The Supreme Court has repeatedly chastened the conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, The Hill reported. Almost three-quarters of its recent decisions have been reversed by the high court.

Many of the recent appeals at the 5th Circuit have challenged President Joe Biden's agenda. The court is a favorable venue for right-leaning litigants, including conservative organizations and GOP state attorneys general.

However, it's also the last stop before the Supreme Court, where many of these efforts meet their demise. In cases involving hot-button issues like abortion and Second Amendment restrictions, the high court has reversed many of these decisions.

In this term alone, the Supreme Court has vacated or reversed eight of the 11 appeals brought from the 5th Circuit. This proves that the justice system's checks and balances work to moderate both sides, even with a favorable bench.

Republican Agenda Opposed

One of former President Donald Trump's highest priorities on his agenda was the appointment of right-leaning judges. He was successful on the Supreme Court and changed the balance to a 6-3 conservative majority.

Trump appointed six of the judges to the 5th Circuit, while Biden added only two of his picks. This has resulted in a situation where 12 of the 17 judges are GOP appointees.

However, many of the decisions favoring the Republican agenda coming from the 5th Circuit are overturned at the Supreme Court level. This includes a reversal of the decision to restrict access to the abortion pill, which unanimously united the high court.

The Supreme Court's decision concerned standing, which requires the party suing to have an actual connection to the law before opposing it. The justices did not touch on the underlying merits, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that allowing lawsuits from people who don't have standing would involve "sweeping doctrinal change."

"We decline to start the Federal Judiciary down that uncharted path. That path would seemingly not end until virtually every citizen had standing to challenge virtually every government action that they do not like," Kavanaugh wrote in his opinion.

Siding With Biden

The Supreme Court handed the GOP some wins, including upholding the 5th Circuit court's decision to strike down a ban on bump stocks. However, it also sided with Biden in narrowing the scope of a Second Amendment case.

The high court accused the appeals court of misinterpreting its United States v. Rahimi and applying it too broadly when throwing out restrictions on drug users' ability to own firearms. This is a case that could also impact the president's son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted of a felony due to a similar law.

"That error left the panel slaying a straw man," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority in its 8-1 decision. Roberts wasn't the only one to disparage the 5th Circuit court.

In a majority opinion for a separate social media regulation case, Justice Elena Kagan similarly slammed the appeals court. "[T]here has been enough litigation already to know that the Fifth Circuit, if it stayed the course, would get wrong at least one significant input into the facial analysis," Kagan wrote.

The legal system is supposed to be set up in a way that makes it difficult to stack the deck for one side of the other. While it appears the system is working as promised, it's troubling that the 5th Circuit has seen so many reversals.