[aristeides]

The Ninth Circuit is the most left-wing of the U.S. courts of appeals, but it tends to be quirky on libertarian issues. Its leading leftist, Reinhardt (now a senior judge,) wrote the opinion allowing the civil suit in the Randy Weaver case. A combination of leftists and rightists formed the majority in the en banc opinion allowing criminal prosecution of Horiuchi. Free Republic is more likely to win in the Supreme Court, but I wouldn't count us out in the Ninth Circuit.

[Congressman Billybob]

This case is probably going to be presented to the Supreme Court regardless of the outcome in the Ninth Circuit. There is a chance that FR will prevail in the Ninth Circuit.

The first factor is the three-judge panel that is randomly selected to hear each appeal. But -- important but -- "liberal" and "conservative" lose a good bit of their meaning when applied to judges. For instance, on the Supreme Court it is the "liberals" who say that where the First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law," it means Congress shall make no law. It is the "conservatives" who often take the opposite approach.

It is far, far better to win in the Ninth Circuit and have the L.A. Slimes and the Washington Pest take the case up, than to lose there and have to take it up ourselves. The reason is that the Supreme Court only takes 0.5% (a half a percent) of the cases offered to it for review. The usual fate of cases presented is to leave the lower court decision standing, without comment.

I will seek a way to file an amicus curia brief in the Supreme Court on behalf of FreeRepublic's position. There will be many interested parties who will support its viewpoint. (When that comes around, it will be either my 18th or 19th brief in that court. None have been more honorable than this one will be.)

Congressman Billybob

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