Conservatives have long targeted the 9th Circuit, saying that it is out of control and that as a result, the Supreme Court spends an inordinate time reversing opinions from the 9th. But Erwin Chemerinsky, a prof from the University of Southern California Law School, argues that this is not true:

"…in its past term, the Supreme Court reversed 74 percent of the cases it reviewed from all of the appellate courts and 75 percent of the cases it heard from the 9th Circuit. He (Chemerinsky) said the 9th Circuit's reversal rate has closely tracked the national average the last several years.

"Chemerinsky also said that the 9th Circuit's reputation for unbridled liberalism was the result of a "very unfair and inaccurate attack" by conservatives.

"It's absolutely diverse ideologically, and its reversal rate is right at the national average," he said. "For every liberal there is a very conservative judge. For every moderate liberal you can point to a moderate conservative. There is no consensus on the court, certainly no liberal consensus."