of flux)
- 80 appellate decisions typically reviewed by the Supreme Court each year
- Supreme Court choses to review 5 of her 380 career opinions and 3 were overturned
- 380 opinions in 11 years - 34.5 opinions per year
Applying this average to all appeals judges we get:
34.5 opinions per year X 687 federal appeals judges = 23,702 opinions per year
Chance of an 23702 opinions being reviewed by Supreme Court in any given year:
80/23702 = 0.3375% (roughly 1 in 300)
Chance of Sotomayor's opinions being reviewed by Supreme Court in any given year:
5 opinions reviewed / 380 opinions = 1.3% (roughly 1 in 76)
Bottomline it looks like Sotomayor's opinions were 4 times more likely to get reviewed than other appellate judges....not good.