This week, we’re continuing our review of the detailed lag time data for the Court’s death penalty cases. First up: the average wait from the order appointing death penalty counsel to filing of the opening brief.

During the 1990s, the average wait from appointment of counsel to the filing of the opening brief increased significantly. In 1990, the average was at its low point for the decade: 757.69 days. It rose to 900.57 in 1991 and 1,037.06 in 1992. The average was 989.94 days in 1993 and 1,061.43 days in 1994. It increased to 1,424.6 days in 1995. The average fell to 1,126.13 in 1996 but rose to 1,624.07 in 1997. The average wait was 1,420.23 days in 1998 and 2,175.67 days in 1999.

The average wait was relatively stable in the following decade. In 2000, the average wait was 1,739.4 days. It rose to 2,006.64 days in 2001. The average fell to 1,572 days in 2002, 1,615.5 in 2003, 1.786.48 in 2004 and 1,980.88 days in 2005. In 2006, the average was 1,634.42 days. In 2007, the average fell to 1,395.87 days. In 2008, the average was 1,588.73 days. In 2009, the average was 1,473.72 days.

The average wait time was 1,587.21 days in 2010 and 1,246.38 in 2011. The average was flat from 2012 to 2015: 1,814.76 days (2012), 1,825.78 (2013), 1,819.65 (2014) and 1,725.2 (2015). The average was 2,067.58 days in 2016. The average was 1,903.91 days in 2017. It rose to 2,170.95 days in 2018 before falling to 1,732.33 days so far this year.

Join us back here tomorrow as we review the lag time data for death penalty party briefing.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Gail Frederick (no changes).