Prop 187 was never tried in the 9th Circuit. An appeal was filed, but Gray Davis agreed to mediation... then rolled over dead withdrawing the appeal.
I stand corrected.
Still ... it WAS a federal judge that placed the restraining order which prevented 187 from being implemented. And it was waiting for review by the 9th Circuit when Gray Davis pulled it for mediation instead.
The original poster’s somewhat satirical comment that some loon could find some grounds for a federal court to void the vote of Californians on a ballot initiative to build more nuclear powerplants is not so farfetched. Say the never-ending Nevada dispute over Yucca Mountain as a waste repository. A Federal judge might maintain a moratorium on new nuke plants on the grounds that there is no place ready for the additional waste.