For the second time in two weeks, the Supreme Court today denied a Ninth Circuit request to answer a question of state law. In Patterson v. City of Yuba City, the federal appeals court had asked whether “a finding of probable cause at a preliminary hearing preclude[s] a false arrest claim?”
Before the denial two weeks ago, the Supreme Court had granted 13 Ninth Circuit requests in a row and 21 of the last 22, and the one denial during that time wasn’t even a real denial. Well, the Patterson denial probably can be counted as not a “real denial,” too. In its request, the Ninth Circuit cited a conflict in California Court of Appeal case law on the question it was posing, but the Supreme Court’s order today includes a “see” citation to the two cases that the Ninth Circuit identified as being on one side of the split. So, the Supreme Court might have denied the request, but it seems to have summarily answered the question.
[August 18 update: Ninth Circuit takes the hint from Supreme Court’s expressive denial order.]