This week, we’re reviewing the jurisdictions in which the Supreme Court’s civil and criminal dockets originated for the years 1990 through 1999.  As we said earlier on the Illinois Supreme Court Review, this is important for the same reason that tracking which Districts and Divisions of the Court of Appeal the Court is taking its cases from.  Just as it’s possible for the Court to conclude that a particular part of the Court of Appeal is out of step with its views, it’s equally possible for the Court to be concerned about a trial court or agency.  If the Supreme Court accepts cases from the jurisdiction where you are every year, that’s a good sign for the prospects of getting review.  On the other hand, if the Court seldom takes cases from your jurisdiction, that tells you something about the odds of going up.

From 1990 to 1999, the Court decided 126 civil cases which originated in Los Angeles County.  The next fifteen jurisdictions are reported below.  San Francisco is only the twelfth most populous county but was the second most common county on the Court’s docket.  San Diego County, the second most populous county in California, was third, followed by Orange County (3^rd in population), Sacramento County (8^th), Santa Clara County (6^th) and Alameda County (7^th).

The remainder of the data is reported in Table 1495 below.  Forty-nine jurisdictions accounted for one case each.

Join us back here next time as we address the Court’s criminal docket.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Ken Lund (no changes).