Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Ballotpedia analysis: Supreme Court case reversals by appeals court
Contact: Kristen Vonasek, Director of Communications
Tel: (608) 255-0688
E-mail: Media@ballotpedia.org
SCOTUS has reversed 70.1 percent of its cases since 2007; the highest percentage reversed are from the Sixth Circuit and the highest number are from the Ninth Circuit
Middleton, Wis. - July 13, 2018: A new analysis from Ballotpedia digs into the cases overturned and upheld by the Supreme Court going back to 2007 to identify how lower courts are fairing relative to their reputation.
The Ninth Circuit has gained a reputation as one of the most-reversed circuits, even drawing attention from President Donald Trump (R) in an April 2017 tweet. Since 2007, the Ninth Circuit had a reversal rate of 75.5 percent, but that puts it in fourth place behind the Sixth Circuit (88.1 percent), Eighth Circuit (76.3 percent), and Eleventh Circuit (75.9 percent). The circuit with the lowest rate of overturned decisions is the First Circuit at 43.5 percent.
The Supreme Court hears and reaches decisions in 70 to 90 cases each year. Since 2007, the Supreme Court has reversed a lower court's ruling in 70.1 percent of the cases it has heard (a total of 596 of 850 cases). There are two major decisions SCOTUS can make—affirm a lower court's ruling or reverse it. The vast majority of SCOTUS cases originate in a lower court—either one of the 13 appeals circuits, state-level courts, and U.S. district courts. Original jurisdiction cases cannot be considered affirmed or reversed since SCOTUS is the first and only court that rules in the case.
About Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia is the online encyclopedia of American politics and elections. Its goal is to preserve and expand knowledge about politics by providing objective information about local, state, and federal politics and policies. Its content includes trustworthy information readers can rely on, covering government officials and the offices they hold, political issues and public policy, elections, candidates, and the influencers of politics. Headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin, Ballotpedia was founded in 2006. It includes over 270,000 professionally authored encyclopedic articles that have garnered over 900 million page views.
If you’d like more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact Ballotpedia's Director of Communications at media@Ballotpedia.org.
