[rdret1]

The Ninth Circuit C of A is infamous for issuing controversial decisions, many of which have been overturned by SCOTUS. They have a long history of liberal activism. IMO, they make these decisions just to see what they can get through the cracks. According to Wikipedia, 59% of the current judges were appointed by Dem Presidents. It was their 2002 decision in Newdow v. U.S. Congress which stated a school could not lead students in the Pledge of Allegiance because of the words "Under God". Fortunately, this was overturned in 2004, but without answering the major point of if the Pledge violated the "establishment clause".

This is a quote from the Los Angeles Times:

"July 11, 2007|Brian T. Fitzpatrick, BRIAN T. FITZPATRICK, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School, was a clerk on the 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.

ANOTHER Supreme Court term has come to a close, and, while many things changed in the law, one thing stayed the same: The justices spent much of their time reversing the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals."

First sentence in the article. Personally, I don't have a lot of faith in anything the 9th Circuit does.