With few exceptions, it’s remained true since 2005 that somewhere between one in four and one in five criminal cases at the California Supreme Court have at least one amicus brief.  In 2005, 22.95% of the cases had one.  That rose to 24.59% in 2009 and 24.68% in 2012.  The percentage dropped off a bit to 21.82% in 2014 and 20.45% the following year.  But over the past two years, as filings in civil cases were dropping a bit, criminal cases have ticked up slightly – 24.39% in 2019 and 28.57% in 2020.

Appellants received an average of 0.21 briefs per case in support in 2005.  In 2008, that had risen to 0.303, and to 0.384 in 2010.  Filings dropped a bit from 2011 to 2014 but picked up again in 2015 – 0.39 briefs per case, and in 2016 at 0.31.  In 2018, appellant briefs reached 0.4 per case, and the number reached its highest level of the period in 2020 – 0.405 briefs per case.

Filings supporting respondents were comparatively flat throughout these years.  The average respondent received 0.25 briefs in 2005 and 0.23 in 2007.  In 2012, respondents averaged 0.16 briefs.  In 2014, there was a one-year spike to 0.45, but that almost immediately fell back to trend: 0.14 in 2017, 0.16 in 2018, 0.15 in 2019 and 0.14 in 2020.

Join us back here next week as we continue our examination of the data on amicus filings.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Edward Stojakovic (no changes).

This week, we’re continuing our examination of the basic amicus brief filing data with the years 2005 through 2020.  Although there was a one-year dip in 2004, for most of the period from 1997 to 2004, between eighty and ninety percent of all civil cases at the California Supreme Court had at least one amicus brief.  With only two exceptions (2006 and 2015), that continued in this second period.  In 2005, the number was 84.31%.  In 2010, it had risen to 90.48% of all civil cases.  After several years in the mid-to-high-eighties, 95.65% of all civil cases had an amicus brief in 2014.  The figure was over ninety again in 2016 and 2018 before falling a bit to 85.29% in 2019.  Although the sheer number of amicus briefs has been down over the past two years, nearly as many cases continued to see at least one filing – 82.76% of all civil cases had at least one amicus in 2020.

Briefs for appellants have been down slightly in recent years.  In 2005, the average appellant received 2.22 briefs in support.  By 2008, that had risen to 2.58.  A year later, it was 2.77.  In 2012, the average appellant received 2.96 additional briefs.  In 2014, there was an average of 2.78 amicus briefs, but then the fall-off came.  There were 1.81 additional briefs in 2015, 2 in 2016 and 2018, 2.06 in 2019 and only 1.79 last year.

Briefs for respondents are always lower than appellants, of course.  They are down a bit too in recent years, proportionally speaking.  In 2005, respondents saw 2.04 amicus briefs filed in support.  That nosed up to 2.23 in 2008 but fell from there to only 1.31 by 2010.  After edging up again in the years 2012-2018, respondents’ briefs have fallen sharply since 2019, averaging only 1 briefs per case in 2019 and 1.07 last year.

Join us back here tomorrow as we review the data for the criminal docket.

Image courtesy of Pixabay by jplenio (no changes).

This time, we’re looking at amicus filings in California criminal cases.  Below, we chart the yearly percentage of criminal cases decided by the Supreme Court which drew at least one amicus brief.  The figure started low at only 12.5% in 1990.  It topped out at 32.76% in 1992, 48.78% in 1994 and 30.95% in 1996 before settling down, dropping below 15% in 2000 and 2001.  The share then increased to 22.54% in 2002, 20.63% in 2003 and 20.55% in 2004.

Appellants averaged only 0.16 briefs per case in 1990.  That rose to 0.42 in 1991 and 0.512 in 1994 before falling back again.  In 1996, appellants got an average of 0.33 briefs per case.  In 1997, that was 0.32.  After dropping for a few years, it rose to 0.37 in 2002, but then fell back again – 0.27 in 2003 and 0.19 in 2004.

The spread of briefs for respondents was also up and down during this fifteen-year period.  In 1990, respondents average 0.113 briefs per case.  That rose to 0.39 in 1994 and 0.3095 by 1996, but fell after that to 0.133 in 1998, 0.073 in 2000 and 0.069 in 2001.  There was a one-year jump in 2002 to 0.324 briefs per case, but the following year, it was back down to 0.11, and fell further to 0.068 in 2004.

Join us back here next week as we review the data for the years 2005 through 2020.

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

 

 

[For the benefit of readers who don’t read both our Illinois and California blogs, the first paragraph immediately below is reprinted from our first post of this week on the Illinois Supreme Court Review.]

In the past twenty years, several academic researchers have extended the study of amicus briefs to state courts of last resort.  In 2001, Professors Paul Brace and Kellie Sims Butler published “New Perspectives for the Comparative Study of the Judiciary: The State Supreme Court Project,” 22 The Justice System Journal 3 (2001).  They assembled data for amicus filings in all fifty state courts of last resort for all cases decided between the years 1990 and 2001.  They concluded that in a total of nineteen states (Arkansas, South Dakota, Idaho, North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Wyoming, Montana, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Arkansas, South Carolina, Maine, Nevada, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina), less that 5% of their total cases resulted in amicus briefs.  On the other hand, in five states (Oklahoma, Oregon, Michigan, New Jersey and California), 25% or more of all cases resulted in amicus briefs.  California led the way at just over 37%.

We began by replicating the data from the study, tracking the yearly percentage of civil cases with at least one amicus brief.  The number started out quite high and went even higher; in 1991, 77.5% of all civil cases drew at least one amicus brief.  By 1997, that figure had risen to 88%.  After a brief dip, in 2001, 89.58% of all civil cases had at least one amicus.  The figure topped out for this first half of our study period in 2003, when 90.91% of all civil cases had at least one amicus brief.  For the entire period 1990 through 2001 – the same years covered by the study – we found 572 cases with amicus briefs out of 1,195 total cases.  Thus, during these years, 47.87% of all cases at the California Supreme Court had at least one amicus brief.

Next, we track the average number of amicus briefs per appellant in civil cases.  Interestingly, although the percentage of cases with at least one amicus edged up during these years, the average number of briefs per appellant didn’t, suggesting that the increase was not so much in the number of briefs being filed in the same sorts of cases as it was briefs being filed in a wider cross-section of cases.

In 1990, appellants averaged 1.28 amicus briefs per case.  That rose to 1.61 in 1994 and 2.1 in 1997.  After a one-year dip, the average rose back to 2.02 in 1999 and 2.18 in 2000.  The number dipped again, this time for two years, before topping out at 2.7 briefs per case in 2003.

For the most part, respondents averaged fewer amicus briefs per year than appellants.  The average started at 0.97 average briefs in 1990.  By 1995, it had risen to 1.37, and by 2000, to 1.65.  After a slight dip for the three years following, the average reached 1.77 briefs per case in 2004.

Join us back here next time as we review the data for the criminal docket during the same years.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Eric Kilby (no changes).

In 2010, Division Two of the Second District averaged six votes to affirm in cases not unanimously affirmed.  Division Four of the Second averaged three votes and Division Four of the First and Division Three of the Second averaged two votes.  In 2011, Division Three of the First District averaged six votes to affirm.  Divisions Four and Three of the Second District averaged one and 0.5 votes.  In 2012, Division Four of the Second District averaged three votes and Division Four of the First averaged two.  In 2013, Division Two of the First District averaged six votes.  Division Four and Three of the Second averaged two votes and 1.5 votes, respectively.  In 2014, Division Three of the Second District averaged four votes and Division Two of the Second averaged 3.5 votes to affirm.  In 2015, Division One of the Second District averaged 0.5 votes.

In 2010, Division Five of the Second District averaged three votes, while Division Three of the Fourth averaged 0.5.  In 2011, Division Three of the Fourth District averaged 1.5 votes.  Division One of the Fourth averaged 0.5 votes and Division Five of the Second averaged 0.25 votes.  In 2012, Division One of the Fourth District averaged two votes to affirm, and Division Three of the Fourth averaged two-thirds of a vote.  In 2013, Division Eight of the Second District averaged 3.75 votes to affirm.  In 2014, Division Two of the Fourth District averaged five votes, Division Five of the Second averaged 2.5 votes and Division Six of the Second averaged 1.5 votes.  In 2015, Division Three of the Fourth District averaged 1.25 votes.  Division Five of the Second averaged one vote and Division Two of the Fourth averaged two-thirds of a vote.

In 2016, Division Two of the First District averaged four votes to affirm.  Division One of the Second was at 1.83 votes, while Division Three of the Second averaged one vote.  In 2017, Division Two of the First District averaged four votes to affirm, and Division Five of the First averaged one.  In 2018, Division Four of First District and Division Four of the Second averaged two votes to affirm.  In 2019, Division Two o the Second District averaged three votes, while Division Three of the Second averaged 2.5.  In 2020, Division Two of the First District averaged three votes to affirm, while all the other courts averaged zero.

In 2016, Division Eight of the Second District averaged 2.5 votes to affirm, while Division Seven averaged 2.  The following year, Division Seven averaged six votes and Division Two of the Fourth District averaged five votes.  In 2018, none of the courts – Divisions Six, Seven and Eight of the Second District, the Third District, Divisions One, Two and Three of the Fourth District or the Fifth or Sixth Districts – had any unanimous affirmances.  In 2019, Division One of the Fourth District averaged 0.5 votes to affirm.  Last year, the Third District averaged 3.33 votes, but Divisions One and Three of the Fourth and the Fifth District averaged zero.

 

 

In 2010, one-third of civil decisions from Division Two of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.  One-third of decisions from Division Two of the First and Division Three of the Second were.  In 2011, half the decisions from Division Four of the First were affirmed unanimously, and one-third from Division One of the Second were.  In 2012, all the decisions from Division Two of the First District were affirmed unanimously, while half from Division Four of the First and Division Three of the Second were.  In 2013, all of the decisions from Divisions One and Three of the First District were affirmed unanimously, while two-thirds of the decisions from Division One of the Second were.  In 2014, all of the decisions from Divisions One and Five of the First District were affirmed unanimously.  In 2015, half the decisions from Division Three of the Second were affirmed unanimously and one-quarter from Division Four of the Second were.

In 2010, all of the decisions from Division Six of the Second District and Division One of the Fourth were unanimously affirmed.  In 2011, half the decisions from the Sixth District were unanimously affirmed.  In 2012, 100% of the decisions from Division Two of the Fourth District were affirmed unanimously.  In 2013, all decisions from Division Seven of the Second, Division Two of the Fourth and the Fifth District were unanimously affirmed.  In 2014, one-third of the decisions from Division Five of the Second District and the Fifth District were unanimously affirmed.  In 2015, all of the decisions from the Fifth and Sixth Districts were unanimously affirmed.

In 2016, each of the decisions from Divisions Two and Four of the Second District were unanimously affirmed.  One-quarter from Division Three of the Second were, and 14.29% from Division One of the Second.  In 2017, two-thirds of the decisions from Division Two of the Second were unanimously affirmed and sixty percent from Division Three of the Second were.  In 2018, all decisions from Division Two of the First District and Division One of the Second were unanimously affirmed.  In 2019, all decisions from Divisions Two and Five of the First District were unanimously affirmed.  In 2020, the only unanimous affirmances in this group of courts were from Division Two of the Second District – 100%.

In 2016, all decisions from Division One of the Fourth District were unanimously affirmed, and half of the decisions from the Third District and Divisions Five and Seven of the Second were.  In 2017, all decisions from Division Five of the Second were unanimously affirmed and half of the decisions from Division One of the Fourth were.  In 2018, three-quarters of the decisions from Division Seven of the Second District were unanimously affirmed; two-thirds from Division Three of the Fourth were and 60% of the decisions from Division One of the Fourth were.  In 2019, all decisions from Divisions Five and Eight of the Second District were unanimously affirmed.  In 2020, one-third of the decisions from Division Three of the Fourth District were unanimously affirmed and one-quarter from the Third District were.

Join us back here next time as we review the data relating to average votes to affirm.

Image courtesy of Pixabay by nightowl (no changes).

This time, we’re reviewing the average votes to affirm among the Districts and Divisions of the Court of Appeal in cases not affirmed unanimously.  In 2000, Division One of the First District and Division Two of the Second averaged 2.5 votes to affirm.  In 2001, Division Five of the First District averaged six votes to affirm.  In 2002, Division Four of the Second District averaged three votes, while Division One of the First averaged 2.5 votes to affirm.  In 2003, Division Two of the First averaged three votes, while Division Four of the First averaged 2.75.  In 2004, Division Two of the Second District averaged four votes to affirm, while Divisions Two, Three and Four of the First averaged zero.

In 2000, the Fifth District averaged three votes to affirm, while Division One of the Fourth averaged 2.5.  In 2001, Divisions Six and Seven of the Second District and Division One of the Fourth averaged three votes to affirm.  In 2002, Division One of the Fourth District averaged six votes to affirm.  In 2003, Division Five of the Second District averaged three votes to affirm, while Divisions Six and Seven of the Second, Division Three of the Fourth and the Fifth District averaged zero votes.  In 2004, Division Six of the Second District averaged seven votes to affirm.

In 2005, Divisions One and Five of the First District averaged three votes to affirm, while Division Three of the First District and Divisions Two, Three and Four of the Second averaged zero.  In 2006, Division One of the Second District averaged three votes to affirm.  In 2007, Division Three of the First District averaged two votes to affirm.  In 2008, Division Three of the First District averaged three votes, while Divisions One and Five of the First and Division Two of the Second District averaged zero.  In 2009, the only three courts which contributed cases not affirmed unanimously – Divisions Three and Four of the First District and Division Three of the Second – were all reversed unanimously.

In 2005, Division Eight of the Second District averaged four votes to affirm, and Division One of the Fourth averaged 3.5.  In 2006, Division Eight of the Second averaged 3 votes to affirm.  In 2007, Divisions Six and Seven of the Second averaged five votes to affirm, and Division Eight of the Second averaged four.  In 2008, Division Eight of the Second averaged three votes to affirm.  In 2009, Division Eight averaged 2.5 votes.

Join us back here next time as we review the data for the years 2010 through 2020.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Sheila Sund (no changes).

 

This time, we’re addressing the first of our two-question analysis of the Districts’ record at the Supreme Court in civil cases: how likely is it that each District (and Division) will be affirmed unanimously?

In 2000, one-third of the decisions reviewed from Division One of the First District were affirmed unanimously, while none of the decisions from Division Four of the First or Division Four of the Second were.  In 2001, half of the decisions from Division Two of the Second District were affirmed unanimously, and one-third of the decisions from Division Three of the First District and Divisions One and Three of the Second.  In 2002, all the decisions from Divisions Two and Three of the First District were unanimously affirmed.  In 2003, one-third of the decisions from Division One of the First District were affirmed, but none of the decisions from Divisions Two, Four or Five of the First, or Divisions One or Four of the Second, were.  In 2004, all of the decisions from Division One of the First District were affirmed, while none of the decisions from Divisions Three or Four of the First or Two of the Second were unanimously affirmed.

In 2000, all of the decisions from Division Six of the Second District were unanimously affirmed, while none of the decisions from Division Seven of the Second, the Third District, Division One of the Fourth or the Fifth District were.  In 2001, half of the decisions from Divisions Five, Six and Seven of the Second District were unanimously affirmed.  In 2002, all of the decisions from the Fifth District were unanimously affirmed.  In 2003, all of the decisions from Division Six of the Second District were unanimously affirmed.  In 2004, all decisions from Division Two of the Fourth District were unanimously affirmed.

In 2005, two-thirds of the decisions from Division One of the First District and two-thirds of the decisions from Division Three of the Second were affirmed unanimously.  In 2006, all of the decisions from Division Three of the First District were affirmed unanimously.  In 2007, half of the decisions from Division Five of the First District were affirmed unanimously, while one-third of the decisions from Division Three of the First and Divisions Two and Four of the Second were.  In 2008, all of the decisions from Division Four of the First and Division One of the Second were unanimously affirmed.  In 2009, all the decisions from Divisions One and Two of the First District were unanimously affirmed.

In 2005, all the decisions from Division Seven of the Second District were unanimously affirmed – none of the of the decisions from Divisions Five, Six or Eight of the Second District, Division Three of the Fourth or the Sixth District were.  The following year, two-thirds of the decisions from Division Two of the Fourth District were affirmed unanimously, while none of the decisions from Divisions Six or Eight of the Second District or the Fifth or Sixth Districts were.  In 2007, half of the decisions from Divisions Two of the Fourth District and half from the Sixth District were affirmed.  In 2008, all the decisions from Division Three of the Fourth District were affirmed unanimously.  None of the decisions from Divisions Six or Eight of the Second District or the Third, Fifth or Sixth District were.  In 2009, all of the decisions from Division Five of the Second were affirmed unanimously, while none from Division Six of the Second or Division Two of the Fourth were.

Join us back here next time as we review the data for average votes to affirm.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Sheila Sund (no changes).

This time, we’re reviewing the average votes to affirm each District and Division of the Court of Appeal in non-unanimous cases.

In 1990, Division One of the First District averaged four votes to affirm.  In 1991, Division Four of the First averaged six votes.  In 1992, Division Three of the First and Division Four of the Second District averaged four votes.  In 1993, Division One of the First District averaged two votes to affirm.  In 1994, Division One of the First District averaged six votes.

In 1990, Division Two of the Fourth District averaged five votes.  In 1991, the Fifth District averaged five votes.  In 1992, Division One of the Fourth and the Fifth District averaged three votes to affirm.  In 1993, Division Six of the Second District and Division One of the Fourth had 3.5 votes to affirm apiece.  In 1994, Division Five of the Second District averaged 2.67 votes to affirm.

In 1995, Division Three of the Second District averaged four votes to affirm.  In 1996, Division Three of the First District averaged six votes to affirm.  In 1997, Division Three of the Second District averaged 3.67 votes to affirm.  In 1998, Division Three of the First District averaged 4.33 votes.  In 1999, Division 5 of the First District averaged four votes.

In 1995, the Fifth District averaged six votes to affirm.  In 1996, the Third District averaged 3.2 votes.  In 1997, the Fifth District averaged 2.75 votes to affirm.  In 1998, the Third District averaged six votes to affirm.  In 1999, Division One of the Fourth District averaged five votes to affirm.

Join us back here later in the week as we address the data for the years 2000 through 2009.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Jim Moore (no changes).

 

This week, we’re beginning a detailed analysis of the votes to affirm each Division and District of the Court of Appeal: (1) how often is each court affirmed unanimously; and (2) what was the average votes to affirm each Court, year by year?

In Table 1514, we report the first half of the Districts’ percentage of unanimous affirmances.  In 1990, one-third of the civil decisions from Division Three of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.  Twenty percent of the decisions from Division One of the Second were affirmed unanimously.  In 1991, half the civil decisions from Division Three of the First District and Division Three of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.  In 1992, one-quarter of the decisions from Division Two of the First District were affirmed unanimously.  In 1993, all of the decisions from Division Two of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.  In 1994, all of the decisions from Division Four of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.

In 1990, all of the decisions from Division Three of the Fourth District were unanimously affirmed.  In 1991, half of the decisions from District Five were affirmed unanimously.  In 1992, two-thirds of the decisions from Division Seven of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.  In 1993, all of the decisions from Division Five of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.  In 1994, half of the decisions from Division One of the Fourth District were affirmed unanimously.

In 1995, half of the decisions from Division Four of the First District were affirmed unanimously.  In 1996, all of the decisions from Division Two of the First District were.  In 1997, all of the decisions from Division One of the First District and all of the decisions from Division Four of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.  In 1998, half the decisions from Division Four were affirmed unanimously.  In 1999, all of the decisions from Division Three of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.

 

In 1995, half of the decisions from the Third District were affirmed unanimously.  The following year, all of the decisions from Division Six of the Second District were affirmed unanimously.  In 1997, Division Five of the Second District and the Sixth District had all their decisions affirmed unanimously.  In 1998, half of the cases from the Sixth District were affirmed unanimously.  In 1999, all of the decisions from the Fifth District were affirmed unanimously.

Join us back here next time as we review the data for year-by-year votes to affirm.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Bill Ward (no changes).