Let me explain how federal circuit courts work. Appeals are first heard by three judge panels. On rare occasions, the court may grant an en banc hearing, where all of the circuit court's judges decide on the case.

So, when it comes to Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito -- the overwhelming majority of the time -- it is meaningless to say that he was the "sole dissent" in a particular case. When a 3-judge panel splits 2-1, the dissenter is always "sole," otherwise he would be in the majority.

I single out Jane Hall in the title, because Saturday on "Fox News Watch," the American University professor emphasized that some of Alito's dissents were "sole" dissents -- suggesting that somehow he was out of the mainstream.