Just as we concluded last time for civil cases, dissent at the Supreme Court was almost always much more common than division at the Court of Appeal in the Court’s criminal cases. Between 2005 and 2020, the dissent rate was higher at the Court of Appeal in only three of 16 years: 2007, 2008 and
Last time, we determined that dissent was more common at the Supreme Court than at the Court of Appeal in every year between 1990 and 2004. The story is much the same for the years 2005 through 2020 – 2 years higher at the Court of Appeal (2011, 2018); 2 years tied (2008, 2019) ;
Last time, we reviewed the data for civil cases between 1990 and 2004, comparing the percentage of cases in which there was a dissent at the Court of Appeal to the percentage of civil cases in which there was dissent at the Supreme Court. This time, we’re looking at the data for criminal cases during
This week, we’re evaluating whether dissent at the Court of Appeal is an indicator of division at the Supreme Court. Today, we’re looking at the Court’s civil cases between 1990 and 2004.
As we can see from the Table below, there is no relation between the dissent rate at the Court of Appeal and the
Appellants in insurance law cases won 58.33% of the time to 41.67% for respondents. Appellants’ amici won the same fraction of the time – 58.33%. Respondents’ amici won 44.74% of their cases.
In property law cases, appellants won 57.14% of cases to 42.86% for respondents. Appellants’ amici had a far tougher time, winning only 28.57%
In the next two posts, we’re concluding our review of the amicus data, divided out by area of law.
Appellants in arbitration cases on 84% of the time between 2005 and 2020 to only 16% for respondents. Amici were nearly as lopsided – 89.83% wins for appellants’ amici, only 10.42% for respondents’ amici. In civil
Between 1990 and 2004, appellants in insurance law cases won 63.27% of the time to 36.73% for respondents. Appellants’ amici won 68.85% of their cases to 49.57% for respondents’ amici. Appellants in property law cases won 73.33% of the time to only 26.67% for respondents. Appellants’ amici won 83.33% of their cases; respondents’ amici lost
This week, we’re continuing our investigation of the data on amicus curiae briefs. We’re comparing the winning percentage in each area of law for appellants’ and respondents’ amici to the overall winning percentage for each side. As I mentioned over at Illinois Supreme Court Review, of course this inquiry is subject to the objection of
Between 2010 and 2020, 243 amicus briefs were filed in criminal, quasi-criminal (habeas corpus), juvenile justice, attorney discipline and mental health cases. Appellants’ amici were on the winning side in 68.42% of their cases, while respondents’ amici won only 40.66%.
Appellants’ amici ran the board, winning all their cases in three areas of law: mental
Between 2010 and 2020, a total of 1,258 amicus briefs were filed at the California Supreme Court in civil cases – 737 of them supporting appellants and 521 supporting respondents. Appellants were considerably more successful than respondents’ amici in these years: appellants’ amici wound up on the winning side in 71.23% of cases, while respondents’