Having never seen the 9th Circuit in action, it was quite a delight to watch Judge Kozinski this afternoon.  I re-watched the oral arguments and do have the impression that, as far as speculation can go, the judges seemed a bit harder on the Plaintiffs.  Of course, that may just be because the Plaintiffs were barely able to get in a sentence before questions started.

It appeared to me that the circuit was trying to find a way out of this mess and deciding the case on something other than a de novo review standard looks like their escape hatch.

The satirist in me, though, really wants the full circuit's approval of the 3 judge panel's decision and the Supreme Court to jump in to further discuss the merits of Bush v. Gore.  


Erick Erickson
Sell & Melton, L.L.P.
Macon, Georgia