In last month’s column, I reported that the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the outcomes that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit arrived at in three of the seven cases that reached the Supreme Court directly from the Third Circuit in the recently completed 2011-12 term. Today’s column examines how the Third Circuit fared last term in another eight cases that did not originate from the Third Circuit but in which the Supreme Court expressly noted that it was resolving conflicts that involved the Third Circuit.
In those other eight cases, the Supreme Court agreed with the Third Circuit’s side of a circuit split three times and disagreed with it five times. Although a .375 batting average is viewed as very successful in baseball, this rate of success at the U.S. Supreme Court is below what the Third Circuit has achieved in recent years.
