re: #3 EPR-radar

SCOTUS review would have more apparent legitimacy if it didn’t so often come down to Justice Kennedy’s swing vote between conservative and non-conservative blocs.

But that’s just it: Even more liberal justices like Ginsburg and Sotomayor have been annoyed with the 9th in the past. Controversial rulings by the 9th on this sort of issue tend to be poorly received because of that bad reputation.