For the past several weeks, we’ve been comparing the data on cases which were decided unanimously at the Court of Appeal level to cases which had a dissent. This week, we’re considering another question: do divided cases from the Court of Appeal take longer to decide? Today, we’re looking at the Court’s civil docket.
In Table 420, we’re plotting unanimous and non-unanimous civil cases from the Court of Appeal against the number of days for each case from the grant of review to the oral argument (because of the California rule requiring cases to be decided within ninety days of oral argument, grant to oral argument date is a reasonable proxy for the time a case takes to decide). As we can see from the plot, it’s not at all clear that divided cases take longer to decide. In fact, the years are split right down the middle – in twelve of the last twenty-four years, divided civil cases averaged longer from grant to argument, and in twelve, they were actually scheduled for argument more quickly.
In 1994, cases with a dissent below averaged 353.92 days to oral argument, while civil cases which were unanimous below took 365.47. In 1995, divided cases averaged 376.5 days, while unanimous cases were scheduled in 321.09. In 1996, divided cases averaged 278.4 days, while unanimous ones took 355.64 to get to argument. The following year, divided cases ballooned to 519 days, while unanimous cases were scheduled in an average of 327 days.
In 1998, divided cases averaged more than two years from grant to argument – 765 days. Unanimous cases averaged 341.62. In 1999, divided cases averaged 562.86 days, while unanimous ones averaged 407.31. In 2000, divided civil cases averaged 500.89 days from grant to argument, while unanimous cases averaged 471.33 days. In 2001, divided cases averaged 437.5 days to 441.88 for unanimous ones. In 2002, divided civil cases were being scheduled in slightly less than a year – 351 days. Unanimous cases averaged 438.51 days. The following year, both numbers were nearly the same – 364 days for divided cases, 443.74 days for unanimous cases.
In 2004, divided cases averaged 427.71 days to argument, while unanimous ones averaged 507.09 days. In 2005, divided civil cases averaged 638.6 days to 521.28 days for unanimous cases. In 2006, divided cases fell to 541.5 days, while unanimous ones were flat at 531.33 days. In 2007, divided cases averaged 466.78 days from grant to argument, while unanimous ones averaged 571.09 days. The following year, divided cases averaged 626.44 days, while unanimous ones were once again flat at 565.32 days.
In 2009, divided civil cases averaged 541 days to argument, while unanimous decisions took 559.4 days. In 2010, divided cases rose to 783.33 days to argument, while unanimous decisions were once again flat at 545.31 days. In 2011, divided civil cases averaged 532.22 days, while unanimous decisions dropped to 435.42 days. In 2012, divided civil cases averaged 581.17 days, while unanimous ones averaged 661.85 days to argument. In 2013, divided cases averaged 385 days to argument, while unanimous decisions averaged 570.93 days. In 2014, divided cases averaged 436 days, while unanimous ones took 635.45 days. In 2015, divided civil cases averaged 307 days to argument, while unanimous decisions were calendared for argument in an average of 626.29 days. In 2016, the average wait for divided civil cases more than doubled to 746.29 days, while unanimous cases averaged 657.76 days. Last year, divided civil cases averaged 680.88 days from grant to argument. Unanimous civil cases averaged 631.76 days.
Join us back here tomorrow as we review the data for the criminal docket.
Image courtesy of Flickr by Edgar Cervantes (no changes).