You’ve probably heard people call it the "liberal Ninth" or the "Great Ninth." Maybe you’ve seen a headline about a judge in Hawaii or California blocking a presidential executive order and wondered how one person in a robe has that much power. Honestly, the ninth circuit court of appeals judges are some of the most influential people in American law, sitting just one step below the Supreme Court. They handle a massive chunk of the country’s legal drama.
It’s big. Like, really big.
The Ninth Circuit covers nine states—Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington—plus Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. We are talking about a jurisdiction that spans 40% of the United States landmass and serves more than 65 million people. Because the Supreme Court only takes about 60 to 80 cases a year, the decisions made by these judges are usually the final word for millions of Americans.
The Reality of the "Liberal" Reputation
For decades, if you talked to any legal nerd, they’d tell you the Ninth Circuit was the bastion of left-leaning jurisprudence. It had a reputation. Conservative politicians loved to rail against it. But things changed fast during the Trump administration.
Between 2017 and 2021, the bench saw a massive shift. Ten new judges were confirmed to the Ninth Circuit in a single term. That is a staggering number for a court that has 29 active seats. It moved the needle significantly. While you might still see "liberal" rulings on environmental issues or immigration, the court is now much more of a mix than it used to be. It's not a monolith. Not even close.
How These Judges Are Chosen
It's a lifetime gig. That’s the part that trips people up. When a vacancy opens, the President nominates someone, and the Senate confirms them. Simple on paper, but a total slugfest in reality. These judges stay on the bench until they die, retire, or take "senior status."
Senior status is a unique quirk of the federal system. Once a judge reaches a certain age and years of service—usually the "Rule of 80"—they can semi-retire. They keep their office and a reduced caseload, but they open up a seat for a new full-time judge to be appointed. This is how the Ninth Circuit manages to stay functional despite the crushing number of cases it receives. Without senior judges, the whole system would basically grind to a halt.
The Names You Should Actually Know
When you look at the roster of ninth circuit court of appeals judges, a few names stand out because of their history or the weight of their opinions.
Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia currently leads the pack. Appointed by Obama, she’s the first Latina to serve as Chief Judge for this circuit. Then you have heavy hitters like Judge Ikuta or Judge Bybee, who often represent the more conservative wing of the court. On the other side, you’ll find stalwarts like Judge Paez or Judge Berzon.
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It’s not just about ideology, though. It’s about expertise.
Some of these judges were former prosecutors. Others were public defenders or top-tier corporate litigators. This diversity of background matters because the Ninth Circuit handles everything. One day they are deciding a complex copyright case over a pop song in Los Angeles, and the next they are ruling on water rights in rural Montana or tribal sovereignty in Alaska.
Why the Reversal Rate is a Misleading Metric
You’ll often hear critics say the Ninth Circuit is the "most overturned court in the country." It sounds bad. It makes it seem like the judges don't know the law. But that's a bit of a statistical trick.
Because the Ninth Circuit is the largest circuit by far, it produces the highest volume of opinions. Naturally, the Supreme Court takes more cases from them. If you look at the percentage of cases overturned relative to the total number of cases decided, the Ninth Circuit is usually right in the middle of the pack. It’s a volume game.
Also, the Ninth Circuit often deals with "frontier law"—issues that haven't been settled yet. Think about Silicon Valley. Most big tech litigation starts in Northern California, which means the Ninth Circuit is often the first to tackle questions about data privacy, AI, and digital censorship. They are the ones doing the messy first draft of modern law.
The En Banc Process: A Circuit Quirk
Most federal appeals are heard by a panel of three judges. If you don't like the result, you can ask for an "en banc" review. In smaller circuits, this means every single judge on the court sits together to hear the case.
In the Ninth Circuit, that’s impossible. Imagine 29 judges trying to argue in one room. It would be chaos.
Instead, they use a "limited en banc" system. They pull 11 judges at random to rehear the case. It’s a weird, lottery-style approach to justice that you won’t find anywhere else in the federal system. It adds a layer of unpredictability that keeps lawyers on their toes. One day you have a panel that skews conservative, and the next, your en banc draw might flip the entire outcome.
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The Daily Grind of a Ninth Circuit Judge
What does the life of a judge actually look like? It isn't all dramatic gavel-banging. It’s reading. Thousands and thousands of pages of briefs.
- Briefing: Lawyers submit massive documents.
- Oral Argument: Usually only about 10-20 minutes per side.
- Deliberation: The three judges meet in a private room to hash it out.
- Writing: This is where the real work happens. Drafting an opinion that stands the test of time is grueling.
The workload is intense. The Ninth Circuit consistently has one of the highest "weighted filings" per judge. This means they are doing more work than their peers in smaller circuits like the First or the Tenth. It leads to a constant push for more judgeships to be created by Congress, though that’s usually a political non-starter.
Landmark Decisions and Social Impact
From the "Pledge of Allegiance" cases to the battles over California’s Proposition 8, the ninth circuit court of appeals judges have been at the center of the American culture war for decades.
Take Young v. Hawaii. That was a massive Second Amendment case about the right to carry a firearm in public. The Ninth Circuit’s various rulings on that case showed the deep internal divide within the court itself. You had judges writing blistering dissents against their own colleagues.
Then there’s the environmental stuff. Because the West has so much federal land, the Ninth Circuit is basically the "Environmental Court" of the U.S. They decide the fate of old-growth forests, endangered salmon, and massive mining projects. If you live in the West, these judges affect the air you breathe and the water you drink more than almost any other government body.
How to Track These Cases Yourself
If you’re interested in what’s happening, the Ninth Circuit is actually one of the most transparent courts. They were one of the first to live-stream oral arguments on YouTube. You can literally watch a billionaire’s lawyer get grilled by a judge while you eat your lunch.
The court’s website also provides a "Cases of Interest" section. This is a curated list of the big-ticket items—the stuff that’s likely to end up on the evening news. It’s a great way to see how the law is actually being shaped in real-time.
Navigating the Future of the Court
As we move toward the mid-2020s, the balance of the court remains a focal point of national politics. With several judges reaching retirement age, the next few years will determine whether the court swings back toward its historic liberal roots or continues its trek toward the center-right.
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The tension is real.
We see it in the "shadow docket" and the way emergency stays are handled. We see it in the way judges write for an audience of one—the Supreme Court. Many Ninth Circuit opinions now feel like they are written specifically to survive a SCOTUS appeal, with judges meticulously citing originalist or textualist frameworks that they know the high court favors.
Practical Steps for Following Ninth Circuit Rulings
If you want to stay ahead of the curve on legal shifts in the West, you can't just wait for the news to report it. They usually get the nuances wrong anyway.
First, sign up for the court's RSS feeds or email alerts for new opinions. You’ll get a PDF of every decision handed down. Most of it is boring procedural stuff, but the gems are in there.
Second, pay attention to the "Order of Designation." This tells you which judges are visiting from other circuits or which district judges are "sitting by designation." Sometimes, a judge from a very different part of the country will fill in, which can totally change the vibe of a three-judge panel.
Lastly, read the dissents. Honestly, that’s where the best writing is. When a judge is in the minority, they tend to be more candid, more passionate, and way more conversational. It’s where you see the true personality of the ninth circuit court of appeals judges shine through. They stop being "the court" and start being individual thinkers with very different visions for the country.
Keep an eye on the "mandate." After a decision is made, it takes a few weeks for it to actually become "final" and enforceable. This window is when lawyers scramble for that en banc rehearing we talked about. Understanding this timeline helps you realize that a "win" in court isn't always the end of the road. It's often just the beginning of a whole new chapter of appeals.