Now I realize that any case taken by the Supreme Court is more likely to see a reversal than affirmation – after all, SCOTUS is more likely to fix errors than give attaboys to circuit courts. But for a judge to have a 60% reversal rate does raise some red flags – especially when that rate may rise even further right before her confirmation hearings.

With Judge Sonia Sotomayor already facing questions over her 60 percent reversal rate, the Supreme Court could dump another problem into her lap next month if, as many legal analysts predict, the court overturns one of her rulings upholding a race-based employment decision.

Three of the five majority opinions written by Judge Sotomayor for the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and reviewed by the Supreme Court were reversed, providing a potent line of attack raised by opponents Tuesday after President Obama announced he will nominate the 54-year-old Hispanic woman to the high court.

Of course, she has written some 380 opinions as a member of the Second Circuit. Only six have gone before the Supreme Court – but one has to be struck by the reversal rate, even if (as pointed out at PowerLine) the percentage is not out of the ordinary. Does anyone know what her overall rate of rejection by the Supreme Court is – not just cases where she wrote the decision, but also every other case on which she has participated as a judge and whether her position has been rejected or affirmed by the Supreme Court on appeal. I think such a statistic could be even more telling.

Posted by: Greg at 10:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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