Between 2006 and 2013, the Supreme Court decided forty-five cases involving government and administrative law issues: nine in 2006, ten in 2007, five in 2008, four in 2009, four in 2010, two in 2011, four in 2012 and seven in 2013.

The caseload leaned a little bit towards cases won by the defenders of government actions below – defenders won twenty-four cases at the Court of Appeal before the Supreme Court granted review, while challengers won eighteen.

Challengers to government actions who had won at the Court of Appeal won seven cases at the Supreme Court while losing eleven.

Defenders of government actions, on the other hand, split their cases evenly, winning twelve and losing twelve at the Supreme Court.

Overall challengers to government entities and actions won eighteen cases at the Supreme Court while losing twenty-four.

Twenty-one cases involved the powers, duties and actions of government officials and entities.  Sixteen involved procedural questions.  Seven involved private actors’ rights against the government.

Turning to the individual Justices’ votes, Justice Kennard cast twenty-three votes for challengers to government actions.  Justice Werdegar cast twenty votes.  Justices Chin and Corrigan had nineteen apiece, followed by Justice Baxter at eighteen, Chief Justice George and Justice Moreno at thirteen, and Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye and Justice Liu at seven votes.

Justices Baxter and Chin led with twenty-three votes each against challengers, followed by Justice Werdegar (twenty votes), Justice Kennard (nineteen votes), Chief Justice George and Justice Moreno (eighteen votes), Justice Corrigan (thirteen votes), and Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye and Justice Liu (three votes each).

Join us back here next time as we review the last several years’ data.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Gabriel Millos (no changes).