We conclude with the Chief Justice’s record in majority and dissenting opinions for criminal, quasi-criminal, mental health and juvenile justice cases.  The Chief Justice has written 81 majority opinions in criminal cases.  Forty-one of those eighty-one opinions were in death penalty cases.  She has written a dozen majority opinions each in criminal procedure and sentencing law cases, four majorities in constitutional law and habeas cases, two in juvenile justice and sex offenses cases and one each in cases involving property crimes, violent crimes, mental health and regulation of attorneys.

The Chief Justice has written three dissenting opinions in juvenile justice cases, two each in constitutional law and criminal procedure cases and one dissent each in death penalty and sentencing law cases.

Join us back here on Wednesday when we begin our review of Justice Goodwin Liu’s tenure.

Image courtesy of Flickr by photographymontreal (no changes).

We’re concluding our review of Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye’s tenure to date with a look at her majority and dissenting opinions.

The Chief Justice has written 49 majority opinions in civil cases.  The leading topic is civil procedure with fifteen, followed by government and administrative law (10 majorities), constitutional law (6 majorities), tort law (5 majorities) and three majority opinions in employment law cases.  She has written two majority opinions each in environmental law, wills and estates, tax law and insurance law.  She has written one majority opinion in domestic relations and one in election law.

The Chief Justice has written only four dissents in civil cases – two in constitutional law cases, one in a civil procedure case and one in a tort case.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Eemil Ahonen (no changes).

Today, we’re in the fourth part of our six-part review of Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye’s tenure.  This time, we’re reviewing the data on how often the Chief Justice is in the majority.

The short answer: a lot.  Since joining the Court, the Chief Justice has voted in the majority in 96.69% of her civil cases.  The Chief Justice voted with the majority in every civil case in 2012, 2013 and so far in 2021.  She has been over 95% every other year aside from 2019 (91.18%) and 2020 (93.1%).

The Chief Justice has been in the majority in nearly as many criminal cases – 96.15%.  She has reached 100% in four years – 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2020.  She has been over 95% in two additional years: 2012 (97.3%) and 2019 (95.12%).  She has never fallen below 90% for a full year.

Join us back here next Thursday as we wrap up our six-part review of Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye’s tenure.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Channel3000_Communities (no changes).

We’re on to the third part of our six-part review of Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye’s tenure at the Supreme Court.  Today, we’re reviewing the Chief Justice’s voting record.

The Chief Justice has voted to affirm 114 times since 2011.  She has voted to reverse 169 times and cast split votes to affirm in part and reverse in part in 22 cases.  Her lightest full year for reverse votes was 2014 with ten.  Her heaviest years were 2011 and 2015, with 19 each.  Her lightest year for votes to affirm was 2011 with four, followed by five in 2020.  Her heaviest year wax 2016 with 17, followed by 2017 and 2018 at 15 each.

The Chief Justice has cast 281 votes to affirm in criminal cases as opposed to 162 votes to reverse.  She has cast 74 split votes.  The Chief Justice cast a dozen split votes in both 2012 and 2015 and eleven in 2016, but only two in 2011 and 2017.  She voted to reverse twenty-two times in 2012, but only ten in 2015.  Her lightest years for affirm votes (other than this year so far) were 2019 and 2020 at twenty-one each.  Her heaviest year was 2012 at forty.

Join us back here on Friday morning as we present part four of our review.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Adam Meek (no changes).

This time, we’re reviewing the Chief Justice’s opinions.

Since joining the Court, Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye has written 49 majority opinions in civil cases.  She has written seven concurring opinions and only four dissents.  Only once has she written more than one civil dissent in a given year – two in 2019.  The same is true of concurrences – two in 2020.  Her heaviest year for civil majorities was 2018, when she wrote eight.  She wrote seven in 2015 and 2019, and a low of two in 2014.

The Chief Justice has written 81 majority opinions in criminal cases, five concurring opinions and nine dissents.  Her heaviest year for criminal dissents was 2015 with three.  She has written two criminal concurrences so far in 2021, her highest year to date.  Her heaviest years for majority opinions in criminal cases were 2012 (12) and 2013 (10).  She wrote only four per year in 2017 and 2018.

Join us back here on Thursday morning as we continue our review of the Chief Justice’s tenure.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Rick Rowland (no changes).

This week, we’re continuing our review of the individual Justices’ tenures.  Next up: Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.

The Chief Justice has participated in 332 civil cases since joining the Court in 2011 (note that we’re applying the same cut-off date for all Justices’ 2021 cases).  Her heaviest full year was 2017, when she sat on 42 civil cases.  Her lightest full year was 2014, when she sat on 23 civil cases.

The Chief Justice has participated in 519 criminal cases since taking her seat.  Her highest total was in 2012, when she participated in 74 criminal cases.  Her lightest full years were 2019 (41), 2017 and 2020 (42 each).

Join us back here next time as our series continues.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Jason Hollinger (no changes).