Regarding the 9th Circuit's reversal rate. Some people say their reversals are high only because the circuit is so large. But the people who make this argument are (intentionally) ignoring the rate.
"The Ninth Circuit's summary reversal rate, so defined, is significantly higher than that for all the other circuits combined."
-- D.H. Kaye, On A Mathematical Argument for Splitting the Ninth Circuit, 48 Jurimetrics J. 329, 336 (2008)
"In short, the summary reversal rates are too variable to be explained as random fluctuations, and the Ninth Circuit does significantly worse (is more likely to be summarily reversed) than the rest of the pack."
-- D.H. Kaye, 48 Jurimetrics J. 329, 336 (2008)
--M. Todd Henderson, Justifying Jones, 77 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1027, 1028 (2010)