Last week, we reviewed the data showing how often each Justice voted with the majority in a divided civil case.  This week, we’re looking at the criminal docket.

In Table 997, we review the numbers for five Justices – Bilandic, Calvo, Clark, Cunningham and Fitzgerald.  Justice Bilandic was, for the most part, between sixty and eighty percent.  His rate was 66.67% in 1991 and 62.5% in 1996; 79.17% in 1994, 75% in 1997 and 77.27% in 1998; and 81.25% in 1992 and 82.14% in 1999.  Bilandic was in the nineties once (2000); in the fifties twice (1993 and 1995); and at 100% in 1990.  Justice Calvo was in the majority in 84.62% of criminal cases in 1990 and 100% in 1991.  Justice Clark voted with the majority in 57.14% of cases in 1990 and 1991 and three-quarters in 1992.  Justice Cunningham voted with the majority in 83.33% in 1991 and 100% in 1992.  Justice Fitzgerald was closely in sync with the Court’s majority during these years – 95.65% in 2001, 86.67% in 2002 and 92.59% in 2003.

We review Justices Freeman, Garman, Harrison, Heiple and Kilbride in the next table.  Justice Freeman was in the seventies (1994, 1997, 1999-2000), eighties (1991, 1993, 1995, 2002-2003) and nineties (1998, 2001) for most of the period.  Justice Garman voted with the majority in 87.5% of divided criminal cases in 2001, 79.31% in 2002 and 85.19% in 2003.  Justice Harrison’s rate was relatively low throughout the period, with outliers only in 1996 and 1997.  He was in the fifties in 1993-1994 and 1998, in the forties from 1999 to 2001, and at 26.32% in his final year of 2002.  These years were spread evenly across a wide band for Justice Heiple.  His rate was in the fifties three times (1992, 1994 and 1999), in the sixties twice (1991 and 1995); in the seventies four times (1993, 1997-1998 and 2000) and in the eighties once (1996).  Justice Kilbride was less often in the majority than other Justices during his first three years – 60.87% in 2001, 33.33% in 2002 and 62.96% in 2003.

Between 1993 and 2003, Justice McMorrow’s rate of voting with the majority in divided criminal cases was nearly always in the 80-90% range – 1993, 1995-1996, 1999 and 2002-2003.  Her rate was in the seventies in 1998 and 2000 and in the sixties in 1994 and 1997.  Justice Miller’s majority rate was fairly low from 1990 to 1997 – in the fifties in 1990, 1992 and 1993, in the sixties in 1991, 1994 and 1997, and in the thirties in 1996.  His rate was substantially higher in his final four years however – 86.36% in 1998, 92.86% in 1999, 85.25% in 2000 and 100% in 2001.  Justice Moran was in the majority in 92.86% of divided criminal cases in 1990 and 100% in 1991 and 1992.  Justice Nickels was in the majority in 79.17% in 1994, 93.75% in 1995, 68.75% in 1996, 75% in 1997 and 77.27% in 1998.  Justice Rarick voted with the majority in 100% of divided cases in 2002 and 91.3% in 2003.

 

Finally, we review the data for Justices Rathje, Ryan, Stamos, Thomas and Ward.  Justice Rathje voted with the majority in divided criminal cases 63.16% of the time in 1999 and 90% of the time in 2000.  Justices Ryan, Stamos and Ward, who all retired from the Court in 1990, voted with the majority that year in 75%, 91.67% and 100% of divided criminal cases, respectively.  Justice Thomas joined the majority in 73.91% of divided cases in 2001, 76.67% in 2002 and only 37.04% in 2003.

 

Join us here tomorrow as we consider the years 2004 through 2018.

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