Yesterday, we analyzed the average lag time from grant of review to oral argument, and oral argument to decision, in civil cases between 2000 and 2007.  Today, we turn our attention to the Court’s criminal docket for the same years.

For the entire period, the average lag time from grant of review to oral argument in criminal cases was roughly double the lag time in civil cases.  For 2000, the average criminal case lasted 1,114.38 days from grant to argument.  The next year, the average dropped to 1,015.897.  For 2002, the average dropped further to 908.871.  The average increased substantially for the rest of the period.  In 2003, the average was 1,260.194.  The next year, it was slightly higher – 1,288.836.  For 2005, the average was 1,689.574.  The next year, the average was down slightly at 1,583.491.  For 2007, the average was 1,458.836.

For 2000, the average lag time from oral argument to decision in criminal cases was 8 days.  For 2001, the average was down a bit to 65.914 days.  For 2002, the average was up to 71.029 days, and the next year, it was 73.419 days.  For 2004, the average was 74.082 days.  The average dropped for 2005 to 72.738 days, but it increased to 75.245 days in 2006.  For 2007, the average lag time from oral argument to decision to its lowest level since 2001 at 69.967 days.

Join us back here next Thursday as we analyze the Court’s average lag times in civil cases from 2008 to 2016.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Harold Litwiler (no changes).