Apparently the news editors at the Los Angeles Times read the Marquette Law Review. That’s at least one possible conclusion one could draw from the juxtaposition of two recently published items.

Dean Kearney is in a unique place to analyze the relationship between the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, having clerked for judges on both courts. Introducing Ninth Circuit Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain’s Hallows Lecture one year ago, Dean Kearney noted,

Over the past couple of decades, Judge O’Scannlain has emerged as a leader on the Ninth Circuit. This includes the court’s most important work, its cases, where Judge O’Scannlain plays an unusually important role not only in his own docket but also in the court’s en-banc process. An O’Scannlain dissent from denial of en-banc rehearing frequently gets some attention across the country — in Washington, D.C.

Lo and behold, this past Sunday the Los Angeles Times carried a story highlighting how conservatives on the Ninth Circuit use dissents from denial of en-banc rehearing to send “a signal flare to the U.S. Supreme Court.” Carol Williams’ report gives particular attention to Judge O’Scannlain:

“I think a court has to be consistent in its rulings, which is why I put so much time and effort into the en banc process,” said Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, just behind Kozinski as the longest-serving active judge among the conservatives. “We’re not doing as good a job as we should be doing in correcting internal inconsistencies.”  Called on to cite a few examples of recent decisions that needed correcting, O’Scannlain, with an I’m-glad-you-asked-that flourish, whipped out a list of 15 circuit cases from the last three years, all of which he had a role in bringing to the high court’s attention.

The Times‘ story is an interesting read. Of course, so is every issue of the Marquette Law Review . . . .